https://www.scmp.com/rss/330282/feed The last practitioners of age-old crafts. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Feel like throwing your broken wood chairs and table out? Maybe you should give them to this expert carpenter instead. Lam Che is one of the few carpenters left who knows how to turn old furniture into beautiful and useful works of art. We visited his studio to discover the technique he uses. https://www.scmp.com/culture/how-carpenter-turns-broken-furniture-wooden-treasure/article/3203312?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/how-carpenter-turns-broken-furniture-wooden-treasure/article/3203312?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Dec 2022 11:46:38 +0000 You may have seen lion dances, but have you wondered how the costumes are made? The Li family based in Foshan, Guangdong, is one of China’s most renowned lion head makers that started six generations ago. Their work can be found everywhere, from the famous Palace Museum in Beijing, to “Once Upon a Time in China III” starring Jet Li. Don’t miss our stories, what’s buzzing around the web, and bonus material. Sign up for the GT newsletter! https://www.scmp.com/culture/200-year-old-shop-still-makes-best-lion-dance-heads-china-artisans-e4/article/3181147?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/200-year-old-shop-still-makes-best-lion-dance-heads-china-artisans-e4/article/3181147?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Jun 2022 03:05:23 +0000 Michael Tetteh, Ghana’s only professional glassblower, clenched his teeth as he gripped a red-hot ball of molten glass, his burned and blistered hands bare against the steaming stack of wet newspaper he used to protect them. The 44-year-old toiled in the heat of scrap-metal kilns burning at nearly 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,700 degrees Fahrenheit), pregnant with melted windowpanes, TV screens and drinks bottles he would soon transform into elaborate vases swirling with psychedelic colour. Some... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3174123/sustainable-glassblower-mission-free-his-country-foreign?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3174123/sustainable-glassblower-mission-free-his-country-foreign?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Apr 2022 10:15:14 +0000 In the 1950s and 60s, timber yards and saw­mills were common sights in Hong Kong, the industry feeding construction, shipbuilding and furniture making. “The timber industry was flourishing back then,” says Penelope Luk, creative director of Crafts on Peel, a charitable organisation that helps revive traditional crafts. “There were many timber yards – even Whampoa Garden was a shipbuilding yard where timber was processed,” she says, referring to the private housing estate in Hung Hom, Kowloon... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3164175/woodcraft-artisans-celebrate-heritage-carpentry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3164175/woodcraft-artisans-celebrate-heritage-carpentry?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Jan 2022 03:27:06 +0000 When he is not hauling concrete blocks on a construction site in northern Iraq, Jamal Hussein devotes his time to preserving the gentle art of Arabic calligraphy. Though he has won awards in numerous competitions, Hussein acknowledges that “you can’t live on this”, the artistic handwriting of Arabic script. “I have a big family. I have to find other work,” says the father of 11, who is 50 years old and earns his keep working on building sites in the Iraqi Kurdish town of Ranya. The United... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3160916/arabic-calligraphy-recognised-unesco-eclipsed-technology-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3160916/arabic-calligraphy-recognised-unesco-eclipsed-technology-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Dec 2021 10:15:22 +0000 Leung So Kee Umbrella Factory in Hong Kong is not just any ordinary umbrella maker. The century-old business makes umbrellas for some of the movie industry’s biggest martial arts stars, including Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Its fourth-generation owner Leung Man-shing tells us about the history of the business, and stories you’ve never heard of about the stars. https://www.scmp.com/travel/man-who-makes-umbrellas-kung-fu-stars/article/3149908?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/travel/man-who-makes-umbrellas-kung-fu-stars/article/3149908?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Sep 2021 03:48:43 +0000 Pan Shixue could never find a job he liked, not until he returned to his hometown of Maliao village in Guizhou, China. There, he rediscovered the villagers’ history of making silver jewelry. Years of honing the craft led Pan to open the village’s first silversmith workshop — today it’s home to over 600 silversmiths. We learn how one man’s dream brought life back again to an entire town.  Address: 贵州黔东南苗族侗族自治州雷山县西江麻料银匠村 https://www.scmp.com/travel/silversmith-turned-ghost-town-haven-600-other-silver-craftsmen/article/3141761?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/travel/silversmith-turned-ghost-town-haven-600-other-silver-craftsmen/article/3141761?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jul 2021 04:12:16 +0000 Ng Kam-Chun is one of few remaining seal master carvers in Hong Kong. With a hammer and chisel, he’s made a name for himself as an artisan making iconic Chinese stamps. Ng also more famously designed the stamp in the Hong Kong 100 dollar note. We visited his shop in “Chop Alley” to find out more. https://www.scmp.com/culture/man-designed-famous-stamp-hong-kongs-100-note/article/3134903?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/man-designed-famous-stamp-hong-kongs-100-note/article/3134903?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 May 2021 08:09:03 +0000 For centuries, Chinese chairs have fascinated designers and art collectors alike. The iconic horseshoe and yoke back designs have been replicated over and over. A luxury once reserved for the emperor and his officials, a chair from China’s imperial period can fetch thousands of dollars at auction. The most expensive set went for $9.68 million at a Christie’s auction in New York in March 2015. The set comprised four 17th-century armchairs from the collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, a... https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-chair-history/article/3130226?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-chair-history/article/3130226?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Apr 2021 06:51:43 +0000 Rolex, Breguet, Patek Philippe—they’re some of the biggest names in luxury watches. But there are also many independent makers whose designs rival those of the big brands, both in quality and price. Independent watchmakers stand in contrast to the big companies that make up a majority of the market. They more or less make the watches themselves, injecting their own personalities into designs. Most spend months working on just one piece, a culmination of skill, passion, and patience. Lin Yonghua... https://www.scmp.com/culture/shenzhen-chinese-watchmaker-lin-yong-hua/article/3119096?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/shenzhen-chinese-watchmaker-lin-yong-hua/article/3119096?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Jan 2021 09:53:30 +0000 Lian Chengchun has a unique job: fixing ancient Chinese books. For the past decade, the 32-year-old antique book fixer has painstakingly restored dozens of frayed, rotted, and torn manuscripts—all by hand. What is antique book fixing? China classifies antique books as those printed before 1912. There are an estimated 50 million in China, according to one report, and only about 20 million have been preserved, creating a daunting task for antique book fixers like Lian. Many books have been... https://www.scmp.com/culture/delicate-and-dying-art-fixing-ancient-chinese-books-hand/article/3112998?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/delicate-and-dying-art-fixing-ancient-chinese-books-hand/article/3112998?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Dec 2020 05:19:13 +0000 Tibet has one of the harshest climates in the world. The air is cold and dry, while the high elevation leaves people exposed to strong sunlight. To cope, Tibetans have been using yak milk and butter for generations to protect their skin. The hearty yak has been indispensable to people living on the Tibetan Plateau, where inhospitable conditions mean few animals can survive. (Read more: Why yaks are called the ‘treasure’ of Tibet) Yak wool is used to make clothes, blankets, and tents, while the... https://www.scmp.com/culture/rare-look-how-tibetan-yak-milk-soap-made/article/3112135?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/rare-look-how-tibetan-yak-milk-soap-made/article/3112135?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Dec 2020 10:22:16 +0000 Discerning tea drinkers will tell you that water temperature is important when brewing tea. But how do you know when it’s hot enough? In China, there is a ceramic toy called a pee-pee boy, with a novel way of letting you know when your water is hot enough for brewing tea. Pour water over the little guy, and if he starts to “pee,” you’re good to go. A pee-pee boy is what’s called a tea pet. Tea pets are ceramic toys that react to hot water. Tea drinkers often have them on the table for... https://www.scmp.com/culture/how-chinese-pee-pee-boy-thermometer-works/article/3107792?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/how-chinese-pee-pee-boy-thermometer-works/article/3107792?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Oct 2020 08:54:06 +0000 Growing up in a small town in China, Sun Shiqian’s family couldn’t afford toys. So when he was bored, he would fashion toy robots out of cardboard, inspired by the machines he saw in TV shows like Gundam and Transformers. When he went to college, he worked part-time to save up for a $130 Optimus Prime toy model. Years later, he would build his own. “It’s what I dreamed of as a kid,” says Sun, now a robot engineer. “Over 20 years later, I got to make a real life-size one. That was surreal.” In... https://www.scmp.com/culture/obsessed-chinese-engineer-who-built-his-own-optimus-prime/article/3093953?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/obsessed-chinese-engineer-who-built-his-own-optimus-prime/article/3093953?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Jul 2020 10:55:15 +0000 Twenty years ago, Maggie Cheung dazzled viewers when she appeared in Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love in an elegant, form-fitting traditional Chinese dress known as qipao 旗袍. Over the course of the film, she would emerge in a succession of 21 distinct designs, each so form-fitted to her character, Mrs. Chan, that it seemed like she had been poured into them. Tailored to tightly hug a woman’s figure, the qipao—also known by the Cantonese cheongsam 长衫—is often characterized by a high, starched... https://www.scmp.com/culture/qipao-cheongsam-origins-hong-kong/article/3086358?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/qipao-cheongsam-origins-hong-kong/article/3086358?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 May 2020 09:55:56 +0000 For over five years, Xian Qiwen has been carving out dried insects and turning them into elaborate mechanical pieces. Known as branchmonkey on Chinese social media, Xian is part of a growing online community of steampunk enthusiasts in China. They share images of their otherworldly creations and exchange advice on how to build them. (Read more: Meet the artist who makes wearable bamboo cats) Xian’s sculptures exaggerate the features of the critters he modifies. His scorpion, for example, has a... https://www.scmp.com/culture/steampunk-insects-engineer-china/article/3085443?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/steampunk-insects-engineer-china/article/3085443?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 May 2020 08:04:28 +0000 Hong Kong is known for its world-class tailors and alteration shops, but with the coronavirus keeping most people indoors, these stores have seen their business dwindle. To stay afloat, many of them have come up with a novel solution: making DIY masks out of fabric. As demand for facial protection rises amid the Covid-19 pandemic, fabric shops in the working-class neighborhood of Sham Shui Po have shifted to selling cloth masks. (Read more: Why you see masks everywhere in Asia but not in the... https://www.scmp.com/culture/coronavirus-hong-kong-tailors-find-unlikely-gold-mine-making-face-masks-during-pandemic/article/3081724?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/coronavirus-hong-kong-tailors-find-unlikely-gold-mine-making-face-masks-during-pandemic/article/3081724?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Apr 2020 08:36:40 +0000 Red lanterns can be seen in Chinese communities around the world during Lunar New Year, and one small village in China is responsible for making most of them. The village of Tuntou in Hebei Province, about 200 miles outside Beijing, produces 80% of China’s lanterns. Nearly every family here has a workshop for making lantern parts. Altogether, the village produces more than 80 million lanterns every year, supplying markets across China, Asia, and beyond. It collectively brings in $160 million... https://www.scmp.com/culture/china-lantern-village/article/3047611?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/china-lantern-village/article/3047611?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jan 2020 15:23:56 +0000 Once upon a time, most movie theaters used hand-painted posters to advertise their films. These massive billboards graced the walls of theaters around the world. Today, very few are commissioned, and the artists who create them are a dying breed. Yan Jhen-fa is one of them. The 67-year-old is the last professional movie poster painter in Taiwan. He’s been doing it for nearly 50 years and works for Chuan Mei, a discount theater with film relics that should belong in a museum—except they’re still... https://www.scmp.com/culture/taiwan-last-movie-poster-painter/article/3024234?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/taiwan-last-movie-poster-painter/article/3024234?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Aug 2019 04:00:08 +0000 Introduced in the 1920s, neon signs quickly proliferated and became a symbol of Hong Kong, gracing every street corner of the densely populated city. But nowadays, most of those lights have been replaced by cheaper and more energy-efficient LEDs. In the past two decades, up to 90% of Hong Kong’s neon signs have disappeared. Wu Chi-kai is one of the city’s last remaining neon sign makers. “Thirty years ago, when Hong Kong’s economy was its peak, all the signs and stage lights were made with... https://www.scmp.com/travel/hong-kong-fading-neon-lights/article/3019495?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/travel/hong-kong-fading-neon-lights/article/3019495?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Jul 2019 11:02:38 +0000 The city of Yixing in eastern China is synonymous with teapots. Here, virtually ever street corner has an artisan specialized in the craft of making teaware. Their most well-known export is the reddish-brown Yixing teapot. Often found in curio stores and specialty tea shops, they’re ubiquitous in Chinese communities around the world. In Yixing, their hometown, the teapots have been popular for over 500 years. Tea connoisseurs believe that the porous pots can absorb and enhance the flavor of... https://www.scmp.com/food/china-yixing-teapot/article/3018649?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/food/china-yixing-teapot/article/3018649?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Jul 2019 08:47:16 +0000 Kinmen, a cluster of small islands off the eastern coast of China, stands in the crosshairs of an international conflict, though you wouldn’t know it visiting there. The subtropical islands have become a popular tourist destination because of its quaint villages, quiet beaches—and a factory that makes knives out of discarded bombs. The factory, called Chin Ho Li, has been in continuous operation since 1937, when it used artillery shells fired during World War II to make knives. Its products are... https://www.scmp.com/travel/taiwan-kinmen-knives-bomb-factory/article/3013421?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/travel/taiwan-kinmen-knives-bomb-factory/article/3013421?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Jun 2019 09:28:22 +0000 These bowls, called linglong (玲珑) porcelain, used to be everywhere in the West. And they all come from this one town in China. We visited one of the last factories that still makes this style of blue and white porcelain, and deciphered the symbols that cover the bowl. https://www.scmp.com/videos/inside-factory-makes-those-blue-chinese-bowls-you-see-everywhere/article/3000527?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/videos/inside-factory-makes-those-blue-chinese-bowls-you-see-everywhere/article/3000527?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Jan 2019 11:13:48 +0000 It’s never too late to achieve your dreams. Yu Ermei, 88, has spent the last decade building herself a palace out of porcelain. “Everyone told me, ‘You shouldn’t do it, you’re too old. But I said, ‘I have do it. Don’t stop me from doing what I want to do.’” https://www.scmp.com/travel/88-year-old-woman-who-built-herself-porcelain-palace/article/3000315?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/travel/88-year-old-woman-who-built-herself-porcelain-palace/article/3000315?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Jan 2019 15:07:52 +0000 Hong Kong artist Jinno Neko makes wearable cat and dog sculptures that are a modern twist on traditional Chinese and Japanese paper crafts. https://www.scmp.com/videos/wearable-bamboo-art-artisans-ep-7/article/3000483?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/videos/wearable-bamboo-art-artisans-ep-7/article/3000483?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Jan 2019 15:03:51 +0000 Antique markets are a fixture in Chinese communities around the world, where one can find anything from worn-out amulets to porcelain allegedly dating to dynasties past. Where I live in Hong Kong, there’s an entire street called Upper Lascar Row dedicated to old, worn-out things. Yet I learned the hard way that some of the items there are actually fake. After a while, a vibrant “antique” jade coaster I bought had begun to stain my wooden dining table a curious shade of green. When I picked up... https://www.scmp.com/culture/market-where-you-can-buy-dug-antiques/article/3000292?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/market-where-you-can-buy-dug-antiques/article/3000292?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Dec 2018 16:09:03 +0000 Hong Kong street artist Dom started making his own furniture because he couldn’t afford to buy them. Now, his wood pieces sell better than his street art. https://www.scmp.com/videos/wood-street-artisans-ep-2/article/3000238?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/videos/wood-street-artisans-ep-2/article/3000238?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Nov 2018 05:05:05 +0000 Yelang Valley lies on the gentle slopes of a remote hill outside Guiyang, the capital of southern China’s Guizhou province. It is home to a surreal park dotted with eerie representations of faces, deities and creatures from Chinese mythology. The aesthetic inspiration, however, is a European, the legendary Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, and like his artistic hero, the mastermind behind the 50-acre park, Song Peilun, will not live to see his greatest creation to its end. Although Song started on... https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-gaudi-builds-playground-monsters-guizhou/article/3000149?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-gaudi-builds-playground-monsters-guizhou/article/3000149?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Sep 2018 05:41:45 +0000 This man is one of the last mahjong carvers in Hong Kong. Mahjong carving is a dying art as machines replace this traditional craft. Episode 1 of our new Artisan video series. https://www.scmp.com/videos/carving-mahjong-hand-artisans-ep-1/article/3000127?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/videos/carving-mahjong-hand-artisans-ep-1/article/3000127?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Sep 2018 04:56:48 +0000 Angel Chang is a Chinese-American fashion designer from New York City and works with indigenous groups in Guizhou, China to create textiles for the international luxury fashion market. These ethnic groups (Dong, Miao, and Buyi) all have a tradition of making their own textiles and weaving the raw materials together from scratch. Dyes, like indigo and persimmon leaves, are blended and applied by hand. Cotton is grown around the villages and silk is harvested from silkworms. We interviewed Chang... https://www.scmp.com/videos/bringing-indigenous-chinese-textiles-luxury-fashion-market/article/2156999?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/videos/bringing-indigenous-chinese-textiles-luxury-fashion-market/article/2156999?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Jul 2018 09:00:45 +0000 The Shanghai watch company has the distinction of being China’s very first watch factory, and over 60 years ago, produced the country’s first mechanical watch. Compared with Swiss counterparts, the first Shanghai watch was inexpensive, at just 120 yuan, or $295 in today’s dollars. But against the country’s average monthly income of 36 yuan, the watch was largely an aspirational luxury item for the masses. And from the 1950s up until the ’70s, everyone in China wanted one, because the late... https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinas-first-mechanical-watch-still-total-steal/article/2153716?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinas-first-mechanical-watch-still-total-steal/article/2153716?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Jul 2018 06:15:00 +0000