In the township of Gufeng, Anhui province, there is a small workshop with just a couple of workers. This workshop produces something called oiled cloth umbrella. Only 3 kinds of materials are needed to make it: moso bamboo, cotton cloth, and Tung oil. This man is the head of the workshop, Mr. Zheng. He has been making umbrellas for over three decades.

" The lowest price is the cost price."

This man is Mr. Zheng's father-in-law, the most productive worker here.

" I just have to take good care of it."

And this is Mr. Zheng's aunt and her husband.

" Old people don't cuddle." "I'm doing it. Just keep filming." "Old people don't cuddle."

——Gufeng Oiled Cloth Umbrella from Anhui——

Mr. Zheng's aunt and her husband live in the courtyard house next to the workshop.

"When we got married, we were 18 years old. We met when making umbrellas. We worked well together and we started chatting. And we made each other happy so we began to date."

"Old pal, it's time to eat!"

"What's the most important thing(about making umbrellas)?Good weather. The mold won't grow on the umbrella's frame. It will be troublesome if there is mold."

However, it's the rainy season now. Molds are growing on the umbrellas' wooden frames. It's always sunny for a while and rainy for a while. Right after you put the umbrellas in the yard, it starts to rain again.

" My goodness, it's raining again. The umbrellas' wooden frames are not dried, and people are waiting to buy them."

"As you see, What we have is just a workshop, with just a dozen workers, right? I am, as said before, the boss, the director and the salesman as well. I do all these jobs. Yeah，all of them. "

"It's always raining. Just give me sunshine for a little while, and this would be dry for sure."

?The reason that people are afraid of molds, is that all the frames of umbrellas are made of fresh moso bamboo. The moso bamboo sticks came from the mountain. They haven't gone through any chemical process. Rainy days are their worst enemy. However, once they are fully dried, molds will never re-emerge.

"Sunny days are best for making them, and rainy days are best for selling."

Apart from the wooden frame, the umbrella's cloth is susceptible to molds, too. The best way is coating it with Tung oil.

"The weather today is unfit for drying umbrellas."" It'll be even worse tomorrow. It's going to rain."

Tung oil is major ingredient for making umbrellas in southern China. Coating the fabric evenly with Tung oil could keep it in good shape for a dozen years. Local vendors love to shelter under such umbrellas from sunlight or rain.

"Do the top first. Don't put any more oil up there. It's too thick there again."

Generation after generation, people in Gufeng used oiled cloth umbrellas. Now they have been replaced by cheap plastic and nylon umbrellas. However, Mr. Zheng's oiled cloth umbrellas are still popular, because they are strong and can stand wear and tear.

"How much is an umbrella?"

"30 yuan for one."

?"There is no other umbrella with such a high price."

"We have no choice now. It's handmade, all handmade. Now the labor costs are very high!"

Mr. Zheng's aunt and her husband are able to earn decent wages working here.

"(Mr. Zheng) is my nephew. Son of my brother. If we make some money, it will ease the burden on my son. We need to live a little bit better by ourselves. Young people are capable. They are capable. They're very successful at running the umbrella business.?

"Sometimes when I'm in a bad mood, I scribble on it. I drew this one(the bodyguard) just for fun."

"He's smoking a cigarette. The bodyguard is smoking a cigarette."

"Don't think too much, just work hard, making umbrellas whole-heartedly, developing our business whole-heartedly, making yellow umbrellas with heart and soul, just devoting to my job."

The cloth of Tung oiled umbrellas is made of ordinary cotton cloth. The task of cutting cloth falls mainly on Mr. Zheng's father-in-law.

This factory belongs to my son-in-law, and I just have to take good care of it. I sleep here at night guarding it.

With the arrival of customers' orders, Mr. Zheng wastes no time to dry these oiled cloth umbrellas. He takes the umbrellas to windy fields so that the circulation of air could accelerate the drying process. Finally，this batch of newly-made Gufeng oiled cloth umbrellas is ready to delivery.

It's true that making umbrellas is a tiring job. But just as a saying goes, "tired but joyful," or like "painful but joyful," something like that.

?---End---

Gufeng:孤峰鎮(zhèn)

Moso bamboo:毛竹

Tung oil:桐油

Cuddle：/'k?d(?)l/??摟，抱

Gufeng Oiled Cloth Umbrella from Anhui：安徽孤峰油布傘

Mold：/m?uld/ 霉

Susceptible：/s?'sept?b(?)l/ 能經(jīng)受的

Vendor：/'vend?/ 供應(yīng)商（小商販）

Strong and can stand wear and tear：結(jié)實(shí)耐用。

Decent wages：穩(wěn)定的收入

Scribble：/'skr?b(?)l/ . 亂寫(xiě)；濫寫(xiě)；潦草地書(shū)寫(xiě)

Batch：/b?t?/? 一批

?---Source---

Chinese Arts and Crafts：

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Co4y1k7aC?p=1

中文版：

《中華百工》：

https://culture-travel.cctv.com/2017/05/11/VIDE38UtcXjSX3WvSItteU7j170511.shtml