Beautiful chopsticks, mandarin duck chopsticks, chopsticks fried dough twist chopsticks, chopsticks, chopsticks, chopsticks and string chopsticks... These 2200 years of processing history background of the chopsticks (Qi Zhu), is the intangible cultural heritage protection project in Fujian, Shanghai World Expo Fujian museum exhibits.

　　

 

　　However, these necessities used to be on the table of Fuzhou people, but now they are hard to see in Fuzhou. There are only a few private enterprises left in the lacquer chopsticks factories that once spread all over Cangshan, Fuzhou. Recently, the reporter came to Tiantian chopsticks factory located in Qi'an village, Cangshan District, Fuzhou. Most of the exquisite painted chopsticks produced by the largest chopsticks factory in Fuzhou with a history of more than 30 years are sold to Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States. The picture shows that exquisite chopsticks were born here and entered thousands of households after packaging. Photo by Zhang Bin

　　

 

　The picture shows that workers in Fuzhou Tiantian chopsticks factory are pulling oil. Pulling oil is a very important process in the production of chopsticks. A pair of chopsticks need to pull five layers of oil before and after. Photo by Zhang Bin

　　

 

　　The picture shows workers making painted chopsticks in Tiantian chopsticks factory in Fuzhou. From the blank to the finished product, a pair of exquisite painted sheaths need to go through more than 20 large and small processes, such as blank selection, paint drawing, drying, decal and so on. Photo by Zhang Bin

　　

 

　　The picture shows that workers in Fuzhou Tiantian chopsticks factory are manually processing the painted chopsticks. Normally, it takes at least 15 days to make a pair of chopsticks. If it is a pair of painted chopsticks with complex technology, it will take workers more than 1 month. Photo by Zhang Bin

　　

 

　　Fuzhou Tiantian chopsticks factory has no assembly line, no young people, only skilled old workers. The factory has shrunk from more than 800 workers in the past peak period to more than 300 workers now. Because the core process of making lacquer sheaths still relies on traditional manual skills, it can not make full use of mechanical production, resulting in the brain drain and the aging of craftsmen. In addition, it is very hard to make painted sheaths. Sitting for a whole day, many young people are unwilling to do it for a long time. At present, most of the masters in the factory are middle-aged people. Photo by Zhang Bin

　　

 

　　It takes more than 20 processes to produce chopsticks from Fuzhou chopsticks factory. Photo by Zhang Bin

　　

 

　　Fuzhou Tiantian chopsticks factory has no assembly line, no young people, only skilled old workers. The factory has shrunk from more than 800 workers in the past peak period to more than 300 workers now. Because the core process of making lacquer sheaths still relies on traditional manual skills, it can not make full use of mechanical production, resulting in the brain drain and the aging of craftsmen. In addition, it is very hard to make painted sheaths. Sitting for a whole day, many young people are unwilling to do it for a long time. At present, most of the masters in the factory are middle-aged people. Photo by Zhang Bin

　　

 

　　The picture shows Zhang Guotian, who is over 60 years old in Fuzhou Tiantian chopsticks factory, inspecting the quality of chopsticks in the workshop. Zhang Guotian is the inheritor of Fuzhou lacquer technology. He was born in a common lacquer craftsman's home in Qi'an village. Now, Fuzhou Tiantian chopsticks factory, the largest chopstick factory in Fuzhou for more than 30 years, has the nickname of "chopstick king". After his painstaking research and improvement of the traditional lacquer sheath technology, he combined modern technology with the traditional Fuzhou bodiless technology to create his own Zhang signboard. Photo by Zhang Bin

 

 

　The picture shows the workers preparing to send the finished paint sheath to the workshop for packaging. It takes more than 20 processes to produce chopsticks from Fuzhou chopsticks factory. Photo by Zhang Bin

　　

 

　　In the old production workshop of Fuzhou Tiantian chopsticks factory, there are fewer and fewer painters. Now the painters in the factory are basically teachers who have been working for many years. One is less, and the painters industry will face the dilemma of no successor. Photo by Zhang Bin

　　

 

　　The picture shows workers in Fuzhou Tiantian chopsticks factory packing the painted chopsticks for export. In the 1990s, the export of chopsticks was restricted because the paint chopsticks produced in China were easy to take off and contained trace toxic elements. After Zhang Guotian spent a lot of money to invite experts to carry out formula experiments, it took five years to develop non-toxic, tasteless and non falling paint species, which met the international food hygiene standards. Photo by Zhang Bin

　　

 

Exquisite chopsticks were born here. After packaging, they entered thousands of households. Photo by Zhang Bin
All kinds of lacquer chopsticks produced by Fuzhou Tiantian chopsticks factory are like works of art. Photo by Zhang Bin