Exquisite hand-made chopsticks
"Making chopsticks is no easy job. Cutting the sticks alone requires 7 different procedures and 3 years to learn. Whilst mechanisation seeks speed, handicraft seeks greater perfection and traditional connotations." by Xian Lianguang, the last hand-made chopstick-maker in Guangzhou.
Xian Lianguang is 59-year-old and for decades has been sitting on a wooden stool in front of his tiny 7 square-metre shop located at No.175, Tiancheng Road in Yuexiu District Guangzhou. Every now and then a customer will stop and search amongst the huge variety of chopsticks for a set that suits him best. The chopsticks sold here are made of ebony, mahogany, pontianak wood, scented wood and red sandal wood.
Xian Lianguang and his chopsticks
Although Xian is a talented wooden furniture maker, he takes pride first of all in his chopstick-making skills. Making chopsticks is a family tradition started 3 generations ago. His grandfather opened the business back in 1889 by using the spare wood leftover when making a piece of furniture. With such a family background, by the age of 8-years-old, Xian was already a talented woodworker.
Every pair of chopsticks sold in Xian's store is hand-made with a precise shape and size. But in the past years and with the value given to traditions slowly fading away, business is becoming scarce.
"Nobody in Guangzhou produces chopsticks by hand anymore. My store is probably the last one selling hand-made chopsticks in the district." Xian said.
