Handmade Shoes For More Than 80 Years &Nbsp; Sanjiang Shoes Need To Rest.

Old Chengdu memory

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Once brilliant

Yesterday morning, a small courtyard at 40 flower arch street, Chengdu, was filled with various kinds of debris.

A large truck was carrying bricks and stones back and forth.

A more than 50 year old man stood at the door of a cottage and gazed at all this.

Behind him, a brand with "Chengdu Sanjiang shoe factory" was placed outside the factory building.

This is the last manual cloth shoe factory in the urban area of Chengdu. The shoe factory will be closed soon.

This man is Huang Xiande, 54 years old, and the contractor of this shoe factory.

He has been here for more than 30 years since he entered the factory in 1979.

Huang Xiande recalls that the shoe factory of Sanjiang, Chengdu, which has a history of more than 80 years, was formerly a handicraft workshop.

With the development of the market and in order to solve the employment problem, the government nationalized it and established a shoe factory.

In 1971, the factory moved from more than 3 li to the present flower arch street, and Sanjiang cloth shoes began to be well known to Chengdu residents.

"The most prosperous 80s of last century, there are more than 300 people in the factory. There are nearly 10000 pairs of shoes produced every month, and the market is in short supply."

"At that time, to enter the state-owned enterprises, especially envy."

Embarrassment of cloth shoes

With the rise of the market economy, the state-run Sanjiang shoe factory in Chengdu, which was so powerful, was faced with great challenges.

1992 was the most difficult day of Huang Xiande's life.

"With the restructuring of state-owned enterprises in 90s, a number of state-owned shoe factories should be eliminated and closed."

Sanjiang shoe factory also ranks among them. "Although I have worked in the factory for many years, I have to lay off."

Huang Xiande, who was laid off, secured a security job.

"Those of us who have made shoes for life, except for shoes, will not do anything else!" a few years later, a piece of good news came that the shoe factory of Chengdu Sanjiang had to restore a workshop to produce cloth shoes. Huang Xiande, as the veteran worker in the factory, took the lead in winning the battle and eventually became a contractor.

Huang Xiande led the seven or eight old shoemakers who were laid off together, and began the brilliance of the late stage of Sanjiang cloth shoes.

"Chengdu people like to wear cloth shoes, especially our Sanjiang cloth shoes, light, comfortable, breathable."

However, in the 10 years he contracted for the Sanjiang shoe factory, it is the most intense stage of China's market economy competition.

The development of China's shoe industry is stagnant, while sneakers and leather shoes are hitting the traditional cloth shoes with unprecedented momentum.

Speaking of the experience of the contracted shoe factory, Huang Xiande said that the original idea was very simple. He just wanted to use the way of contracting shoes factory to watch the devotion to hand-made cloth shoes.

Every day, Huang Xiande and several of his "comrades in arms" are busy in two workshops with an area of less than 30 square meters. They insist on using traditional hand-made cloth shoes.

"Making a pair of cloth shoes requires more than 30 processes, and every process can not be sloppy at all."

Huang Xiande told reporters that only the cloth made of men's shoes is 28 thick, and the cloth reaches 1.6 meters long.

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Lost handicraft

With the change of people's consumption habits, cloth shoes

Nowadays, few young people are willing to learn how to make shoes.

Many years ago, Huang Xiande wanted to inherit the traditional cloth shoes. "I hope that young people who want to make cloth shoes will never find them."

"Now I am alone, and I insist on staying in the factory."

Huang Xiande said that when old customers made cloth shoes, he made a pair.

If he is really busy, he will go to the former two "comrades in arms" to help him.

Yesterday morning, the reporter saw the Yellow mother-in-law who came to pick up cloth shoes at the scene.

Huang Popo is 70 years old and wears Sanjiang cloth shoes for more than 40 years.

In September of this year, she returned to Chengdu specially from Shanghai, and made several pairs of cloth shoes.

When Huang Xiande said that the shoe factory was about to be closed, she lost her face. "Then I can't wear such comfortable cloth shoes again."

Huang Xiande has no plans for the future of Sanjiang shoe factory.

Now, 40 of the flower arch street has been pformed, and the two workshop that Huang Xiande has contracted is also in it.

After all the yard was renovated, he said he should take a rest.