Gansu Hemp Shoes Turn From Family Hand-Made To Industrialized Production

A strong beam of sunlight penetrated through the window. hempen sandals Semifinished products are more colorful. Yang Xiaoqin in work clothes is teaching several "novice" how to hook up shoes. Her job is to make more rural women master skills and make half finished shoes for shoes at home.

Yang Xiaoqin is in a private enterprise called "desert row", which is located in the shoes factory. Tianshui in Gansu Gangu county. From the factory yard to the East, the mountain is called "the great mountain". In the many temples of the mountain, there is a "ancestor Fu Xi" who worshipped the ancestor of Chinese ancient mythology. Yang Xiaoqin's shoes have their origins in their hands.

According to legend, Fu Xi was born in Tianshui. Fu Xi, who is the head of the dragon, has been inspired by the net and has made grass into shoes. Historical materials also record that the production history of Tianshui hemp shoes can be traced back to the Eastern Han Dynasty. Because the fiber of big hemp is strong and durable, it has become the main material for people to make straw shoes in Tianshui area of Gansu. It is called "hemp shoes", and its production technology has matured to the Tang Dynasty.

In the long history of material conditions, local people generally wear this kind of shoes. Later, people's shoes experienced the evolution of cotton, chemical fiber, leather and other materials.

"In addition to over 200 workers in the factory, there are more than 100 family women in the surrounding rural areas doing semi finished products. After the young adults go out, women can take care of the elderly and care for their children, and they can get a thousand yuan per month." Yang Xiaoqin said.

Gangu county is the first place in China to turn hemp shoes from household handwork to industrial production and market operation. At present, thousands of people in nearby Qingshui county and Zhangjiachuan county have been involved in the processing of linen shoes and raw materials. There are only more than 2600 people in Gangu alone.

"Before, Gangu's shoes were mainly produced by a welfare factory set up for the disabled in the county, and then sold to local people in local stores. In 1996, there came an American named Colin. Zhang Biao, the production manager of Gangu county's Ramie shoes manufacturing Co., Ltd., said that the company is now developed by a welfare factory.

This pure handmade, pure plant material and shoes with foot care function have attracted Coyn. He began to push hemp shoes overseas. Although this period of cooperation is not long, let this kind of shoes originating from ancient Chinese mythology go step by step towards the world.

"In order to integrate with the international market, we have invited three designers from Japan, France and Italy to train 2 professional designers in the enterprise and set up a technological R & D center in Shenzhen." Desert line Linen woven shoes industry Wang Yingwu, chairman and general manager of limited liability company, said.

Now Gangu shoes have completely divorced from its original shoe upper and shoelace simple appearance, extending out of Rome style, business casual style, home style, sports style and many other types.

The new "myth" has also been born in the past 20 years. Since the beginning of its export in 1996, over 90% of Gangu's shoes have been sold to more than 20 countries and regions in the form of orders, including the United States, Japan, France, South Korea, Italy, Spain, Singapore, Hongkong and Taiwan.

Up to now, Gangu shoes have reached an annual production of 2 million pairs, achieving annual sales income of more than 50 million yuan, foreign exchange earning $about 3000000, and paying taxes of 4 million 600 thousand yuan.

"Influenced by the global economic environment, the international market has fluctuated in recent years, so we intend to enter the Chinese market next. But the biggest problem is how to make the Chinese understand the" shoes ". Wang Yingwu said.

In addition, Gangu shoe manufacturers, accustomed to foreign trade orders, have another confusion, that is, to adapt to the management and brand building of China's domestic ultra terminal sales. They have begun to reach large supermarkets in the region, contact interested dealers, and even open online stores. This road is relatively strange, but the pair of shoes is already on the way.