Centennial Handmade Cloth Shoes "Dragon Element" Are Popular In The Market

On February 29, Yang Xili was cutting the upper. Photographed by Cui Xianfei

On February 29, Yang Xili, the third generation inheritor of Hengshui Intangible Cultural Heritage Fucheng Handmade Cloth Shoes Skills, was busy making "dragon element" cloth shoes when he walked into the manual cloth shoes workshop in Cuiyangzhuang Village, Wangji Township, Fucheng County, Hengshui City, Hebei Province.

It is reported that Yang Xili's family has been engaged in the production of handmade cloth shoes for nearly a hundred years. On the basis of retaining the traditional skills, they have improved and innovated, and formed the current 28 processes of shoe sole fitting, upper sewing, shoe fastening, last fitting, etc. In 2019, Fucheng handmade cloth shoes were included in the Hengshui municipal intangible cultural heritage list.

At present, Yang Xili has more than 20 varieties of hand-made cloth shoes, which radiates and drives more than 500 people in surrounding villages to engage in the processing of hand-made cloth shoes, with an annual per capita income of 30000 yuan and annual sales of more than 100000 pairs of hand-made cloth shoes. At the same time, Yang Xili has closely followed the market demand and integrated the elements of the Year of the Dragon into the cloth shoes. Now, he has received more than 1000 orders for cloth shoes. (By Cui Zhiping, Miao Fengqiang, Li Jincan, Cui Xianfei)

On February 29, Yang Xili was sewing the upper. Photographed by Cui Xianfei

On February 29, Yang Xili was installing shoe soles. Photographed by Cui Xianfei

On February 29, Yang Xili was stretching the last for cloth shoes. Photographed by Cui Xianfei

On February 29, Yang Xili was pressing shoes. Photographed by Cui Xianfei

On February 29, Yang Xili was making cloth shoes. Photographed by Cui Xianfei

On February 29, Yang Xili was turning over his shoes. Photographed by Cui Xianfei

On February 29, Yang Xili was fitting last for cloth shoes. Photographed by Cui Xianfei

On February 29, Yang Xili was repairing the soles of cloth shoes. Photographed by Cui Xianfei

On February 29, Yang Xili was removing excess film from the sole. Photographed by Cui Xianfei

On February 29, Yang Xili was dedusting cloth shoes. Photographed by Cui Xianfei

On February 29, Yang Xili showed his well made cloth shoes with elements of the Year of the Dragon. Photographed by Cui Xianfei

(Source: China News Network)