Fang Shaohuang (2nd R) discusses with his family on the making of dragon boats at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, workers in Fangzhuang Village are working flat out to service orders for dragon boats from both home and abroad.
Dubbed "the Dragon Boat Village", Fangzhuang has a history of dragon boat making for over 700 years. Every year, over 200 boats are sold from here to the world.
Fang Shaohuang, an inheritor of Fangzhuang dragon boat making skills, a Fuzhou city-level intangible cultural heritage, has been fixing and making dragon boats for over 50 years. As the third-generation inheritor of the family, Fang has insisted in making traditional boats only by hands with tools inherited from elder generations.
According to Fang, making a dragon boat needs to be particular both in selecting raw materials and in making procedures. The boat mainly uses over 40-year-old Chinese fir wood or camphorwood grown up in the northern mountainous area of Fujian Province as the materials, and it needs to go through numerous processes such as making the frames, polishing, drawing, painting and installing the finely carved dragon head, before finally completed.
"I hope the traditional craft will be passed down for generations, and more people can have the chance to know the culture of dragon boat," said Fang Shaohuang. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
Fang Shaohuang checks a completed dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, May 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
Fang Shaohuang (2nd R) gives instructions as workers manage to transport a dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, May 31, 2023. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
Fang Shaohuang checks a completed dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, May 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
Fang Shaohuang checks a completed dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, May 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
Fang Shaohuang checks a completed dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, May 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
Fang Jianwei, a fourth-generation inheritor of Fangzhuang dragon boat making skills, wipes a completed dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, May 31, 2023. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
Fang Shaohuang (L) teaches his nephew Fang Jianwei to make dragon boats at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
A worker paints the head of a dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
Workers make a dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
A dragon boat is pictured at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
A worker makes dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
A worker makes a dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
A worker makes a dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
Fang Shaohuang wipes the head of a dragon boat before delivering it to a customer at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
A worker paints the heads of dragon boats at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
Fang Jianwei, a fourth-generation inheritor of Fangzhuang dragon boat making skills, makes a dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
A worker uses an ink marker to draw straight lines for a dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
Fang Shaohuang makes a dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
Workers make a dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
A worker makes a dragon boat at a dragon boat factory in Fangzhuang Village, Fuzhou City of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
