High heels to bracelets, from wood
Print Edition
unlike traditional carpenters, An Xu has created exquisite woodcrafts such as high heels and bracelets, which have brought him nearly 9 million followers online in just two years.
With a white linen shirt and black jogger pants, An, 26, constructed a wooden tower in front of his camera in a wooden house in Longshan Village, Fenggang County in southwest China鈥檚 Guizhou Province.
Since childhood, An has had a passion for painting.
He believes that laid the foundation for his career.
鈥淚n primary school, my male classmates often asked me to paint dragons on them.
鈥淎nd they would even give me some money for each painting,鈥 he recalled.
An鈥檚 parents, however, did not share the same enthusiasm for his passion for painting.
鈥淭he walls of our house and blank spaces in textbooks were covered with his paintings,鈥 said Yang Zhengju, An鈥檚 mother.
Dropping out of high school in 2011, An left for coastal Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces and tried several jobs in garages, car washes and milk tea shops, but he felt none of them suited him.
His parents hoped that An would find a stable job.
In 2019, Yang advised An to learn furniture manufacturing with a skillful carpenter in their hometown.
To his parent鈥檚 surprise, An dove right into the new craft.
It only took him about three months to master the techniques.
Today, An and carpentry are inseparable.
An said his first memory of carpentry came from his late grandfather who built the wooden house where their family lives now.
鈥淲hen I was a child, my father made his living as a carpenter and was always invited by local villagers to design furniture,鈥 recalled An Jiaxiao, An鈥檚 51-year-old father.
In the past, carpenters were busy.
Local villagers got used to living in wooden houses. Before every wedding ceremony, they would invite carpenters to prepare new cupboards and chairs to welcome new family members.
However, since the beginning of the 21st century, more people prefer brick-and-mortar houses and ready-made furniture over contracting carpenters. The changes have slashed the need for skilled carpenters, and fewer young people are willing to learn the ancient craft.
Over the past two years, An Xu continued to learn new skills by utilizing books and websites.
When faced with difficult structures, he searches for teaching videos on popular video-sharing platforms and practices the technique over and over again.
An is now obsessed with the world of carpentry. He spends hours making furniture and gadgets, recording the process and posting the videos online.
鈥淎t the very beginning, I just uploaded videos on social media platforms to see whether I could make some money if they went viral,鈥 An said. 鈥淏ut now, I care more about the inheritance of the traditional craft.鈥
Last year, An made an ink marker, but few knew what it was. An explained that Lu Ban, a legendary Chinese woodworker who lived around 2,500 years ago, invented the item.
鈥淲hile doing my favorite woodwork, I bring money and company to my family, which in my eyes is the best way of life,鈥 said An.
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