Once neglected, oilpaper umbrella gets back its shine

When nylon and steel frame umbrellas appeared in the 1960s and 1970s, the oilpaper umbrella began to die out, and Fuyang's oilpaper umbrella industry stagnated for nearly 20 years.

In 1989, the Party secretary of Wen's hometown of Jinzhu village approached Wen and asked him to restart the production of oilpaper umbrellas.

Faced with dying craftsmanship and the village's dwindling economy, Wen took up his father's profession and embarked on a project to revive the art.

He has visited numerous masters over the years to hone his umbrella-making skills, and during the process he has created his own style of making, which expanded the crafting process from 70 to 106 steps.

"The Japanese and Thais have also done a good job in the development and innovation of oilpaper umbrellas," Wen said.

"So, as the inheritor of this intangible culture in Zhejiang province, I have a responsibility and obligation to make oilpaper umbrella-making shine again. We need to work with the government to make more efforts, and I hope that one day, the oilpaper umbrella will become a national gift."