The dying craft of balance scales

Cai Xuezhen and her husband Li Mande work in their shop that specializes in balance scales in Linhai city, East China's Zhejiang province. Cai, the fifth generation in her family to make and sell balance scales, started to learn the craft at 23, while the shop itself was built in 1861. Now 61, Cai finds there has been not only a drop in demand for the traditional weighing system, replaced by electronic devices, but also a lack of interest from her children in inheriting the craft. Her husband Li helps run the family business after retiring as a sailor, her last apprentice. [Photo/China News Service]