一位北京的年轻人最近辞去了办公室工作,开了一家小型商店专营中国传统手工艺品,而他的生意非常兴隆!让我们看看他的成功秘诀是什么。
A young man in Beijing quit his office job recently, and opened a small store selling traditional Chinese handicrafts made of herbs, and guess what his hairy monkey business is going well! Let's see what his secret to success is.
32-year-old Song Haofeng opened the store just two weeks ago. It's located in the east side of the Forbidden City. The store is called Mao Hou Xiao. Mao hou is Chinese for hairy monkey and Xiao is the surname of his mother. His family has been making hairy monkeys for more than a century. Song is the fifth generation successor of this old art.
A hairy monkey is made of Chinese herbs and the craft has a history of more than 150 years. The monkey's limbs are the legs of cicada slough and the body is Magnolia bud. Through delicate craftsmanship, they feature various themes about life. This one is a fortune teller. It takes a whole day to create from start to finish, and has a price tag of 160 yuan.
Song Haofeng's mother has been making hairy monkeys for nearly 30 years. Most of the products in the store are out of her hands. She feels very happy about what her son is doing.
Xiao Xiurong, craftswoman, said, "We used to make hairy monkeys in our spare time. Now my son has turned it into his profession. He has summed up the processes of the craftsmanship, and has also registered the trademark. I think young people are better in business than us. I feel so happy."
Song Haofeng is quite optimistic about the future of his old crafts. He says many young people like the hairy monkeys. They feel that the monkeys evoke memories of their childhood. As for the decline of many traditional arts, he emphasizes that the craftsmen should seek their own fortune.
Song Haofeng said, "We can't just count on the government to support the handicrafts. We have to rely on ourselves, to think about how to make the products creative and fit to the market. That's the only way for the old arts to survive."
Song also has another store in Qianmen, opened about two months ago. Business has been going quite well so far, selling 20 to 30 hairy monkeys each day in each store.
A customer said, "I had heard of the hairy monkeys. Today I have seen them and like them very much. My one is so cute and has such fine craftsmanship. I bought it for my home."
Song Haofeng is now learning to make hairy monkeys as good as his mother does. He says that he will also teach his child the craft.
CCTV's Hu Chao said, "In China, many traditional handicrafts are facing extinction. Some craftsmen say they need more policy and financial supports from the government. But more importantly ,they need to make their own efforts to make their products popular in the market."