Story of traditional Chinese steelyard craftsman

With popularity of modern apparatuses for measurement of weight, craftsman struggles to protect the hand-made steelyards from dying out.

With tools inherited from her father 26 years ago, steelyard maker Liu Guangcui(劉廣翠) was busy setting scale marks, more than 200 in total, to a straight beam made of mahogany.

After the completion of the beam, Liu would assemble it with such components as a hook and beam sleeves made of copper. “To make a traditional Chinese steelyard, all the processes should be finished with hands”, said Liu, 48, a steelyard shop owner in Hefei city, capital of East China’s Anhui province.

Steelyard maker: Liu Guangcui

Videographer: Zhu Lixin

Editor: Yu Xiaoou