Chalk at the exit of Liu Que Village. Xinhua News Agency reporter Tanaka Quan photographed
Wuhan, 2 May (Xinhua) -- A three-foot podium and a piece of chalk give birth to peach and plum and cultivate the four seasons. How is chalk produced? Yingcheng City, Hubei Province, is rich in gypsum, where the chalk industry is thriving, and many villages have embarked on the "road to riches" relying on the chalk industry, the most famous of which is Liu Que Village, which is called "Chalk Village" by the locals.
The production of more than 100 kinds of chalk, widely used in education, entertainment, industry and other fields; sales channels at home and abroad, exported to the United States, France, New Zealand, Russia and other countries; more than 150 member companies, to solve more than 4,000 rural labor employment...
With curiosity, the reporter visited during the "May Day" International Labor Day. Driving into Liu'an Village, on both sides of the road, in front of and behind the farmhouse, rows and layers of colorful and different shapes of chalk are gradually coming into view.
Chalk has been produced here for more than 70 years. From single-piece production to mass production, from carrying burdens and pushing scooters to truck transportation, the working masses have opened up a large market with their hands. Liu Hantao, secretary of the party branch of Liu Embankment Village, introduced that chalk making seems simple, but it is actually a craft.
Liu Xianping was laying out the chalk that had just come out of the mold. Xinhua News Agency reporter Tanaka Quan photographed
On the production line, Liu Xianping, a 58-year-old villager in Liu'an Village, is methodical, first dissolving the gypsum powder in water, then pouring it into a porous copper mold, and finally pouring chalk out of the mold... "The most important three steps in the chalk production process are called 'beating, grouting, and molding'. "Every step is a rigorous test of the chalk craftsman's skill.
Liu Xianping, who has more than 20 years of production experience, summed up a set of chalk production experience: "Before beating, water and gypsum powder should ensure a 5-to-4 ratio, more water chalk is fragile, less water is too hard to write; the beating time should not be too long, otherwise it will solidify in advance; the grouting time should also be moderate, the time is too short, the chalk is easy to break, and the time is too long to be difficult to naturally produce molds." ”
"Of course, there are other kinds of chalk that are more complicated to make." Liu Xianping added.
No matter how good the quality of chalk is, what if there is no market? The city was faced with such a problem. In 2000, the local chalk sales tended to be saturated, the chalk was slow to sell, and how to open up new markets became a problem.
At that time, Liu Xiaofeng, a lifelong famous university who went out by relying on his parents to sell chalk, chose to go retrograde. Seeing the rise and fall of his hometown, he realized that the traditional sales model is difficult to grow the industry, and it is necessary to integrate resources and open up new sales channels.
Liu Xiaofeng returned to Liu Yuan Village from Shenzhen and began to start a business. He tried to find sales on the Internet: making web pages, taking photos of products, signing up for major websites... After an extraordinary operation in the eyes of the villagers, Liu Xiaofeng received an order of 100,000 yuan from an education bureau in another province. Soon after, he received another international order. "It was Easter abroad, and the customer wanted more than 300,000 sets of chalk in the shape of eggs." Liu Xiaofeng said that this made him overjoyed.
Villagers in Liu'an village are drying chalk. Xinhua News Agency reporter Tanaka Quan photographed
The successive large orders made the villagers look at Liu Xiaofeng with astonishment. Under his unremitting efforts, Yingcheng Chalk made a brand, the highest production and sales volume has occupied 80% of the country's market share, many customers from the United States, France, New Zealand, Russia and other countries have also heard the news and signed orders.
The sales of chalk in Liu'an Village are getting farther and farther away, stemming from the villagers' unremitting innovation of chalk production. Breaking the original single variety of teaching chalk, Liu Que Village has produced more than 100 kinds of chalk, covering children's graffiti chalk, fluorescent chalk, ship chalk, wood chalk, pharmaceutical chalk, metal high temperature marker pen, etc., which are widely used in education, entertainment, industry and other fields, and are exported to more than 100 countries in China and around the world. In 2020 alone, the village's chalk sales reached 5 million boxes.
"While the industry is growing, the villagers' sense of gain is constantly improving. In the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, chalk has supported the villagers' 'umbrella of getting rich'. Liu Hantao said.
The reporter saw along the road in Liu'an Village that many villagers were laying and drying chalk. Tu Juhua, a villager, said: "It is not very tiring to do this business, mainly to be able to find employment at the doorstep of the family, and the salary is also quite a lot." Tu Juhua, 53, who is employed by Hubei Sanji Stationery Co., Ltd., now earns 3,000 to 5,000 yuan a month, which is particularly satisfying compared to working outside the home.
"It is most glorious to work to get rich. Yingcheng Chalk Association will encourage more people to join the chalk industry, further stimulate the vitality of rural revitalization, and make chalk a bright business card of Yingcheng. As the vice president of the association, Liu Xiaofeng is full of confidence in the development of the local chalk industry.