In a village outside Foshan in Guangdong Province, a family of three generations are known as the best dragon boat makers in the region. In a 2007 Dragon Boat Racing Competition, the top eight finishers were made by their hands.
In a modest workshop built with bamboo, the family has stayed busy ever since the Spring Festival.
As a second generation maker of the finely crafted wooden boats, Guan Su is now teaching his two sons who gave up former jobs as taxi drivers.
The master insists on making all the parts for his boats by hand. It takes about one month to put together a single boat from sawing the wood into the right shape and size to assembling and painting the boat in the likeness of a dragon.
Guan Su, dragon boat maker, says, "it is a tradition to build wooden dragon boats, and I think such a tradition should continue. "
Guan Su's eighty four-year-old father is still helping paint the dragons on the boats. He can count hundreds of dragon boats he has built with his own hands in a career spanning six decades.
Luo Dui, dragon boat maker, says, " as a boat maker, one has to stick to exact sizes of every piece of the wood. The slightest mistake would result in capsizing. "
Making dragon boats is hard work, but the family says every minute of toil pays off when one of their boats wins the race.
(CCTV May 28, 2009)
