Exquisite paper umbrellas connect with younger generation
Social media and fashionable styles a big hit online
A young entrepreneur from the city of Xiangtan, Hunan province, has stepped out of the shade of his more traditional father to take advantage of social media and e-commerce, and give the age-old business of making and selling oil-paper umbrellas a new lease of life.
When Zhou Le was growing up, his father impressed upon him the cultural significance of the area's 600-year history of making oil-paper umbrellas.
Zhou Hanyu, the father, taught his son the intricate steps of making these decorative pieces.
In 2017, Zhou Le left home and the family's oil-paper umbrella business to study chemical materials at Changsha University in the provincial capital.
Not forgetting his family roots, the following year Zhou Le and nine friends decided to make some money on the side by selling oil-paper umbrellas online, with business moving along nicely.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he cooperated with a vlogger on popular video sharing platform Douyin to sell the umbrellas, and sales shot up. Soon, he was attracting millions of views and selling more than 500 umbrellas a day.
