CRI听力:Chinese food documentary booms hand-made iron pans industry

83-year-old Wang Lifang is a blacksmith in Zhangqiu, a district famous for iron work since the Han Dynasty about 2,200 years ago. Wang has spent almost all his life here making handmade woks.

He said that it takes 12 different steps to make a Zhangqiu iron wok, which needs to be hammered 36,000 times until it is as clear as a mirror.

"Exactly 36,000 times. The iron wok can't be made by being hammered by one less time. If you don't treat it seriously, you will not get a good-looking wok."

Wang's story and his experience of making handmade iron woks was featured in the newest season of A Bite of China, a food culture documentary with an audience in China of hundreds of millions of viewers.

Liu Zimu is head of the iron wok factory featured in the documentary. He said all 2,000 woks in his workshop were sold only 10 minutes after the episode was broadcast.

"We were told that so many visitors came to our shop and pushed on the door to see if the shop was open during the Spring Festival holiday that the door was slightly broken. So we came to check if everything is okay. Visitors have been swarming into the shop since we opened the door."

Liu Zimu's workshop has received hundreds of thousands of orders for handmade iron woks in less than 10 days since the broadcast of A Bite of China, with sales from online shop increasing by 6,000 times.

The handmade wok industry has long been threatened by the development of modern machines and has seen a shortage of qualified craftsmen.

Almost all the wok making workshops were closed about 20 years ago.

The burst in popularity for handmade iron woks stoked by A Bite of China has shored up confidence for the industry but also has aroused concerns.

Liu Zimu said it will take the workshop two years to fulfill all the orders since there are only about 50 craftsmen working and it takes a lot of time to make an iron wok.

"I hope that people do not buy woks blindly, so that people who truly understand the charm of the creations of our craftsmen and in need of them can get access to the wok."

The craftsmanship of blacksmiths has been listed as part of Shandong's intangible cultural heritage.