Sole of discretion
Many Beijingers will have heard of Nei Lian Sheng, the shoe shop whose own shoes date back to 1853. Locals often refer to them as qian ceng di (shoes with a thousand layers). The shop finally revealed the shoes' secret during the largest ever show of Chinese folk craftsmanship at the National Agricultural Exhibition Center.
The cloth-soled show is not precisely 1,000 layers, of course, but is nonetheless made in multiple layers according to a strict technique. There are more than 30 intricate procedures among the 100-plus steps involved in making one pair of shoes. Each procedure is precisely defined, according to Wang Binsheng (front right), an on-the-spot demonstrator.
The sole, for instance, requires shoemakers to cut the shape, position the cloth, hammer the sole into place, insulate the shoe and stitch the twine to make the unique qian ceng di shoe bottom. This type of shoe is made of many layers of cloth stitched together.