Smart strategy revives shoe brand

After image makeover, Neiliansheng's handmade product endears itself to younger consumers

Judge a man first by his shoes - so goes an old Beijing saying. Outdated it might be, but it shows that in the olden times, people of Beijing valued their shoes a great deal.

Cai Wenke, chief shoemaker of Neiliansheng, a time-honored Chinese brand best known for its "thousand-layered" shoes made of cotton, thinks many people in Beijing still value their shoes. He is out to fulfil their need for good shoes, having devoted more than a decade already to mastering the fine craft of shoemaking.