00:00For decades, workshops like this one have made Chongshan Village in Suzhou, China,
00:10famous as a home of Buddhist art.
00:12Artisans chisel and shave and paint until they have fine works fit for temples.
00:17But these days, the village's workshops have become popular photography backdrops
00:21as tourists come to enjoy images of workers focused on their tasks.
00:26Originally, these statues were the products of economic necessity,
00:30a craft that local farmers honed to keep earning money when not out in their fields.
00:34People like Ms. Gu started learning early, doing what she calls child labor.
00:39But times have changed. China's economy has boomed.
00:44Artisans here say the markets become saturated over the past ten years.
00:48Some say they don't want their children to have to work so bitterly hard just to eke out a living.
00:53But times have changed. China's economy has boomed.
01:09Artisans here say the markets become saturated over the past ten years.
01:13Some say they don't want their children to have to work so bitterly hard just to eke out a living.
01:18And young people hardly need persuading.
01:21You won't find a single young apprentice here.
01:23With few customers and fewer prospects for making a career, the shops are facing closure.
01:39The smell of sawdust and paint perhaps destined to be only a fading memory in this corner of eastern China.
01:45Klein Wong and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
Comments