The fishermen who live near the sea at the southernmost tip of the motherland have gathered in Zhanjiang since ancient times. As time goes by, the "old companions" who accompany them to make a living - the old wooden boats that have been exposed to rain, sun, waves and water - also come to an end.
In the past, these "retired" old ships could only accept the fate of being dismembered and burned; now, under the operation of a group of Zhanjiang "skilled hands", they have been broken into parts, reprocessed, assembled, or turned into furniture, or decorative wall panels, floors, exported to Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, and other places, and "sailed" overseas in another way to extend their lives on land.
Being chopped into firewood
was the fate of the old ships
Among the capable people who are good at turning decay into magic with their ingenuity, He Zhoujue, who was born in a family of fishermen, is a special being. He has been exposed to wooden boats since he was a child, and often travels with his family in coastal areas such as Yingzai Town and Anpu Town in Lianjiang City.
"At the peak, our family owned 6 ships. At that time, land transportation in Anpu area was not perfect, the surrounding area was mainly water transportation, and Anpu Port was still relatively prosperous." Recalling his youth, He Zhoujue said with a smile that the way he dealt with ships at that time was to help dismantle old ships.
After removing the large nails from the abandoned ship planks , people chopped the ship wood into firewood. Despite years of erosion, the ship's wood remains strong. He was young and lacked strength, so even with all his might, He Zhoujue could not break them.
"Most of the materials used to make wooden boats in Zhanjiang are catalpa, teak, iron pear, Pontianak and other hardwoods." He Zhoujue said that they are not only a good choice for shipbuilding, but also a good material for making furniture.
Workers are polishing old ship wood. Photo by Li Tingrui
More than ten years ago, He Zhoujue graduated from university and returned to his hometown Lianjiang. Once while wandering around Anpu Town, he saw ancient ship wood everywhere in Guanri Wood Industry Co., Ltd., as well as furniture exhibits made from these materials, and was instantly attracted. After a good chat with the company boss, He Zhoujue decided to join and became one of the persons in charge of the processing and production of ancient ship wood.
"The more I come into contact with them, the deeper my feelings for old shipwood become. Smelling the smell they give off allows my thoughts to travel through time and reminisce about the past. It feels particularly cordial." He Zhoujue stretched his neck and pulled out the wooden necklace he was wearing. He stretched out his left hand to show the wooden bracelet hanging on his wrist and solemnly introduced, "These They are all made of carefully selected old ship wood, piece by piece. "
Transformed into furniture and building materials
The old ships are still in shape.
Since 2007, with the booming real estate market, the market demand for furniture has been rising. The wood processing factories in Anpu Town took advantage of this east wind and began to produce old ship wood furniture. With its thick and sturdy features, ancient shipwood furniture is sold domestically, and sellers make a lot of money.
The workers put on masks and sprayed environmentally friendly varnish on the ship wood. Photographed by Li Tingrui
Not only in the field of furniture, but also in the field of garden architecture, old boat wood is also welcomed by the market. In the "Ketianxia" scenic area of Meizhou , which is famous in eastern Guangdong, some large-scale antique buildings are built with old ship wood processed from Anpu as the main material.
“The south is humid and full of insects. The Ketianxia team mentioned it in our early communication that they have been troubled by the problem of wood insect-proofing and anti-corrosion, and we hope we can help solve it.” Huang Tuka, the person in charge of the old boat wood processing plant of Guanri Wood Industry Co., Ltd. said that old boat wood is inherently hard and has a strong sense of weight. In addition, after being soaked in sea water for many years, the salt has deeply penetrated into it and is not attacked by termites. It is a good antique building material.
Raw old ship wood raw material. Photo by Li Tingrui
After following the suggestions of the Guanri team, some antique buildings in the "Ketianxia" scenic spot chose old ship wood processed by them. "They gave us feedback as soon as they were built, saying that the finished product was antique, thick and grand, and fully met their requirements." He Zhoujue said that over the past few years, those antique buildings with old ship wood as the main body have been well preserved.Not long ago, team members of the "Ketianxia" scenic spot gave feedback to Guanri and once again praised the old ship wood they selected for its excellent texture and more erosion resistance than pavilions built with ordinary wood.
Traveled across the sea and went abroad
Became the darling of "foreigners" in home decoration
After five years of hot sales, the demand for Laochuan wood furniture in the market has gradually declined since 2011. When thinking hard about the road to transformation, the operators of Anpu Laochuan Wood Processing remembered an old incident many years ago and set their sights overseas.
"It was by chance. Earlier we participated in the Canton Fair (the China Import and Export Fair ) and brought old boat wood with us. Unexpectedly, foreign customers were very interested in these shabby things, and some customers designed patterns and asked us to produce them." He Zhoujue said that what "foreigners" have the most demand for is mosaic decorative boards made from old boat wood.
mosaic decorative board. Photographed by Li Tingrui
Mosaic decorative board is a wall decoration material popular in Europe and the United States. It is made of small pieces of wood, shells and other materials with uniform specifications. It is widely used in villas, bars, cafes and other places. Mosaic decorative panels processed from old ship wood not only have a natural, thick and old feel, but also greatly improve the utilization rate of wood.
"When making furniture, we can only choose relatively complete large ship wood, and there are a lot of fine scraps after cutting and processing. When making mosaic decorative panels, we cut into small pieces and then put them together, so we can make full use of these scraps. "Loess Ka introduced that there are more than ten steps in the production of old ship wood mosaic decorative panels, which mainly include nailing (removal of large and small steel nails on old ship wood) - drying - cutting - polishing - precision cutting - paving - spraying environmentally friendly varnish - fumigation (sterilization and insect control) - packaging.
At present, Anpu's old ship wooden mosaic decorative boards are divided into four specifications according to thickness: 1cm, 1.2cm, 1.5cm, and 2cm. The comprehensive pricing is about 4,000 yuan per square meter. "Perhaps one day, when you travel abroad, walk into a cafe or stay in a hotel, the wall decorations that give you a strong and heavy feeling are old ships that once sailed across the ocean in the past life." He Zhoujue said, from another perspective, the old ships are just broken into pieces and reborn in another field.
[All media reporter/photographer] Li Tingrui
[Media Assistant] Xu Xiaoqian
[Correspondent] Tan Xiaoyu
[Author] Li Tingrui
[Source] Southern Newspaper Media Group Southern + Client
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-