Old Stays Gold.docVIP

Old Stays Gold 　　By the intersection of two busy urban roads in Luohe， a city in central China’s Henan Province， there is a low-key watch repair stall. Its owner， 60-year-old Li Guoqing， has been working as a watchmaker for more than four decades. A low wooden table， a glass cabinet， delicate watch parts and tools， and a stool make up Li’s entire workshop. 　　Most watch repairers closed down or switched to other trades in the past few decades as the watch industry and its number of customers declined. But Li refuses to give up the skill he has practiced for most of his life. 　　In today’s China， industries are fast modernizing with assembly lines and mass production by machines. However， there are still artisans like Li， scattered here and there， who are doggedly continuing with their traditional handicrafts. 　　 Sands of time 　　By the end of the 1970s， China began undergoing a dramatic change following the initiation of reform and opening up. People’s lives were getting better and there was an unprecedented urge to spend. A bicycle， a watch and a sewing machine were regarded as the “three musts” for a newly wedded couple. A branded watch became a symbol of its owner’s fashion sense and social status. 　　Li was a witness of the social transformation. After graduating from high school， he became apprenticed to a watch repairer. While learning from his mentor， Li read many books to improve his skills. In 1983， he finished his apprenticeship and started up his own business. 　　Mechanical watches were a common accessory in China in the 1980s； as a result， watch repairing was a popular trade. There were more than 30 stalls like Li’s in his neighborhood when business was booming. He could earn 10 yuan （$1.5） per day at a time 500 grams of pork cost a few cents. 　　Mending watches requires one to be focused. On busy days， Li had to sit at his work table for the whole day and often didn’t even have time to drink water. But the nature of the work fascinated him.“As lon