From the South China Morning Post, February 16:
29-year-old whose hometown is known for its lightweight wood says she has no business fears because ‘people die every day’
In China, death is traditionally seen as a taboo and often tied to bad luck.
But in Heze, a city in eastern China’s Shandong province, this cultural barrier has given rise to a booming industry.
According to Personage magazine, Lisa Liu, 29, from Heze was once a teacher. Exhausted and hoarse from the pressure of work, Liu switched careers in July 2023.
After a chance interview, she went into coffin sales, focusing on the European market, particularly Italy.
Her boss took her on a tour of the factory, where she saw the entire coffin production process, from log cutting to carving and assembly.
To the workers, a coffin was just a wooden object. Some even used empty urns as storage boxes at home.
This helped Liu overcome her superstitions about coffins being “inauspicious”.
Unlike heavy, dark-coloured Chinese coffins, Italian ones are lighter and often feature religious carvings.
In China, cremation involves only the body, whereas in Italy, both the body and coffin are cremated together.
Heze is reportedly home to three million paulownia trees, known for being lightweight, having a low ignition point and featuring beautiful grain, therefore making them ideal for the Italian market.
According to the mainland Chinese media outlet Jimu News, Heze’s coffins, priced between US$90 and US$150, are more affordable than European coffins, which range from US$1,100 to US$2,100.
Liu’s factory reportedly exports around 40,000 coffins to Europe each year, generating an annual revenue of nearly 40 million yuan (US$6 million).....
....MUCH MORE
Fun fact: there are at least 50 million people surnamed Liu in China.
As noted back in 2020:
....The other writer Nicolle Liu shares a surname with some 50 - 60 million other Liu's, including the Chinese Vice-Premier, Liu He.
I know some Liu's, from a rather noteworthy Beijing branch of the fam who informed me of this when I would ask if they were related to this Liu or that Liu.
