As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, Fang Shaohuang and his family are staying busy. They make dragon boats at his factory in Fangzhuang village of Minhou county in Fuzhou, Fujian province.

Fangzhuang, the largest dragon boat-making base across the country, is well-known for its boat tradition, which has a history of more than 700 years.

There are four large-scale boat-making factories in the village, including Fang's. So far, they have received orders for some 200 boats, valued at about 6 million yuan ($843,526).

Fang, 72, a third-generation inheritor of his family's boat-making techniques, began learning the skills at 14 and now runs the factory.

Fang Shaohuang (right) and Fang Jianwei (left) make a dragon boat at the family's factory in Fangzhuang village in Fuzhou, Fujian province. (Photo: China Daily)

In 2018, the family's technique was listed as a city-level intangible cultural heritage. They insist on using axes, carving knives, hammers, ink sticks and other tools handed down by the old generation to build dragon boats by hand.

Their boats are 18 meters long, and can accommodate 32 paddlers, a drummer, a gong player and a helmsman. There is a space for someone to set off firecrackers from the bow.

"It has high standards, from the selection of raw materials to the production process," he said. "We choose pine from regenerated trees over 40 years old. The wood must be dried for more than a year to ensure that the humidity is up to shipbuilding standards before it can be used to make a dragon boat."

It takes one worker more than 20 days to complete a boat.

A worker makes a dragon boat at Fang Shaohuang's family factory in Fangzhuang village in Fuzhou, Fujian province. (Photo: China Daily)

Around 14 years ago, Fang's nephew Fang Jianwei followed him to learn how to build dragon boats and became the fourth-generation inheritor.

In recent years, the younger Fang posted videos of his team hard at work on social media platforms. He garnered a large number of followers.

Fang Shaohuang (third from right), Fang Jianwei (center) and family members stand for a photo at the family's factory in Fangzhuang village in Fuzhou, Fujian province. (Photo: China Daily)

"Over the past three years, our factory has welcomed many study and research teams, including primary school students and college students," said Fang Jianwei. "I have a dream to build an exhibition hall for promoting dragon boat-making and technology in the village, so that more people can experience the charm of dragon boat culture."