Shoes with traditional Chinese elements fused with modern style are getting popular with the younger generation. (Photo : Reuters)
Qiancengdi shoes are shoes with soles made from several layers of cloth. There has been a revival of these shoes recently as they are gaining attention from those who want to be fashionable and yet healthy. As there is an increasing awareness on the importance of health, so as demands for these shoes which embody traditional Chinese designs and elements.
Way back in 2008, Beijing Neiliansheng Shoes Co. Ltd. revived qiancengdi shoes. The manufacturers are old Chinese shoemakers who had been making qiancengdi shoes for more than a century.
The Qiancengdi shoes started in the Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC-256 BC) and survived the test of time through the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In the olden times, the qiancengdi is the choice of affluent Chinese people.
To make the qiancengdi shoe, a lot of complicated procedures have to be followed to the dot. Over the centuries, an established pattern of cutting, stitching, examining, and a seemingly repetition of these three, has long been established.
To date, modern manufacturers use the age-long traditional guides to make a modern qiancengdi. Unlike machine-made, mass-produced shoes, the qiancengdi is lighter and softer and keeps one's feet dry.
The qiancengdi shoes have many health benefits. One of them is that the soles are made of cotton which prevents sweating by keeping the feet dry.
The qiancengdi is getting popular with many young Chinese women recently. A lot of people liked the traditional appeal of the novel shoes, as well as its modernly stylish aesthetics.
A lot of traditional Chinese symbols are used as patterns for the qiancengdi. Some of these are butterflies, birds, fishes, peacocks, ducks, orchids, chrysanthemums and bamboo. These are uniquely Chinese symbols which represent joy, good luck and wealth. In the modern version of qiancengdi, these traditional elements are then fused with modern styles that will match today's wardrobe.
