Jinjiang Municipal People’s Government announced: Anhai Wudai Village’s traditional hand-made noodles, hand-tied sorghum brooms after going down the mountain, Xishe pig iron smelting and casting techniques, Longshan Temple’s Thousand-Hands and Thousand-Eyes Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva beliefs and customs were selected in Jinjiang Municipal intangible cultural heritage. Behind every intangible cultural heritage, there are traces of time. Recently, "Love Anhai" will launch a series of reports to take you to see the intangible cultural heritage selected by Anhai.

The "traditional handmade noodle making skills" of Wudai Village, Anhai Town, Jinjiang, have been selected as Jinjiang Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage, which greatly encourages the craftsmen of Wudai.

In Wudai Village, Anhai Town, as long as it is a sunny day, you can always see such a scene. In the front yard and backyard of ordinary people, slender white handmade noodles are hung on bamboo poles to dry, like silk. , flying in the wind, exuding the fragrance of flour, and also filled with the ancient smell of memory.

How to better inherit and develop the craftsmanship passed down from generation to generation? Nowadays, while Wudai people stick to noodle production, they are also actively exploring and building the Wudai noodle brand.

(Noodles are a unique traditional pasta snack in southern Fujian and other areas of Fujian Province. It has become an integral part of the folk culture of southern Fujian. It is a cultural symbol symbolizing longevity and good luck. It is used in ancestor worship and ancestor worship of southern Fujian people. Various ceremonies such as worshiping gods, weddings, and birthdays are inseparable from this kind of hand-made noodles. "If the noodles are sticky, you will not be surprised to marry someone without a wife." The influence of thread on the cultural life of southern Fujian people. Noodles are the iconic culture of the cultural center of southern Fujian and the symbol of southern Fujian food. It is of exemplary significance to promote southern Fujian culture to the world. Many overseas Chinese will take Wudai noodles as their companion. Taken as a souvenir to Southeast Asia, this is a sustenance for overseas Chinese to express their homesickness. At the same time, noodles are rich in starch, sugar, protein, calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and other minerals, which are good for the heart, kidneys and health. The effect of spleen and intestines.)

As long as Wu Shengban, a 77-year-old Wudai villager, can remember, there has been a scene of noodle drying in the village that exudes the fragrance of flour.

Speaking of the history of Wudai’s hand-made noodles, Wu Shengban suddenly started talking. He recalled that according to the stories told by elders in the village in the past, the earliest known hand-made noodles making skills in Wudai Village can be traced back to 1902, when Wu Qingtang, a villager in Wudai Village, opened the first mill in the village, named Xie. At that time, the mill not only produced flour as a raw material, but also produced noodles, noodles, cakes and other foods.

Later, over the past 40 years, villagers in the village successively opened Sanxing Mill, Chunxing Mill, etc. The scale has also expanded compared to before, and they also produce flour foods.

"The population of Wudai was not large at that time. Through the method of masters leading apprentices, by 1949, there were many masters in the village who could make handmade noodles." Wu Shengban introduced.

"In the 1980s, almost every household had someone who could make noodles. Those who couldn't make noodles would work as hawkers and sell noodles." As long as you were born in the 1980s, The people of Wudai in the past always remember the scene of "every household sunbathing noodles" in their minds. It was also at that time that many Wudai people walked out of their homes and brought the skills of handmade noodles to Shenzhen, Tongan and Shijing.

Wu Qingzhuan is 77 years old this year. He is currently the oldest master making handmade noodle thread in Wudai Village. He has been working with noodle thread since he was 15 years old, and he has been doing this for 62 years.

At the same age of 15, Wu Qingzhun took over the long and thin noodle thread from his father Wu Qingzhuan. Since then, the scene of two generations enjoying ramen has continued to this day.

?For more than a hundred years, the ancient craftsmanship of Wudai hand-made noodles has been continued through oral and personal teachings of Wudai people.

?What has changed is time, but what remains unchanged is the persistence of this thread. It is reported that currently in this small village of less than 1,000 people, nearly one-fifth of the Wudai people are engaged in work related to noodle making.

?In Wudai Village, the reporter found that in addition to the traditional hand-made noodles, there are also many Wudai people engaged in mechanized noodle-making. Among them, many companies making hand-made noodles have begun to take shape. scale, products are sold at home and abroad.

?Wudai native Wu Longde is now running a company that specializes in making noodles. He has been actively researching the automation of producing better noodles, exploring the innovation of noodle products, and exploring Modern promotion and sales methods, and actively participate in the promotion of the Wudai noodle line brand.

?In his opinion, compared with manual noodle thread, mechanical production is indeed not perfect, but it can solve some of the inherent shortcomings of hand-made noodle thread. He emphasized that mechanized production is definitely not about grabbing traditional jobs. The road to branding Wudai Noodles can be done by walking on two legs, inheriting and protecting traditional handmade noodles, and at the same time attaching great importance to the improvement of mechanized production technology, so that the brand of Wudai Noodles will become more and more famous.

?It is reported that there are currently many companies in Wudai that have achieved modern large-scale production of noodle threads through their own research and development of production technology. At the same time, they are also actively exploring ways to restore traditional handmade noodle threads as much as possible. taste, and actively explore a new path for Wudai noodle line brand management.

?At around 3 o'clock in the morning, the lights in Wu Shengyue's home in Wudai Village will turn on, and a busy day will begin. Wu Shengyue, 51, has been chasing handmade noodles for 40 years since he learned to make noodles at the age of 12.

?Having been making noodles since elementary school, getting up early every morning to knead the noodles is the instinct of every hand-made noodle maker in Wudai Village.

?The raw materials for making noodles are only noodles, water, and salt, but behind the seemingly simple materials is a complicated production process.

Stirring and kneading the noodles is the first step in making the noodles, and it is also the key to determining the quality of the noodles. Wu Shengyue said that in order to ensure the quality of noodles, good flour must be used for making noodles, and the proportion of water and salt varies depending on the season, weather, and humidity.

?In addition to being particular about water and salt, the time for stirring and kneading the dough also needs to be properly controlled. If the time is too short, the dough will be unevenly kneaded, and if the time is too long, the dough will become hard.

? Kneading noodles and fermenting, pressing and cutting noodles, kneading and wrapping noodles, winding the horizontal "8" rod, putting noodles in the cabinet to wake up, tossing ramen noodles, drying noodles outdoors, and folding noodles in the room Noodles, whole bundles and then dried, this process is indispensable in hand-made noodles.

Rub? (zhui)

Wrap the rod horizontally with "8"

? "There is no need to rush when making noodles. The flour must be fully fermented during the process. Only then can we ensure the quality and taste of the noodles." Wu Shengyue said that it usually takes 5 hours from kneading to drying the noodles outdoors.

?Since the ideal way to dry the traditional hand-made noodle thread is to air-dry it, it is greatly affected by the weather. It cannot be made to order on rainy days.

"Noodles depend on the weather. In the past, there was no weather forecast. We could only get up at one or two in the morning and watch the sky. We predicted the weather before deciding whether to produce." Wu Shengyue said, long-term experience Let every noodle maker develop the ability to observe the weather.

?On the day of the reporter’s interview, it was a southerly day with high humidity in the air. In order to ensure the quality of the noodles, Wu Jiacheng, the Wudai handmade noodles maker, deliberately got up late to make the noodles. This also made us lucky You can even catch a glimpse of the ramen noodle scene at 10 a.m.

Ramen

?I saw that Wu Jiacheng took out the noodles strung by two noodle rods from the fermentation cabinet, fixed one of the noodle rods on the iron frame, and then Hold the other noodle pin tightly with both hands, use a skillful force to pull and flick the noodle thread, and add some flour to the noodle thread from time to time. During the repeated pulling and flicking, the noodle thread becomes thin and long. .

?The prepared noodles need to be sunbathed outdoors, so for a period of time, Wu Jiacheng and his wife went back and forth to pull noodles and dry noodles, and kept running inside and outside the house.

Outdoor drying of noodles

?Wu Jiacheng told reporters that when the noodle thread feels a little dry, it can be brought inside for folding. The folded noodles need to be dried for two to three days to ensure that the noodles are dry before they can be packaged and sold.

?From 4 a.m. to 8 p.m., the handmade noodle maker’s day consists of chasing the noodles. In Wudai, handmade noodle thread production is mostly a family workshop. A busy husband-and-wife team can only produce more than 200 kilograms of noodle thread in a day, and the supply is often in short supply.

?Although the supply exceeds the demand, the noodle-making masters do not make much profit from this. Due to the irregular market, the profits from making handmade noodles are slim. The family only earns more than a hundred yuan after a busy day.

"Making noodles is hard work, and many people are not willing to do it now, but the craftsmanship that has been passed down for hundreds of years cannot be lost. As long as we can do it, we will continue to do it." Wu Jiacheng had a firm look in his eyes Light.

?Currently, there are more than 20 households in Wudai Village engaged in making handmade noodles. It is the ingenuity that makes Wudai handmade noodles exquisite in appearance, not mushy after being cooked for a long time, chewy in texture, and clear in soup. Good reputation for sliding.

?The reporter learned that most of the hand-made noodles in Wudai are only responsible for production. The sales of noodles are mainly purchased by small vendors or dealers, and the purchase prices are not high and uneven. And because consumers are unclear about the distinction between handmade noodles and machine-made noodles, this has also affected the development of handmade noodles to a certain extent.

?Wu Jiacai, deputy director of Wudai Village Committee, said that in the next step, the village committee will actively organize the development of traditional handmade noodles family workshops, optimize the quality of products, and promote the development of Wudai handmade noodles. The road goes better and further.

?At around 3 a.m., Wu Zizi, a villager in Wudai Village, and his wife Wang Qiuping put on white work clothes, wore masks and hats and entered the work area to start a new day of work.

?In Wu Zizi’s small family workshop, the reporter saw that the workspace space has been rearranged, with obvious partitions, and the production compartments are equipped with screen windows, ultraviolet lights and related supporting equipment. Various certificates and licenses are hung in prominent places in the production site, and the relevant ledger records are also very clear.

"I am no longer a 'black house', and I can finally feel confident!" Wu Zizi said excitedly. In the past, the small workshops had poor sanitary conditions, no licenses, and no packaging. The handmade noodles could not be sold in supermarkets or large stores. The market can only rely on retail sales and regular customers. Although the quality of handmade noodle thread without "ID card" is good, it faces the dilemma of low price.

?These problems also existed in other family workshops making noodles in Wudai.

But what Wu Zizi did not expect was that in just one year, his small workshop had undergone major rectifications. The workshop had a processing approval certificate, and the products also had their own packaging. Customers even went from being "unafraid to buy" to "buying with confidence" after seeing the noodle production site.

Wu Zizi said with a smile that the changes in his workshop are all thanks to the staff of the Anhai Town Market Management and Supervision Office and the cadres of Wudai Village who worked tirelessly to help guide standardized production and operations and improve related Certificate.

The reporter learned that in 2016, staff from the Anhai Town Market Management and Supervision Office discovered during a visit that the traditional handmade noodle production workshop in Wudai Village was operating without a license, and the production environment of the small workshop was relatively poor. The issue of difference immediately attracted their attention.

?In order to protect traditional handicrafts and give traditional small workshops a new lease of life, the Anhai Town Market Management and Supervision Office works closely with the two committees of Wudai Village, hoping to promote the development of small workshops by guiding them to apply for certificates. Business regulations.

?But things did not develop as smoothly as expected. At the first small workshop practitioner symposium held in the village, only 4 of the more than 30 owners came.

This also made the Anhai Town Market Management and Supervision Office and the Village Committee realize that promoting change requires a step-by-step process. In this regard, through visits, they selected 4 small handmade noodles workshops with complete facilities, complete conditions, and good cooperation as the first batch of rectification targets. They took the initiative to persuade and guide them to carry out standardized transformation and apply for relevant licenses.

?In 2017, the first batch of rectification targets obtained relevant certificates and licenses, which set a good example in Wudai Village. Many small workshops began to realize the benefits and necessity of rectification, but transformation and certification are a long process. The cost is not small, which is a big problem for small family workshops.

After understanding the concerns of small workshop owners, Anhai Market Management and Supervision Office actively worked on the owner's work while communicating with superior departments to adjust the inspection content during the declaration process according to the characteristics of the food. The capital was reduced from the original 3,000 yuan to more than 800 yuan, and guidance was provided to organize a group to apply for the certificate.

It is understood that under the guidance of the market supervision and management department, currently, 33 noodle workshops in Wudai have completed standardized transformation, and the management of small workshops that have obtained relevant business certificates has become more standardized.

According to Cai Zishi, deputy director of the Anhai Town Market Management and Supervision Institute, in addition to regular management and regular random inspections of the small Wudai handmade noodle workshops, the institute also actively guides the development of small workshops in groups and establishes a With the thought of being proud of Wudai, we will work together to make Wudai handmade noodles brand.

?Wu Qingsheng, director of Wudai Village Committee, said that now, all noodle family workshops in Wudai have complete certificates, which provides a good foundation for the development of Wudai noodle shops. The committee will work closely with the market management and supervision departments to further standardize the management of workshops, and actively improve the living environment in the village to provide a good environment for the development of Wudai Noodles.

On the evening of June 8, at the closing ceremony of Jinjiang City’s 2019 Cultural Tourism Festival and the “Cultural and Natural Heritage Day” event, the host announced that Wudai Village’s “traditional handmade noodle making techniques "When it was selected as Jinjiang's municipal intangible cultural heritage, Wu Peikun, president of the Wudai Village Youth Association, couldn't hide his excitement. He knew that what he took over on stage was not just a simple protection plaque but the honor that Wudai people had earned through inheritance and perseverance for more than a hundred years.

?When the news came that the application for municipal intangible cultural heritage was successful, all the people in Wudai were very excited, and the most excited ones were undoubtedly the masters who still stick to the front line of handmade noodles. This honor is an affirmation of their decades of persistence in traditional skills.

"The Wudai handmade noodle production has been applied for Jinjiang Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage. It is the government's recognition of our Wudai handmade noodle thread. It can expand our brand awareness and everyone is very happy." Handmade. Noodle maker Wu Qingzhun said excitedly.

?The reporter learned that in the process of applying for Jinjiang municipal intangible cultural heritage for the "traditional handmade noodle making skills" of Wudai Village, Anhai Wudai, which just completed the reelection of the board of directors in March this year Youth associations play an important role.

During the application period for municipal intangible cultural heritage, members of the board of directors of the Anhai Wudai Youth Association actively held discussions with the handmade noodle making masters, walked into the handmade noodle making workshops, learned about the craftsmanship, took pictures and video materials, and filled in the Relevant application materials.

According to Wu Peikun, although most of the board members of the Wudai Youth Association are not engaged in making handmade noodles, everyone has watched their grandparents make handmade noodles since they were young, and ate noodles with a faint salty fragrance. We are big, so we all have the consciousness to do something for this village and the old masters in the village who are still making noodles, so that the centuries-old hand-made noodle making skills can be better inherited and preserved.

?“The successful application for municipal intangible cultural heritage is the result of the joint efforts of many parties. In particular, the old masters are very supportive and willing to share their production skills. Many directors of the youth association have also learned about the Wudai tradition. There is a new understanding of handmade noodles." Wu Peikun said that in the next step, the Anhai Wudai Youth Association board members will also actively provide human and financial support in the protection, promotion, marketing and publicity of handmade noodles.

?Applying for municipal intangible cultural heritage for Wudai handmade noodles is only the first step. How to increase the publicity and promotion of intangible cultural heritage so that intangible cultural heritage projects can be better integrated with industrial development, and Becoming the driving force for rural revitalization is an urgent issue facing Wudai Village.

?A few days ago, in the Wudai Village Committee, a symposium on the development of Wudai noodles was being held. At the scene, members of the two committees of Wudai Village, members of the Youth Association Board of Directors, traditional handmade noodles making masters, and staff of the Anhai Market Management and Supervision Bureau gathered together to share their suggestions and ideas.

?“We can carry out the work of establishing archives of traditional handmade noodle threads.” A young man from Wudai proposed that we can collect traditional handmade production equipment, collect relevant information on handmade noodle thread techniques, set up relevant exhibition halls, and On this basis, we actively carry out lectures on handmade noodle making techniques.

?Integrate traditional handmade noodles with rural tourism, actively organize overseas study activities, and cooperate with universities and research institutes to establish research bases...

?The words have just finished , the voice on the other end rang again, and group development was the most mentioned word on the scene that day.

?Although Wudai handmade noodles have a long history, the "small scattered" and irregular market make Wudai handmade noodles difficult. How to gather craftsmen together? At the meeting, people proposed to establish an alliance of inheritors of Anhai Wudai Handmade Noodles, build the "Wudai Noodles" brand, compile group standards for handmade noodles, protect the production process of products, optimize product quality, and apply for Wudai Handmade Noodles at the same time. Line trademarks, unified prices, enhance brand influence, etc.

Wu Meiliang, secretary of the Party branch of Wudai Village in Anhai, said that in response to everyone’s suggestions, the two village committees and the Youth Association will seriously adopt and analyze the suggestions, and actively explore a suitable development path for Wudai noodles. Taking the opportunity of Wudai Handmade Noodles being selected as Jinjiang Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage, in the next step, Wudai Village will further improve the standardization level of small workshops, strengthen the inheritance and promotion of intangible cultural heritage, and integrate Wudai Handmade Noodles with the construction of living environment. Combined with rural tourism, explore the road to revitalization and development of Wudai’s countryside with century-old handmade noodle skills.

Planning: Reporter_Fang Jincong, Qian Jianming, Zhang Zhinai

Execution: Reporter_Lin Yiting, Lin Yafang, Qin Yue

Correspondent_Wu Zhiyuan, Zheng Zongjuan, text and pictures

The inscriber of "Love Anhai" in this issue: Wu Peikun, a native of Wudai Village, Anhai Town, born in 1984, graduated from the University of Southern California, General Manager of Fujian Hongqiao Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd.; Director of Zhongguancun Times Venture Capital Development Research Institute, Fujian Member of the Provincial Youth Federation, director of the fifth council of the Quanzhou Young Entrepreneurs Association and the Youth Chamber of Commerce; president of the Youth Association of Wudi Village, Anhai Town, Jinjiang City; vice chairman of the Haixi M&A Club.

Link: Aianhai Anhai Wudai Noodles: Every trace is always love_Handmade