Old department stores sell nostalgic journey to past

Hand-torn cloth

In another part of Beijing, Xinjiekou Department Store has also survived with the help of a handy craftsman. The 67-year-old former State-owned department store provides services rarely seen today.

Among its staff members is Zhang Rongchao, 39, who cuts fabric by hand. After measuring a piece of cloth he can tear it cleanly in one motion, or split it from end to end with a single stroke.

The family connection to the trade runs deep. His great-grandfather worked at a famous dye workshop in Jinan, Shandong province, that became the inspiration for the television drama Da Ran Fang.

Zhang learned the trade from his uncle, who took him to fabric markets and taught him how to inspect cloth, judge its quality and tear it by hand.

He joined Xinjiekou Department Store in 2012 and still works behind the fabric counter.

Zhang can measure a piece of fabric, make a small opening and tear it cleanly with his hands. After seeing short videos of the process online, some customers come just to watch him display his skills.

However, Zhang believes his expertise goes beyond spectacle. "Selling fabric is very down-to-earth," he said. "Customers like to stand here and watch you tear it. The sound is very familiar — it takes people back to when they were children."

In the past, customers bought fabric by length and had it made into sheets, quilts and clothes. Today, ready-made products have replaced that customization.

Zhang believes the old method still has a place. "You can't just sell manufactured fabric," he said. "We need to preserve some of the old ways of doing business so that when customers come here, they feel like they have come home."

One of Zhang's apprentices is Cai Wenjing, in her early 30s, who joined the store after graduation. She began learning the craft about six months ago.

At first, she had little interest in traditional fabric-tearing, but memories of watching her mother work with cloth changed her mind.

"He teaches us without holding anything back," she said. "We're also afraid that these skills will slowly disappear. Some things simply cannot be completely replaced by machines. They have warmth."