"What were the earliest shoes made of?" "How many parts are needed to make a single shoe?"... On December 20, in the exhibition hall of a footwear enterprise in Huidong County, Huizhou City, children gathered around a guide, eagerly raising their hands to answer questions about shoes.
During the event, the children followed the guide into the shoe culture exhibition hall. They observed up close how pieces of fabric and soles transform into beautiful shoes, moving from traditional shoemaking tools to modern production lines, and exploring the evolution of footwear alongside displays of the latest finished products.
The most engaging part was the hands-on painting session. With help from their parents, the children mixed colors and sketched designs, transferring their boundless creativity onto plain shoe uppers to create their own unique works.
Behind this parent-child activity lies a cultural exploration by Huidong's women's footwear industry during its transformation and upgrading. According to a relevant official from the Huidong County SME Development Service Center, the county is actively promoting a series of "industry + culture" research activities to raise the profile of the "Huidong Women's Shoes" regional brand.
Huidong County is a crucial global manufacturing base for fashionable women's shoes, home to nearly 6,000 footwear enterprises, approximately 200,000 employees, and an annual output of nearly 900 million pairs. In recent years, amid changes in the external environment and industrial adjustments, local enterprises have been transitioning from simple processing and manufacturing to brand design and cultural value enhancement to increase added value.
Reporter | Wu Tianyu
Photo | Li Xuewei
Editor | Wei Shen, James Campion, Shen He
