Young man sells 200,000 'clouds' in a year

2021-09-14 Ecns.cn

(ECNS) -- Lu Canglong, a post-90s born in Lishui, Zhejiang Province, invented the "cloud-maker" profession after gaining inspiration from mercurial clouds.

Lu met his first golden glow in 2015 when he was shocked by a large evening cloud above his head.

“That was a fantastic cloud. It seemed to ignite the sky,” said Lu, “so I wanted to retain it!”

How to retain the beautiful moment became a dilemma for him.

There were various clouds in the sky, each breathtaking and healing. The Kelvin-Helmholtz wave clouds were especially rare to him.

Lu photographed the clouds and used epoxy resin glue to simulate them before storing them in a transparent cube.

Lu is making a 'cloud'.
Lu is making a "cloud". (Photo: Qianjiang Evening News)

Such simulated clouds have become popular among his fans. In 2019, Lu decided to resign because his spare time wasn’t enough to make enough clouds to meet the surging demands.

In the winter of 2019, he established his online store “Sky Fair” on Taobao. In 2020 alone, he has sold over 200,000 “clouds” to more than 40,000 people across China.

Sales have reached more than 1 million yuan (about $155,081).

Apart from cloud-makers, other new creative professions have also popped out across China.

Wen Chnhua made his first armor in 2012. It is a Song-Dynasty style fish-scale armor weighing 30 kilos. It was sold for 80,000 yuan (about $12,405). Wen established his Taobao store in 2014. His annual sales are around 6 million yuan (about $930,409).

Chen Xingyi, a young man born in Taizhou of Zhejiang Province, became an Electronic Undertaker upon graduation. “My job is to help ordinary people retain their beautiful memories by renovating old things including cell phones, cameras, watches,” said Chen.

In the past few years, industries like Guochao, pets, and oversized women’s wear have become more and more popular on Taobao. According to relevant surveys, there are at least 200,000 creative stores on Taobao. More new professions have been created due to huge consumption demand and new products energized by younger generations.

Via initiatives like Smell-Sniffers in Luosifen (a Chinese noodle soup and specialty) industry, Pet-Weightloss-Master, and Silk-Stocking-Colorist, many post-90s and post-00s members are now re-defining professions based on their interests and personality.

'Clouds' made by Lu.
"Clouds" made by Lu. (Photo: Qianjiang Evening News)
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