Let’s head now to the workshop of a craftsman with some very rare skills. Chen Yi-sheng is a master wheel repairman. These days, most of us are used to throwing something away as soon as it’s worn down, and buying a replacement brand new. But Chen’s repairs are much cheaper, and incomparably better for the planet too. After almost half a century in the business, there’s nobody who knows a wheel better.

Chen Yi-sheng has a very unusual expertise. He repairs the wheels of all kinds of vehicles, from farm tractors to fancy cars.

He coaxes a distorted wheel back to a nice smooth curve. It takes many precise corrections. No matter if they’ve been bent out of shape or chipped, under his ministrations, every wheel can be good as new again, and serve for many more years.

Repair shop customer
Getting it replaced new would cost NT$40,000 with a 20% discount. Here it’s something like NT$2,500 for one wheel.

Chen Yi-sheng
Wheel repairman
I started after I graduated middle school, doing oxcarts. Then over time I started doing wheels, and after middle school I was working and attending night-school at the same time.

Chen previously had some apprentices. But after they gave the profession up, he feared for the future of his skills.

Chen Yi-sheng
Wheel repairman
At first no one wanted to come and inherit the skills. Thankfully my son wanted to do it so I could relax. The problem is he’s in his thirties and he’s not married yet, not yet. That’s what I’m worried about now.

Son of Chen Yi-sheng
He has all this experience, after all, so it’s worth putting in the practice to develop it.

Chen’s son grew up with the arts of repair all around him. Now he’s learning them in earnest. Father and son work together to keep these traditional repair skills alive.