Clock repairer says he will always be active (7)

(Photo/Shi Yalei)

Under his father’s guidance, Cheng Gengxin learnt to repair wall clocks at the age of 15 in 1961, starting from disassembling and assembling clocks. After years of dedication to the job, Cheng is now a well-known clock repairer in his hometown in the Xikou township of Xiuning county, Huangshan city in east China’s Anhui province.

The threshold for being a clock repairer is low but it’s hard for one to become a master. However, in the magical hands of Cheng, clocks consisting of more than 200 components, even with some that can only be seen with the use of a high-degree magnifying glass, are always able to come back to life.

Nowadays, as young people become much more accustomed to using digital clocks, wall clock repairing has become a fading craft. But Cheng’s passion will never fade, with the man expressing hope that the craft will be passed down to the next generations.