Great and well made shoes can come from anywhere and even though China gets a bad rap for making things that are cheap and of poor quality, that is not to say that everything that comes out of there is of the same caliber. For example, Huang Niu, better known on Instagram as @wanmenxiedao is among a dying breed of the true, handmade bespoke shoemakers that are left in China (of Chinese origin, Masaura Okuyama does not count). Thanks to Instagram, I was able to stumble upon him and have been trying to get to know more since. The problem is that he does not speak a word of English. But luckily he has a kind friend who writes to me on his behalf. While, I want to do a larger piece on him when I have some more time, I thought that I would at least get his name out there and show all of you just how well made shoes can come from many places outside of the EU, even the most unexpected places, such as China. The next post that I write on �him will actually show a lot more his handwork.
Happy Weekend to all!
Justin, “The Shoe Snob”
the name of his instagram is hilarious, it means: literally, 1000 doors, way of shoe… but way of shoe could also mean way of evil hahahahhaha *way meaning *teaching* if sorts… and Huang Niu means yellow cow…. lol I am amused…
Unfortunately, you are wrong. This is his weibo account: http://www.weibo.com/u/3175530553
The name is actually “玩门鞋道”, not “万门”。Moreover, “万” means TEN thousand, not ONE thousand.
do I look like i read chinese….. and I know it is 10,000 that was a typo… but the translation was based on the english spelling.. i could care less what it really means
Actually, Huang Niu is my friend，and his weibo name is 玩門鞋道， “wan”=玩，means play, which means he is having fun in shoemaking, not only a job or work.
I’m not interested in what it actually says in chinese.. what fun is that.. that leaves no ambiguity…when it is spelt in English that leaves lots of room for interpretation… duh
I am actually in Beijing for a period of time and would love to get a pair done. Does he have an email address (instead of instagram) or a shop I can visit?
How can i buy shoe’s from pakistan