An exquisite and unique piece of silver band comes into shape under a pair of skillful hands and unfailing determination. Gold and silver jewelries were popular in the olden days and holds for their sentimental values, usually handed down by mothers to daughters and granddaughters. As China enters into a modern era, when young people are more into fashion and fancy diamonds more than sentimental gold or silver, this traditional craftsmanship is quietly fading away. We take the opportunity to visit an old jewelry store located in Yuanmen Street to have a little artisanal sip of Pingtan！

Leading to the old street, a cobbled stone path and time-worn buildings line down the busy street. A small jewelry store awaits us at the corner. The humble-looking store is 29-year -old historical store owned by Xiao Denghua.

Taking up only 20 sqm, the store is furnished with some shabby antique looking furnishings - wooden workbench and table with flat hammers , tweezers , files, clams lying carelessly on the top-all reminds us of its history.

Hammering away in front of the bench is the 60-year-old owner of the store, Xiao Denghua. He was hammering on a piece of nickel silver to make a bracelet with silvery bells. "This is not difficult, but not many people are willing to do this nowadays. To make the bracelet, you need to melt the silver first, then stretch it into a long strand based on the wrist of the customer," said Xiao. He digs out several pieces of silver articles, puts them into an electronic weigh, and then drops them into a container to melt them. "This is what we call "silver melting”.

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