To find the best-quality moulds for glass products, today, many multi-national enterprises go to a small town named Shajiabang in East China. It's said that, there, one in every ten local people works in the mould manufacturing industry. That's around 4,500 people. More than 80 companies in the town manufacture moulds and their output takes up more than 70% of the total in the whole of China.

Surprisingly, the town boasts a history of more than three decades supporting and developing mould manufacturing, a time period which started even earlier than China's 'Reform and Opening-up' policies.

If you inquire further into the history of the mould manufacturing industry there, different locals will give you the same name, Yu A-gou. They would tell you that it was this master mould making mechanic who introduced the industry to the town. He determined that the mould making skills here be advanced nationally, and therefore, made Shajiabang 'the cradle of mould manufacturing' in China.

How could this person inspire a whole town? With all these and more questions in mind, we decided to pay a visit to this legendary person.

Yu's home is a two-floor villa, simply decorated but tidy and cozy.

When we visited, the 85 year old man was fixing some furniture. During his retirement, he still puts his skills to good use by either repairing furniture or renovating things around the house.

Yu A-gou is stoutly-built and grey-haired but perhaps the most impressive thing is that he has a sharp-eye. Whenever my questions or words caught his attention, or he himself was speaking of something exciting, he would meet my gaze with his bright and smart eyes, not through, but above his spectacles. The way he looked reminded me of exactly how Japanese animations usually depict master craftsmen.

"I'm interested in mechanics and like to fix things. Since I became an apprentice when I was only 15, I've loved doing it. I can be a good lathe operator, bench worker or a miller. People said I'm a versatile mechanic or as they put it 'the king of mechanics'. Well, I don't think of myself as a king. I just love my work. Nothing feels better than when you use your tools and finish your work neatly and efficiently."

Although he had an inborn connection with machines, Yu didn't become a mechanic with a plan. As a matter of fact, if his family had any other option, they wouldn't have let 15 year old A-go leave for Shanghai alone back in 1939.

"I have three siblings, and I'm the eldest son in the family. My father didn't really work and his addiction to opium consumed almost all the family's money. My mother worked very hard to support the family, but that was still impossible to raise all four children. When I turned 15 my mother decided to let me go with another fellow townsman to Shanghai. She hoped that I could find a way to live on my own, or hopefully, learn some skills to lead a decent life. She had no choice but to send me on this journey which we both didn't know would allow us to see each other again, ever."