Dapeng Straw Coolie Hats

Dapeng Straw Coolie Hats

　　The farmland cultivated in Dapeng Ancient Town covered tens of thousands of acres. Soldiers spent most of their time farming each year, while the families of servicemen primarily made a living through agriculture. The Dapeng Peninsula has a hot climate, making coolie hats an essential piece of labor protection gear year-round.

　　The earliest Dapeng straw coolie hats were very simply made. People would go up the mountains to cut bamboo, split it into strips, weave them into round bamboo hats, and then string them with rope to finish. But because the sea winds here are strong, the bamboo hats were often blown off. So people wove a round hole about five inches in diameter in the center of the hat, which made it stable when worn on the head. Over time, they also added an outer rim made of bamboo strips around the edge of the hat, and used five-inch-wide blue cloth to create a brim curtain that encircled the hat to block out sunlight. Through long-term inheritance, the craftsmanship continued to improve and the production techniques matured, eventually forming the traditional craft of Dapeng straw coolie hats. Skillful girls even wove various patterns into the hats, braided beautiful silk ribbons with silk thread, or used colored yarns to make hatbands, and even brushed the hats with red lacquer. They turned the Dapeng straw coolie hats into beloved, exquisite, and practical handicrafts.