Bonan knives and knife making

[ausjulius]

Hello fellow forumites.
I am now in Dehajia in Gansu province in China, it is the largest town near the main Bonan villages, here Bonan people are very common.

This is in the north of the Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang (sart) and Sala Autonomous county.
Here most people are Hui, bonan, sala and Dongxiang people.
The population here is mostly muslim.

There is knife shops along the main street selling swords and knives that are locally made. The Bonan ethnic group specialise in knife making and are very skilled at it. They make knives and swords to trade to the other ethnic groups.

There is a number of knife makers in town, several own shops. South west of the city there is also a concentration of knife makers in several villages.

I must say people here are exceptionally hospitable to foreigners and are very generous and keen to communicate, ive yet to encounter anything but friendly helpful people in this region.


I will post pictures shortly, my uploading is not working well here, great firewall and all

[Rick]

Will you be bringing some examples of their work home with you?

[Tim Simmons]

Would be really nice to know where and how to get one.

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by ausjulius

I will post pictures shortly, my uploading is not working well here, great firewall and all

Make sure that the photos respect the size requirements: smaller than 1280x1280 pixels and less than 1 Mb... if I remember correctly!

[ausjulius]

Originally Posted by Rick

Will you be bringing some examples of their work home with you?

I will try, yes, but in the last few years the restrictions on knives have became absurd in china, chiba post will not send knives domestically or internationally unless you have sone contact there.. Couriers may send knives or may not, legally permission from the police is needed to export any knife that is not a kitchen knife. Ill try my best

[ausjulius]

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

Would be really nice to know where and how to get one.

😁 They are very easy to buy right here actually, on the main street is many shops, the largest and most sucessful maker is the family of mr Ma kua loong (if i got it right - almost everyone here has Ma= Muhammad as the family name) they have a workshop right on the main street making knives and several shops selling knives on the main street of Dehajia. Ive been ill with Covid for two days, one of the knife makers a mr Ma Kua Ching- a relative of Ma kua loong took me from my hotel to stay in his house.
I have to say the people in this region are exceptionally hospitable and friendly to foreigners.

[ausjulius]

Originally Posted by mariusgmioc

Make sure that the photos respect the size requirements: smaller than 1280x1280 pixels and less than 1 Mb... if I remember correctly!

Ah thanks, yes i had forgotten, i will have to resize my pictures. I have damages my phone recently i think with water. Images are not always clear. I will try to upload them