The umbrella was invented way back in China's Shang and Zhou Dynasties, when bamboo strips were used to make the frames and mulberry bark paper treated with persimmon oil or tung oil was used to make the cover. The trade of umbrella making could be found all over the country, but umbrellas covering a piece of black cloth on steel frames were introduced to China from abroad, so the umbrella was called "yangsan" or "foreign umbrella".

Umbrella repairing may be a small business, but it's very helpful. An umbrella with a broken frame or a worn-out cover is all too common in daily life. It would be a waste to throw it away. Over a decade ago, there were umbrella repairers walking from one alley to another looking for business by shouting "foreign umbrella repairing." Today, there are still a handful of umbrella repairers at the entrance of some alleys.