Woman of steel - a welder's story

Huang (R) welds a piece of product while her trainee Zhang Yin looks on, April 25, 2017. [Photo by Song Wei/chinadaily.com.cn]

A strict teacher

If one day Huang is unable to hold the welding torch due to her falling eyesight, it is comforting to know that her know-how and skills will carry on.

In 2010, a "welding master lab" - aiming for technical innovation and exchanges, was set up in the company and Huang became the leader of the 13 member team.

"I never kept my expertise and skills to myself," Huang says. "What belongs to me also belongs to everybody in the company."

Her generosity is widely-known among her coworkers as well as her strictness. "It takes guts to be my trainee though", Huang says with a wink. "Some young people duck into different path when they spot me."

"I'm strict for their own good, you know, so that they can learn better, faster," the fast-spoken shifu says. Every sentence of her words is short and succinct.

Huang's first disciple, Zhang Yin, has been learning from Huang for 12 years. The 34-year-old man is now the leader of the welding group in the company.

"Shifu maybe is harsh sometimes but she means well. It was under her guidance that I made the greatest progress," Zhang says. "I am very grateful."

A woman's job

After nearly three decades, when Huang looks back on her career, she says it is hard to say whether it was the job that made her determined to never give up or whether she was born with the fortitude that made her become a welder.

"It's a good job; and it's not just a man's job either," Huang says.