In preparation for China’s massive online shopping extravaganza next month, a local traditional papermaker has been busy obtaining a key ingredient in his paper products: young boys’ pee.
The man, surnamed Li, is hoping he can gather enough urine before Singles’ Day (Guanggun Jie), the world’s largest offline and online shopping day held in China on November 11.
The bamboo paper-making technique Li uses involves soaking the bamboo pulp in urine to reportedly significantly improve its quality.
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This method has been practiced for centuries in Hangzhou’s Fuyang district, local media reports.
Li’s bamboo paper is available on Taobao and he makes a lot of money during Alibaba’s annual shopping festival. According to Li, orders from last year’s Singles’ Day used up 1,500 liters of urine.
With less than two weeks to go, he’s still 250 liters short of the same amount of pee which he plans to use for this year’s batch of bamboo paper.
Li is now bridging the deficit by ramping up his urine drive, reported Shanghaiist. He has since posted ads around town offering a higher amount this time for the much-needed pee. Li has raised his previous offer of 30 yuan ($4.30) for a bucket of urine to 200 yuan ($29) for a bucket this time around.
