Burning issue: China’s incense makers hard at work, preparing for the Lunar New Year

A bundle of incense sticks after being covered with coloured powder at the Fujian Xingquan Incense Factory in the city of Quanzhou in China’s Fujian Province. Photo: AFP

Dozens of workers toil through the night coating thin lengths of bamboo in herbs, spices and richly coloured powders to create incense sticks that are spread out under the rising sun to dry.

It is an important time of year for the villagers of Yongchun county, a mountainous area of southeastern Fujian province that supplies much of the world’s incense.