Neiliansheng Shoes

When officials needed shoes, they just sent a messenger to tell the store and later to pick them up. This service also allowed people to give officials shoes as presents.

The old records were compiled into a history book called "Luzhong Beizai (Shoe Data Memorandum)," which is still kept at the store as a record of that time period.

But the skill of making court shoes has gone by the wayside, said company president Cheng.

"It is a pity that no one in Neiliansheng can make court shoes now. Its old technique was lost as the craftsmen passed away."

While officials favoured Neiliansheng shoes, they were also popular among common people.

Zhao Ting once said that both the people sitting in the sedans and the people bearing the sedans should be served.

He designed a special kind of shoe for sedan-chair bearers called "Saxie". The shoes were soft and moulded to the foot and were good at absorbing sweat.

"They could be regarded as the earliest Chinese sneakers," Cheng said. "People who practice Chinese kung fu like to wear this kind of shoe."

Saxie are still popular among old Beijingers as leisure shoes.

After the founding of new China, many Chinese leaders including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping also wore the cloth shoes of Neiliansheng.