Over the past 38 years, Hua Jianguo has come a long way from being an ordinary fitter to a model craftsman in Shanghai, working on innumerable devices with various sets of tools passing through his hands. This reporter put a straightforward question to him at the beginning of the interview, "How can one become a craftsman like you?"

"A craftsman is a person with outstanding skills in a certain field and who is dedicated to the skills. As exemplified by our ancestor Pao Ding, a cook experienced in dismembering the carcass of the ox, what matters in craftsmanship is not the craftsman per se, but the spirit in it," explained Hua with a determined look in his eyes, which seemed to reflect the craftsmanship he has been pursuing. "I am a perfectionist, though not a Virgo. That is, I either do my best, or don't do it at all. I endeavor to do a perfect job, strive for perfect products, make each detail perfect and each perfection even more perfect," Hua said, "I always put each process under strict control, deliberate over each detail, and develop the best solution to even the tiniest issue through repeated research. This serves the sole purpose of ensuring the best quality and safety performance.

Perseverance is the key to proficiency

Hua is highly respected at Shanghai Electric Nuclear Power Group, and well known for "going the extra mile with his magic steel file!" A series of inspirational stories have been told about him at the Group, but little is known as to how he has become so skillful today.

In 1960, Hua was born into a working family in Shanghai. His father was a fitter at Shanghai Boiler Works with exquisite skills. "My father was also a Level 8 fitter, but he was much better than me. He came to fame in Shanghai at the young age of 27," he said, taking effusive pride in his father. In 1978, 18-year-old Hua did not take the college entrance examination, in order to reduce the financial burden on his family. Soon afterwards, he was admitted to the vocational school of Shanghai Turbine Works and was determined to be a fitter as influenced by his father.

At school, he was under the strict mentorship of Tao Qixiang, a master fitter, and made rapid progress. "The most boring part about training to become a fitter was practicing filing—often one or two hours a day," Hua recalled. "The very first thing my mentor taught me was to get the basics right." He once ground a 50-mm-thick iron rod #45 to a much thinner one. In this way, he has worn out many files over the years, and would even file a steel part till he had bleeding blisters on his hands. One winter, he wore a pair of gloves to avoid sustaining bleeding blisters on his hands. Unexpectedly, his mentor chewed him out, "I've told you to practice and develop the most proper strength and feel for your hands. But bare hands, remember! You are now wasting your previous effort with those gloves." Since then, Hua has never worn gloves while working.

Later on, regarding him as a gifted apprentice, Mr. Tao became even stricter with him, and set criteria for him in each exam that were more demanding than those for others. "To be a technical master, you must set a higher benchmark for yourself," Mr. Tao often said to him.

Treat each workpiece as a work of art

One year, the municipal leaders paid a visit to the factory and gave their thumbs-up to Hua's workpiece, "It is like a work of art!" According to Hua, the compliment actually changed his views on his workpieces, "I treat each workpiece as a work of art, using standards that are higher than what is generally required."

Hua has lived up to his own creed, binding each work-related choice to his ideals and responsibilities.

In the early summer of 2016, Shanghai Electric Nuclear Power Group took on a manufacturing project for the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor at the Shandong Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Plant. An important part was to repair the reactor's sealing surface, on which craters might be left by the welding process. They were not merely aesthetically-unpleasing weld marks, but would influence the material stress and equipment life, and might even lead to nuclear leaks in the most severe cases.

After welding, it was necessary to carry out flaw detection, and in case of bubbles, blisters or other defects, the welded part would be "excised" and repaired by rewelding. The craters in such repair welding are the most difficult to deal with, since it must be done by hand, requiring fine workmanship and meticulous care. Unfortunately, repair welding did occur on the sealing surface of the reactor. What was worse, the surface required extremely demanding processes.

"At a distance of 100mm, the height deviation must not exceed 0.01mm. It must be smooth enough— smoother than a mirror," Hua vividly recalled the challenge he faced back then. At that time, several fitters spent weeks repairing but still could not meet the technical requirements. As a last resort, the workshop turned to Hua for help. Surprisingly, he did not bring with him any special tools, except a commonly used small steel file.

The only difference was that through Hua's effort, the crater created by repair welding was as smooth as a mirror, meeting the technical requirements upon testing. During the acceptance testing for the equipment, the supervisor touched the smooth sealing surface and asked, "Hasn't it undergone repair welding? But what about the traces of repair welding? Where have they gone?"

"I ground them off," Hua said with a smile.

"It's hard enough to grind the surface and meet the requirements. How can it be possible to grind the welding traces off? You must have your secrets; if not, why can't other fitters do the same?" The supervisor was still curious about him.

"There's no secret, actually. If there is one, then it is in my hands. You will be able to do the same after 30 years of practice. In fact, all the secrets of the world's craftwork are in your hands," he said, waving his little black steel file. "Young fitters who cannot achieve this result have yet to grasp the appropriate strengths for their hands," he explained. The supervisor nodded thoughtfully.

Hua has kept his habit of training his hands till today. In his spare time, he can often be seen playing with two walnuts in his hand, and might be greeted by those who are uninformed, "Good day, Mr. Hua! Having fun, I see!" In fact, he was not idling away his time like the idle rich men depicted in movies, but practicing the strength and feel of his hands.

A craftsman must live and learn

"I keep thinking about how to do the best job and make the best even better," said Hua. A craftsman must live and learn. "Stop learning, and you will fall behind in the industry. I just want to seize the chance." Due to his diligence, Hua has become not only an outstanding grinder and repairer, but also a top-notch tooling designer and technical problem-solver.

On May Day, 2003, thermocouples were to be installed in two 90MW boilers in the Waigaoqiao Power Station. As the two boilers sat idle for long periods, all the preformed mounting holes (each about 3–5mm in diameter and 35–20mm in length, 36 holes per boiler) were blocked by rust flakes. At that time, the technical personnel at the power plant thought the issue could be easily solved by re-drilling the rust holes, but they tried in vain. Once again, Hua was requested to give it a shot.

The next day, he went to the site with a set of self-made tools. At the plant, he first researched the boilers. He also heard that a German supervisor had promised to complete the job in 7 days at a cost of 1,200 euros per day (doubled during holidays). Then he said, "Let me show you how I'll fix it." It took only two days for Hua to get all the 72 holes done.

Hearing about this, the German supervisor could not believe his ears, so he came to Mr. Hua with curiosity. In the face-to-face discussion, he could not help but give a thumbs-up to Mr. Hua's "ear-picking" solution.

In Hua's opinion, even in the modern era, a craftsman still needs to dot the i's and cross the t's and seek for even greater perfection, in an effort to deliver premium products featuring not only superficial consistency, but an inherently high benchmark. "One should keep learning to keep up with the times." Now he has made a shift from simple repair and maintenance to comprehensive scientific management.

What impressed this reporter most were his hands, thick and firm, covered with yellow-brown calluses. When he talked about his operating skills as a fitter, his eyes grew even brighter. "As a fitter, I am second-to-none in Shanghai." All efforts and endeavors will be rewarded. On behalf of the company, Hua Jianguo won two championships in the Shanghai Fitters Competition under the National Vocational Skills Competition in 1990 and 2003. Even the judges marveled at his second championship at the age of 43, "As a veritable champion and a dedicated fitter even in your forties, you deserve the title of 'No. 1 Fitter in Shanghai' both in terms of your professionalism and expertise."

Hua enjoyed being fully engaged in the competition, while constantly challenging himself to improve his capabilities. He has never slacked off at work after the competition, always striving for the best match between himself and the enterprise for win-win success. He believes that young people should establish their personal ideals as early as possible, and referred to a saying, "Dream a dream, keep learning and working hard at it, and you will get your chance in this world."

President Xi once said, "There is no such thing as a free lunch, and only hard work will make dreams come true." As the most hardworking person I have ever seen, Hua has quite a few expectations and plans for the future. He hopes to stand longer on the technical stage as an industrious veteran with a youthful, innovative spirit in the new era. He also intends to share his years of experience and expertise, turning his "special skills" into the "technical assets" of the enterprise and enabling more aspiring young people to realize their dreams on their own.