The art of this handmade Chinese umbrella came to Meinong, a small Hakka town in Southern Taiwan about 100 hundred years ago. A local businessman bought a whole oil-paper umbrella workshop in Guangdong and moved the activity, including the artisans, to Meinong. Oil-paper umbrellas were used for daily life (they are really waterproof) and also as wedding gifts amongst the thrifty Hakka. Source: Taiwan-Travel-Experience.com