"As long as we strive for life, we can hold happiness in our hands," said Zhang Zhangmei, the fourth inheritor of Nan’ao sea urchin zongzi, during a ceremony recognizing women's dedication for 2023 in Guangdong Province to mark International Women's Day.

Among the seven Shenzhen women being honored, Zhang was the only one who hailed from Dapeng New District.

Since the technique of making Nan’ao sea urchin zongzi was listed as the district-level intangible cultural heritage in 2019, Zhang has become the fourth inheritor. Later on, the Nan’ao sea urchin zongzi was listed as the city-level intangible cultural heritage in 2021.

Zhang is also an entrepreneur promoting sea urchin zongzi outside Nan’ao.

Born in Nan’ao, Zhang was closely linked to sea urchins since childhood. There was an old saying in Nan’ao, stating that the locals cannot afford eggs but eat sea urchins for every meal. This was because the traffic was inconvenient onDapeng Peninsula in the past, and the locals found it difficult to leave the peninsula to buy fresh eggs, but it was easy for them to catch sea urchins.

The diligent Nan’ao residents turned sea urchins into various delicacies, such as sea urchin zongzi.

From the age of 7, Zhang began wrapping sea urchin zongzi with her grandmother. "The thing I looked forward to the most was eating sea urchin zongzi while watching the dragon boat race," Zhang said.

In 1993, she established Nantiange Hotel. She would personally wrap zongzi for frequent customers as a gesture of gratitude during the Dragon Boat Festival. She then founded Shenzhen Nan’ao Tourism Food Service Co. Ltd., and sea urchin zongzi became their bestseller, with sales seeing yearly growth.

Zhang not only aimed to popularize sea urchin zongzi,but also sought to let more people pass down the skills of making the zongzi.

Nantiange has organized numerous activities for more than 6,000 residents, children, and tourists to experience making sea urchin zongzi.

A platform jointly collaborated by Nantiange, the women's federations in Shenzhen, and the city’s innovation and entrepreneurship base has launched a program to help women in need. This initiative has assisted more than 100 local women in finding jobs by providing training in traditional food-making skills.

Zhang also initiated an intangible cultural heritage workshop in September 2023. Its businesses cover the production and sales of traditional local food, and the training and guidance of skills required for making traditional local food. The production of sea urchin zongzi is expected to increase four to sixfoldsonce the new workshop is in full operation, with anticipated yearly revenue reaching 300 million yuan (US$41.7 million) to 500 million yuan.