Cangshan knives are made in Yangjiang, China. This is a huge hub for knife makers in that part of the world. Other knife brands in that city include Dalstrong, Zelite, and several others. Some say there are over 1500 knife makers in Yangjiang. Despite being made in China, most of the steel used in Cangshan’s knives comes from either Germany or Sweden.

Their founder, Henry Liu, went searching for a knife manufacturer and audited over 80 sites throughout the U.S. and Europe. He never found what he was looking for, but rather just the same old knife designs and nothing unique. He then landed in Yangjiang, China a cutlery Mecca of sorts. The artisans there shared his passion of making something different. After 2 years of research and development, it all started and is now known as the Cangshan Cutlery Company.

Cangshan use high alloy German Steel, high carbon Japanese Steel and the amazing high alloy Swedish Sandvik® 12C27 and 14C28N Steels. German X50CrMov15 Steel gives an exceptional blend of hardness and durability to the edge, allowing for a precise and sharp edge without any brittleness. The steel has a hardness of 58 ±2 on the Rockwell Hardness Rating and is also highly stain resistant. Cangshan's proprietary X-7 Steel is a harder steel then German steel which means it can take a significantly sharper edge. A unique, Damascus pattern is formed in the metal from folding 67 layers of steels together. X-7 Steel has a hardness rating of 61 ±2 on the Rockwell Hardness Rating. Swedish Sandvik® Steels in our opinion are the perfect mix of incredible hardness and durability. These steels take a phenomenally sharp edge and keep it up to 5 times longer than competing knives currently in the marketplace. That means a knife that stays sharper, longer. These steels have a hardness rating of 60 ±2 on the Rockwell Hardness Rating. Swedish DAMASTEEL® RWL34 Powder Steel is an amazing steel that is able to captialize on the high alloy blend of metals perfectly melted together to create a remarkably hard, strong and pure steel with a 62 ±2 on the Rockwell Hardness Rating.

All manufacturing decisions are made with passion to create and share value to you, the consumer. Cangshan Cutlery is constantly seeking to improve all manufacturing processes as they push the abilities of their bladesmiths. This dedication to quality can be seen throughout the manufacturing process, like bagging knives between manufacturing steps to ensure knife handles are not scratched before reaching you. Every blade goes through an ultra-precise 6 stage heat treatment which brings out the best qualities of each steel. We believe heat treatment is the key to a great knife. Even slight variations of a few degrees at any point in the process can cause the knife's hardness to vary throughout the blade. This is the reason it took 2+ years of research and development to dial in the specific heat treatment process that would ensure Cangshan knives are both hard enough to take a sharp 16 degree edge, and durable enough to keep that sharp edge during heavy kitchen use.

While some of the Cangshan knives say they are dishwasher safe, the best option for your knives is to hand wash and dry them immediately after use. With any high-quality kitchen knife that has carbon in the steel, hand-washing and drying them immediately after use will extend the life of the blade and prevent damage to the blade over a long-term period. Even knives with more Chromium in the blade can rust when exposed to water that sits on them for a long time, just like in a dishwasher. It’s always just best practice to wash and dry right away and by hand.