Summary: CAIRO -- They sit in their farsha (a huge tent in which merchants display their wares), as they have nothing to do but wait.
To make their fawanees, the craftsmen sit on the floor in their farsha or a separate, humble room, with very basic tools, including a small blowtorch.
The craftsmen usually erect their farsha two months before the beginning of Ramadan, in the 'fawanees district' in Ahmed Maher Street, a long thoroughfare and the most famous and oldest place in Egypt for manufacturing and selling lanterns.
We still have customers who want a traditional fanous with a lighted candle inside," says Abu Adab, 63, a farsha owner.