Shanghai Expo will benefit neighboring Anhui

2010-04-07

Four hours ascent might be a bit crazy, but like a good drama, Huangshan slowly reveled itself for the final act -- the breathtaking view from the top.

The name Huangshan derives from a Tang Dynasty emperor who came in search of ever-lasting life. With a cluster of 72 peaks that all standing more than 1,000 meter above sea level, the mountain nowadays is a national treasure and a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage site.

Wild plant and animal is another attraction of Huangshan. Festooned with over 3,000 kinds of plants and inhabited by short-tailed monkeys, the mountain is famous for its pine even not in Christmas. Just to name a few, the umbrella pine is named by former American Secretary General Kofi Annan for its shape of umbrella and couple's pine tree features two trunks branching out of the same stem.

Listed on top of Shanghai World Expo's recommended tourist sites in Anhui, Huangshang welcomes more than 30,000 visitors every day during peak season in spring and summer. Between November and March, it is another ice world with snow and clouds blanketed the mountain.

Four treasures

The opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics drew eyeballs from the world by showing "Four Treasures of Chinese Study" — the beautiful Chinese writing brush, ink, paper and inkslab. Proudly, three of them Xuan paper, Hui ink (宣紙徽墨) and She inkslab (歙硯) came from Anhui province.

Chinese calligraphy collectors used to believe good Xuan paper lasts forever. Named after ancient Anhui's Xuanzhou prefecture, where the best type of paper was produced, Xuan paper is renowned for fine texture, suitable for both Chinese calligraphy and painting.

It was not until recently that the secret of making Xuan paper has been reveled to the public. Paper masters have their own secrets of magic to make Xuan paper that varied in texture, thickness and strength. Today, Jingxian county (涇縣), which once belonged to Xuanzhou prefecture and located within two hours drive from Huangshan, became a must-see tourist site.

Not far away, Shexian county (歙縣) has the country's best ink and inkslab— Hui ink and She inkstone. In ancient China, ink is in solid blocks and will only become liquid through adding some water and grinded by ink stone.

With pre-mixed liquid ink available nowadays, why would people go for grinding their own ink? People from Shexian county would answer it with a smile, "the texture and quality of freshly ground ink is better, adding to the fact that people like to get themselves into the ritual for calligraphy by grinding ink".