The Southern Anhui Sichuan-Tibet Line, Fate Leads to Jing County — A Complete Self-Driving Guide to Southern Anhui, 3 Days and 2 Nights on the Jiangnan Heavenly Road — A Great Choice for a Dragon Boat Festival Trip with Kids, Learn the History of Xuan Paper

Time: March 20, 2021 – March 22, 2021

People: A family of three

Transportation: Baojun 310W station wagon

Day 1: Shanghai – Jing County, stayed at Hanting Hotel (Jing County Branch) at night.

Day 2: Jing County – Southern Anhui Sichuan-Tibet Line full route – Guangde, stayed at Rujia Hotel (Guangde Branch) at night.

Day 3: Guangde – Shanghai

This was truly a spontaneous trip. On the 19th, I told my husband that we happened to have three days off, and asked if we should go somewhere. After my husband agreed, we immediately prepared travel supplies and set off early on the 20th for an early spring trip to Southern Anhui.

The starting point of our journey was Jing County in Xuancheng, Anhui. Like most people, I originally thought that Xuan paper, one of the Four Treasures of the Study, was produced in Xuancheng. But in fact, the real origin of Xuan paper is Jing County. It was really fortunate to be able to visit the thousand-year-old traditional hand-making process of Xuan paper, to understand the craftsmanship of paper, ink, brushes, inkstones, fans, paper curtains, etc., and to personally experience the making of paper, ink, brushes, inkstones, fans, and paper curtains. This trip was also educational and fun, allowing children to appreciate the charm of traditional culture.

The ticket for the China Xuan Paper Cultural Park is 50 yuan. When I visited in March, women got half price.

Children: under 1.2 meters (exclusive), free; 1.2 meters (inclusive) to 1.4 meters (exclusive), half price.

Seniors: 65 years old (inclusive) and above, free; 60 years old (inclusive) to 65 years old (exclusive), half price.

Military personnel: free with military ID.

Disabled persons: free with disability ID.

The Xuan Paper Cultural Park consists of seven parts: an ancient Xuan paper workshop, a Four Treasures of the Study experience park, an exhibition hall of Xuan paper and world paper, a painting and calligraphy gallery (including artists' studios), a Four Treasures of the Study and painting market, ancient book printing and Jiangnan folk custom park, etc.

This is the well-preserved old workshop from the past.

The factory displays an eight-meter-long Xuan paper traditional Chinese painting, truly stunning!

Only after visiting the Xuan Paper Museum in Jing County did I truly understand China's Xuan paper. Many people like to hang a few of their own calligraphy works or famous paintings in their Chinese-style study to show elegance. But most people don't know that Xuan paper, which is durable, resistant to decay and insects, and capable of rich ink expression, is actually not simple to produce.

[Material Selection] As a unique type of handmade paper, the production of Xuan paper includes two materials: the bark of the blue sandalwood tree and sandy field rice straw. Both must undergo daily soaking, washing, steaming, and sun-drying among other strict processes before they can be used to make Xuan paper.

[Sun-Drying] The sun-dried rice straw and blue sandalwood bark are called burnt straw and burnt bark.

[Sorting] After multiple processes, the bark material is formed, and the straw and bark need to be manually inspected to remove any substandard or discolored ones.

The so-called pestle barking is where workers put the bark into a stone mortar and repeatedly pound and press it with a large wooden hammer. This process is very long, until the bark becomes sticky enough to form a rough sheet of bark paper.

The pounded bark paper is stacked and carefully cut with an old knife into small strips.

The cut strips of bark material are then transferred to special small vats and continuously trampled. The raw material is mixed into a lump by human trampling. The trampling process is extremely difficult, requiring even rhythm, speed, and force.

The trampled lump of material is then placed in a gauze bag and stirred back and forth in a pool. This step allows the pulp in the raw material to flow into the water through the gauze filtration.