 Though with a high regard for industry and thrift, the mountain people
are particular about their dwelling place as well as their life style. Every house is
decorated with calligraphy and painting. On some pillars still hang the couplet boards of
the old times, bearing aphorisms such as: The world becomes large if you are tolerant
toward everything. Business grows booming when you are generous to everybody. Heroes
are those who can stand hardships. Fools aren't those who will bear losses. Filial
piety and fraternal duty keep a family prosperous. Diligent learning and hard working make
a man perfect. At the upper end of the central hall is usually a long narrow table,
on which a bottle stands on the right and a mirror on the left, symbolizing peace and
quietude, for in Chinese bottle and mirror are homonymous to peace and
quietude respectively. In front of the long table is an old fashioned square table,
and on either side of it stands an armchair. All appear antique. Among the Huangshan
family daily articles two things are indispensable--the heating stove and the bamboo tube.
The bamboo tube is a food container. Some of them are carved with beautiful designs. The
longer they are used the more smooth and polished they become. They can be compared
favorably with artistic works. Heating stoves, on the other hand, are used to warm up
people in winter. They vary in design and size. Some are shaped like a bucket and others
like a box, each with a fire pot inside the frame. The bucket-shaped one, with an arc
cover on the top, is for a single person, while the box-shaped one is usually used to warm
up several people sitting around. There is also a basket-like heating stove. It is made of
bamboo with an iron interior which is coated with clay. When filled with charcoal, this
type is a portable stove. Children take these bamboo stoves to school, each keeping
one under his lap or at his feet in class. This kind of stoves is so popular that
they make up a special feature of the Huangshan district.
Huangshan boasts high mountains, dense forests and fertile land and
abounds in natural resources and special local products such as tea, mushroom, glossy
ganoderma, bamboo shoots, loquats, tangerines, pears, edible manna lichen, yangtao, dates,
dried snakes, walnuts, lacqueware, bamboo weaves, carvings, chinaware as well as the four
treasures of the study - writing brush, ink stick, inkslab and paper.
Among them Qihong Black Tea, Tunlu Green Tea, Hui Ink Sticks and She Inkslabs are so
famous that they have become synonyms of Huizhou. Hui Ink Sticks, formerly called Li Ink
Sticks, were made by Xi Chao and Xi Tinggui, ink stick makers of the Tang Dynasty, who
came from Yishui, Hebei. Their ink sticks were light in weight, nice in smell, and pure in
color. They were so appreciated by Li Yu, an emperor of the Later Tang, that he bestowed
Xi Tingsui the imperial surname Li. and appointed him to the post of Court Ink Master. The
ink sticks he made were thus called Li Ink Sticks. A saying had it at that time that It is
easier to get gold than to get a Li Ink Stick .
And later, ink stick making became a
popular trade in Shezhou. After the place was renamed Huizhou, the ink sticks made here
were often referred to as Hui Ink Sticks. With the improvement and innovation of
technology, Hui Ink Sticks have been widely loved by painters and calligraphers for their
special quality: they are hard but easy to be moistened, black with a beautiful sheen and
not sticky to a writing brush or soaking to the paper. With a favorable fragrance a brush
with Hui ink moves more smoothly on paper. Writings and paintings in this ink are
pitch-dark, ever-lasting and true in color. The Globe Ink Sticks made in Hu Kaiwen Ink
Workshop won a gold medal in Panama international Fair in 1915 and thereby became world
famous. She Inkslabs, on the other hand, is one of the four most famous
inkslabs, besides
Guangdong's Duan Inkslab, Gansu's Tao Inkslab and Shanxi's Chengni
Inkslab. She
Inkslab is made out of the stone on the Dragon Tail Mountain, Zhuchi Mountain and Xianxia
Mountain within the present-day Jiangxi Province and the surrounding areas. As Wuyuan
belonged to Shezhou in the old days and as on the Dragon Tail Mountain there was a stream
named She Stream, the inkslab made of the stone from these places was called She
inkslab.
The best-known inkslab is cut out of the rock from the Dragon Tail Mountain, called Dragon
Tail Inkslab. Investigations show that the geologic age of the Dragon Tail Mountain
belongs to the Sinian Period, which was a billion years ago, so She inkslabs are
pure-colored, fine-veined, heavy and smooth, and when rubbed with an ink stick, no sound
is produced and the ink is as thick as oil. She Inkslab has its varieties--25 designs out
of 5 classes. Among the most valuable are Brow-Veined, Net-Veined, Golden-Star,
Silver-Star, Golden-Ring, Golden-Ribbon and Black-Gold inkslabs. Not only do they enjoy a
high quality but also exquisite designs and a fine workmanship. The craftsmen usually
carve the slabs into different designs according to the natural shapes and veins of the
raw materials. Besides round, square, and natural shapes, the slabs are carved into the
shapes of melons, fruits, fish and dragons as well as human figures, which are extremely
lifelike. The Nine Dragon Inkslab , for example, has 9 dragons swimming in surging waves,
with 18 shining eyes carved out of the 18 natural star-like spots on the stone. The
carving is of superb craftsmanship excelling nature. It is thus regarded as a rare
treasure. Furthermore, the caskets for She Inkslabs are just as exquisite. They are
usually made of pearwood or toonwood, shaped according to the size of the slabs. Each slab
fits well into its casket so that no sound is heard when the casket is shaken. Painted
red, the caskets look elegant and antique. She Inkslabs were highly appraised by Oyang
Xiu, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and widely loved by inkslab collectors.
Huangshan is also a tea-producing area and most people of the district
are tea drinkers. Besides Qihong Black Tea and Tunlu Green Tea, which are world famous,
Taipinghoukui, Baiyuehuangya, Huangshanmaofeng, Lumudan, Songluo, Queshe, Lianxin,
Dinggudafang and some other varieties rank first class. Besides being a refreshing drink,
tea has its medical values, Songluo Tea, for example, helps to reduce blood pressure, and
Dinggudafang reduces weight. Shimo Tea, produced on Yixian County's Shimo Mountain, is
said to contain more than ten trace elements, which will help to prevent diseases and
senility, and the longevity of the local people is believed to be related to the tea. Tea
drinking has become their daily routine. They have the morning tea, the noon tea and the
evening tea. In the morning they drink the green tea to refresh themselves. It is said
they would rather dispense with breakfast than with tea. At noon, after lunch, they have a
strong tea to help digestion, and in the evening they sip a weak tea just to relax
themselves. The Huangshan people are hospitable and whenever a guest comes they entertain
him first of all with tea. They do not make tea in a teapot, instead they infuse it
directly in a cup. Boiled water is added to it during the course of drinking, but the cup is never filled to the brim. The folks are
particular about the way of drinking. They enjoy good tea by sipping and tasting it
slowly. Nothing can bring them more pleasure than a cup of delicious tea, pure, fragrant
and refreshing.
Tea growing pursuit in Huizhou enjoys a history of more than 1,200 years. There are over
30 varieties of tea, among which Qihong Black Tea has gained a fame as the world's top
tea, and Tunlu Green Tea is sold in more than 50 countries and regions. The girls are
demonstrating the local way of serving tea with specially made bamboo tea-things.
Around Mt. Huangshan is a world of treasure and mystery. After your
sightseeing tour, you may well make yourself a cup of tea and sip it leisurely. In the
hour of delightful relaxation, thoughts may come welling up in your mind. And to your joy
you will find that the mystical and mysterious wonderland is right here-dearly cherished
in your heart!
HAIRY BEAN CURD
The hairy bean curd, a traditional snack, is sold in the streets. The bean curd is cooked
in a pot on the stove carried along by the pedlar. At one end of the shoulder pole he
keeps a bucket for condiments, and at the other the stove. Customers gather around the pot
and eat the bean curd with chopsticks from the hot pot without any bowls or plates. The
street hairy bean curd is both good food and big fun.
SIGNBOARD OF LAO HU DAIWEN INK WORKSHOP
Lao Hu Kaiwen Ink Workshop is situated in Shexian County. It was started in the Qing
Dynasty. Kaiwen is not the given name of the owner, but a part of a Chinese idiom, meaning
literary luck . Hu named his workshop Kaiwen so that his ink sticks would suggest
success in learning. This signboard has a history of more than 300 years.
THREE HOLED WELL
Some of the wells at the foot of Mt. Huangshan are covered with stone tops with three
small round holes to fetch water through. It is said that the wells were thus made in
order that children would not fall in and that women would not commit suicide here.
Whether it is true or not, the three holed wells are a good local charm.
Some ancient villages at the foot of Mt. Huangshan
 maintain an old mode of life left over
by their ancestors. Most of the villagers abide by traditional customs, live in
ancient-styled houses and use ancient daily articles and working tools. It is a peaceful,
undisturbed and unchanging life they are living.
FOLKS WEAR OLD STYLED CLOTHES
This old woman buns her hair on the back of her head and covers it with a kerchief. She
wears a side-buttoned deep blue short gown and a foot-length apron, sitting all alone in
the heating bucket smoking a pipe. Is she meditating upon the past or anything
else. |
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