Xiangzhi Valley

With an area of 50.8 square kilometers, Xiangzhi Valley is a simple and natural village located in the Wudang District, 40 km from Guiyang city. It integrates the sceneries of mountains, water, forests, karst caves, waterfalls, valleys, cultural relics and so on. It is also a natural museum of ancient Cailun (founder of papermaking techniques) papermaking techniques. Xiangzhi Valley is famous for its “Xiangzhi” that is a kind of sacred paper to worship died people, which is impossible to be substituted by modern paper.

History of Xiangzhi Valley

About six hundred years ago, three descendants of Cailun came to here and saw dense bamboo all over the mountain, and the scenery was very beautiful, which was a good place to make paper, so they decided to live here. Papermaking techniques passed on by generations, also because the paper made here has a special fragrance. So the local names there as “Xiangzhi Valley”.

Ancient papermaking techniques

Xiangzhi Valley preserves the ancient and complete original hand-made papermaking work houses. It is recorded that there were72 processes of Cailun papermaking, and the raw materials mainly were flax and tree bark. And now the paper made in Xiangzhi Valley still followed these 72 processes such as thumping, soaking, stewing, ferment and rinsing and so on, but the raw materials was changed as dracaena because of Xiangzhi Valley being rich of dracaenas source. The whole processes need three months to complete.

There are Longjin Valley work house, Baishui River work house group and Xiangzi Valley work house group. In these areas, they preserve papermaking tools like waterwheel, runner wheel, and water-mill water-powered trip-hammer.

Xiangzhi Valley has natural scenery and cultural relic scenery. Scenic sceneries are Guodiqing, Nanjing Temple, Heaven Horse Rock, Majiaochong and Baishui Valley and so on.

The Pine Greeting Guests

Two towering pines grow on cliffs and precipices of Mati Rock, although cliffs are surrounded by other plants, they still stand out and they are like two elegant fairies welcoming tourists from far and near.

Guodiqing

Guodiqing is three kilometers long and three hundred meters in depth. Here are original plants and towering cliffs surrounded with pouring waterfalls in the valley. There are ancient papermaking work houses crisscross built but in order outside.

Waterfall groups

Majiaochong is a spectacular waterfall group. It is composed of two-level calcification waterfall and a waterfall cave. The first-level of waterfall is 50 meters high and five meters wide, and the second-level is in 70 meters high and head drop is 20 meters. When water is insufficient, it is like a drooping pearl curtain, but conversely it is like a white ribbon floating between the cliffs.

Besides this, there still are Longjingwan waterfall group, Sandao Rock Waterfall group and Niujiao Waterfall and so on.

Heaven Horse Rock

Heaven Horse Rock is so called because huge naked rocks on the mountain like a heaven horse ready to run. It is surrounded by dense forest and it is a perfect spot to appreciate Majiaochong waterfalls.

Traditional custom

Han and Bouyei are main nationalities lived in Xiangzhi Valley. Bouyei‘s “Wedding Banquet” shows traditional ethnic wedding custom and food culture, especially singing in antiphonal style from young boys and girls.

The delicious food worthy to taste are Loving Tofu (grilled Tofu), grilled chicken skin and Siwawa (made of decades kinds of vegetable filaments with seasoning) etc.Every March 3rd in lunar calendar, the Bouyei people gather in beautiful clothing to make performances, such as traditional singing in antiphonal style, so-na (a kind of trumpet) and dancing dragon and so on.

Temple fair in Nanjin Temple

Nanjin Temple has an area of nearly 10 thousand?, and it was destroyed before. It was reopened in 2000, since then, lots of Buddhists gather in the temple to celebrate the birthday of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva on every 19th Feb., 19th Jun. and 19th Sep. in lunar calendar.