STEP 1: A woman singles out usable bark peeled off the Qingtan trees in Jingxian County, Anhui Province.[Photo/ShanghaiDaily.com]

Pure and clean in texture, tender yet tough with great resistance to creasing, corrosion, moths and mold, Xuan paper has been used for hundreds of years by calligraphers and painters.

Xuan paper dates back to the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220) and is used for brush writing and painting. It reached its heyday in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), when it was presented as a tribute to emperors and other members of the royal family.

The paper earned its name from the city where it was invented, Xuancheng in east China’s Anhui Province.

"Only paper that is handmade in Jingxian County with the ancient skills passed down since the Tang Dynasty can be called Xuan paper," says Liu Baoping, 62, the retired general manager of China Xuan Paper Group.

It is said that in 121 AD, Kong Dan, a student of Cai Lun — inventor of the world’s first piece of paper — made a living by producing paper in Anhui.