A delicate masterpiece

While Xuan paper, the canvas that Chinese paintings and calligraphy are done on, may not be entirely relevant in today's era, it is actually as valued as the art on it

Zhou Donghong and his business partner of more than two decades are standing opposite one another with a vat of milky water between them.

They soon dip a rectangular wooden frame with a bamboo mat into the vat before pulling it out less than five seconds later. The move, which was rhythmic, graceful and done in perfect synchronization, resulted in excess water splashing over the sides of the vat, turning the mat on the frame into a massive damp handkerchief with a pale yellow sheen.

The frame is then plunged back in once more, but this time it emerges with pulp that is required to create what is considered China's finest paper - Xuan paper.

"It's like fishing the moon out of the water," said Zhou, quoting the Chinese proverb used to describe efforts made in vain.

In this context, however, he was describing how hard it is to perform such a task. The 51-year-old carefully peeled the pulp off the frame before stacking it on a trailer. The pulp will then undergo a few more processes before it can be turned into paper.

It takes at least three years to create a single sheet of Xuan paper. Much of the time is spent drying the sandal barks and rice straws in the sun.

"This has been pretty much how it has been done since it was invented. It's all by hand and has to be done by hand," he said.

Xuan paper was invented more than 1,500 years ago in Jingxian county, East China's Anhui province, where Zhou was born. He has spent most of his life trying to perfect the art of papermaking, and this particular step, which is called "paper fishing", is regarded as one of the trickiest steps in the whole process. There are 108 steps in total.

Zhou is a master craftsman at China Xuan Paper Corporation, the country's largest manufacturer of the paper. He has worked as a "paper fisher" for the past 30 years and is so skilled that his margin for error is within one gram.

"I use my hands as a scale. With just one shake I can feel the weight (of the pulp)," he said.