Qingtian Officially Named City of Chinese Stone Culture

Qingtian County, a town of China Stone Carving, adds another hallmark. Recently, an award ceremony was held in Qingtian County, on which Qingtian was officially named as City of China Stone Culture by China National Light Industry Council and China Arts and Crafts Association.
Soft, smooth and rich in colors, Qingitan Stone was known and exploited by people during the period of "Songze Culture over 6,000 years ago. It was ranked one of the four famous stones in China. With complex and brilliant color, exquisite workmanship and excellent reputation both at home and abroad, Qingtian Stone was included in the First National List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in China in 2006. It was repeatedly presented as national gifts to Nixon, Kim Jong-il and other heads of foreign states, and has become an important carrier of Qingtian s deep cultural connotations.
In recent years, Qingtian has been committed to building exhibition center, seminar center and trade center for this famous stone. The county has issued a development plan for stone culture preservation, built city of China Stone Carving and Qingtian Stone Carving Museum, founded an stone carving art school and carefully constructed the first 4-A class national scenic spot with the theme of stone culture successively. Meanwhile, the county also formed an echelon-styled creative team with 7 national masters and 26 provincial artists, and generated an annual production value of 780 million yuan with more than 30,000 employees working for the stone culture industry.
In April, experts from China National Light Industry Council and China Arts and Crafts Association approved Qingtian's establishing the City of China Stone Culture and agreed to name Qingtian County as "City of China Stone Culture .