Xuan paper (Chinese art paper, rice paper), a kind of high-grade handmade paper produced in Jingxian County, Anhui, is mainly for traditional Chinese calligraphy and paintings. In ancient times, Jingxian County was under the jurisdiction of Xuanzhou Prefecture, the paper was then named after the prefec-ture over 1.300 years ago.

The production of a sheet of traditional high-quality Xuan paper needs at least one year. The production from material treatment to the product ready to sell consists of a dozen processes and over one hundred steps, ranging from bark peeling, steaming, retting, tedding, striking, rinsing, pulping, scooping, squeez-ing, drying, inspecting, cutting, seal stamping and packing.