Guide to Local Specialties of Mount Dapi

Mount Dapi abounds in local specialties. Below are popular products you may take home as gifts for relatives and friends.

Clay toys date back to the late Sui Dynasty, with a history of over 1,200 years. They come in a great variety. The works feature delicate workmanship, ingenious conceptions, realistic images and unique vivid shapes, full of strong rural charm and distinctive historical features. The ancient temple fairs held in the first and eighth lunar months serve as prime sales seasons, with thousands of stalls open for business. The most famous clay toys are created by the folk craft master, Clay Monkey Zhang.

Muyu stone has fine texture and clear wood-like grain, so it is also called wood-grain stone. It is a rare precious stone worldwide. Health-care wares made of Muyu stone are hand-carved with traditional craftsmanship and treated with special techniques. Integrating ornamental value, health care and collection value, they are elegant gifts to maintain bonds and friendship among relatives and friends.

Yellow River clay pottery is handmade from special pottery clay. It combines traditional and modern arts with fine painting and carving techniques. With simple elegant shapes and fine texture, these pottery works boast extremely high ornamental and collection value, perfect for presenting to family and friends.

Seedless jujubes grow in the hilly areas of Qi County. The fruit is cylindrical with a slender middle part, 2.5 to 3 centimetres long and about 5 grams each. It has reddish-brown peel and yellowish-white flesh with pure sweetness and no sourness, with a sugar content of 58.4%. Fresh jujubes taste crisp and sweet with a unique fragrance. They are nutritious and good for invigorating the spleen and moistening the lungs. Dried jujubes are chewy and mellow. Golden filaments can be seen when cut open. The spindle-shaped pit is soft and edible together with the flesh, hence the name "seedless jujube". It is officially named "soft-pit honey jujube" in Chinese Pomology.

The Qi River is the only pollution-free river remaining in northern China. The Book of Songs records: "Behold the winding Qi River, where green bamboos grow luxuriantly" and "The Qi River flows far and wide; with cedar oars and pine boat, I sail forth to ease my sorrow." Famous for its purity and abundant mineral content, water from the Qi River is used to brew this liquor. Carrying forward ancient brewing traditions and secret recipes, local brewers use sorghum, wheat and barley as raw materials together with modern technology. The liquor is clear and colourless with a full body. Experts praise it for rich cellar aroma, pure refreshing taste, mild sweetness and lasting aftertaste. It was designated as the official reception wine by the municipal government in 2003.