Waves roll along the bottom of an elegant inkstone at Yishui Inkstone Company in Hebei province. [Photo/CRIENGLISH.com]

Cradling Beijing within its folds, Hebei province's Yi county is a mere hop, skip, and a jump away, providing a variety of sights and experiences to help people escape urbanity.

Best known for its Western Qing Tombs, Yi county also has its lesser known places of interest. Hebei has a large amount of minerals, which has created a culture of artisans who have taken centuries to develop their crafts with these materials.

An artisan carves out the scales of a dragon's torso. [Photo/CRIENGLISH.com]

Inkstones are used for Chinese calligraphy and painting, and their history dates back about as far. Some of the finest inkstones in the world are crafted in Yi county, with much care put into creating inkstones which are honed for their craft, as well as meditatively beautiful.
 
Traditional ink comes in the form of a solidified stick. The end of the stick is wet with water and then ground before use. Each ink stone has a reservoir where an excess of ink can be temporarily stored.