This stone gets its name because it is found in Taihu Lake in Jiangsu Province. In the past, the term mainly referred to the carbonate rocks found in the area from Dongting Xishan to Yixing, and the most famous type was the rocks at Yuan Mountain and Yuqi Mountain. Currently, Taihu stone is a collective name for all karst carbonate rocks of various shapes. ‘Dry Taihu stone’ is produced in the hilly areas around Taihu Lake and is a limestone that has been eroded by acidic red soil. This rock looks dry, coarse and angular. ‘Watery Taihu stone’ is produced in the lake, where the limestone has been subjected to water corrosion and wave erosion, so holes of various shapes (locally called marble holes) have formed. Taihu stones are generally large and are suitable for display or stacking. Taihu stone can be judged by 15 standards: slimness, wrinkliness, leakiness, penetrability, elegance, clarity, naughtiness, ugliness, robustness, strangeness, quality, colour, shape, oddness and majesty...
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(2020). Taihu Stone. In: Chen, A., Ng, Y., Zhang, E., Tian, M. (eds) Dictionary of Geotourism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2538-0_2406
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2538-0_2406
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