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Wu Haiyang cleans his “panda” stones. (Chinanews.com/Chu Weiwei)

A man from east China’s Anhui Province has collected 300 stones that bear an uncanny resemblance to giant pandas, having also categorized the black-and-white pebble stones according to their shapes and matched them creatively so that they can express certain themes.

“The ‘panda’ stones were naturally formed. When I first found them, they had been washed ashore. After I took them home, all I had to do was to enhance the color contrast between different sections by smearing egg whites on their surfaces so that they became more vivid,” said Wu Haiyang.

Wu, who grew up in a mountainous area in Yuexi county, Anhui Province, has developed an affinity for stones since his childhood. The 43-year-old owner of an eyeglass shop started to collect rare stones more than 10 years ago. Two years ago, Wu discovered a stone that looked like a cute giant panda, which aroused his interest. “Most of the stones that I found are from Jinmahe River, a tributary of the Yangtze River,” Wu introduced.

“Not only do Chinese people love the ‘panda’ stones, people from South Korea and Japan love the stones, too. Each stone is unique,” Wu said, adding that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, many foreign buyers had bought the “panda” stones from him. Wu believes that the naturally formed stones are a type of natural resource, and collecting them means protecting them.

Wu has invested enormously in his hobby. He said it takes not only money, but also time and energy to collect the stones, adding that he once spent a whole year looking for stones and then put them together to convey a specific theme.