The Yingxiong Mountain Cultural Market was set up in May 1992. As the first“commercial street with Chinese characteristics” in Jinan, the market offers various commodities, ranging from ancient and modern Chinese and foreign books and magazines, antique calligraphic works and paintings, to crafted ceramics. Veterans and insiders from all over the country assemble in the market to pick rare and precious treasures and exchange their collection experience. The market is adjacent to the Yingxiong Mountain Tourist Attraction and is connected to an antiques quarter and a snack street. By virtue of its cultural features, the market has become Jinan’s name card and is recognized as“the top cultural market on the north of the Yangtze River”.
In the Yingxiong Mountain Cultural Market, a cultural landmark of Jinan, the most striking treasure has to be the blue and white porcelain painting Scenic City of Springs hung at the square. The 38-meter-long and 1.7-meter-high monumental wall painting is painted with traditional Chinese landscape painting technique and made with 17 porcelain pieces through the ancient underglaze technique. The painting displays 17 scenic spots of Jinan, including Qianfo Mountain, Baotu Spring, Chaoran Pavilion, Daming Lake, Qiyan Jiudian and Furong Street. Jinan’s cluster of springs, lakes, mountains, tourist attractions and historic spots are depicted in the porcelain ink painting, which is organically blended with the market into a grand scroll painting. It is a vivid epitome of the beautiful scenery of Jinan, a city known to“be surrounded with mountains and blessed with lakes, decorated by lotus flowers on four sides and willows on three sides”. The rich culture of Jinan described by the painting goes perfectly well with the cultural market, and it is fair to call the painting“the modern version of Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival”.
Scenic City of Springs, the blue and white porcelain wall painting at the Yingxiong Mountain Cultural Market
