A Chinese idiom goes that "to tap a stone, and turn it into gold", meaning a capability to transform quite common objects into things of great value.

In Nan'an, a city of Fujian province which traces its history to the third century, people of several generations have been relaying on a business of the same nature — to mine quality stones, process them and sell the products nationwide and abroad.

While today, people in Nan'an are eyeing to add more values to that traditional craft by introducing the creativity and imagination of designers. And that effort is to be critiqued at this year's China (Nan'an) Shuitou International Stone Expo and Stone Design Week, running in the city from Nov 8-11.

Welcoming its 23th session, the annual event would like to show the world its ambition to turn stone into a modern platform of imagination and originality through wider and deeper collaboration between stone processors and designers from around the world. A display of special stones and designs will be added this year to engage expo visitors with a discussion of the possibilities of stone as a major player in raising the quality of people's life.