Chinese Writing Stone is also called Porphory. This dramatic looking stone received its name because of the crystalline structure resembling the Chinese characters of the written language.
Porphory comes from the Yangtze River Valley of the Hunan Province of China, and is known to be found in the Auburn, California region of the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. Colors range from a very dark gray or almost black to creamy white, both of which have a slight greenish cast. It strongly resembles the Chrysanthemum stone, another limestone matrix and andalusite crystal stone from China, but the crystals in that stone spray out into a chrysanthemum pattern - hence the name.
Composition: Limestone matrix with andalusite crystals.
Mohs-Scale Hardness: 5-6