A global campaign has been launched to collect poetry about Mount Danxia, a scenic area near Shaoguan. The three poems deemed best will be immortalised by being carved on a precipice on the mountain, Chinanews reports.

The submitted poems must pay tribute to this, image courtesy of Google Images

On Tuesday (Oct. 8), a joint press conference was held by the World Natural Heritage Centre and the local municipal government to announce that poets from around the world are invited to submit their work to shirenwang (poets’ network) by Nov. 18. There are no age restrictions.

The authors of the top three poems will also receive 30,000 yuan (US$4,902.5) as a reward.

CNS has more:

According to the rules of the competition, every entry should be written as a seven-character octave, an ancient Chinese form of poetry that contains eight lines, with each line having seven characters.

The seven-character octave as a form probably reached maturity during the Tang Dynasty (618-906).

Shaoguan vice mayor Chen Bo said the challenge would help preserve some of the culture of the early 21st century for future generations.

Are there any foreigners out there who think their Chinese is good enough to have a go?