All the pottery statues, made on the orders of Emperor Qin Shihuang over 2,000 years ago, were unfortunately smashed into many pieces by the actions of a subsequent emperor, but around 2,000 of them have been painstakingly pieced together over the last 30-odd years and the whole site is open to the public. However, if you want more information I am afraid you will have to go there! The main reason for my being in the Xian area was to visit Shanxi Zhong Xing Timber Co Ltd's latest HDF line. This company is no newcomer to the industry, having two MDF lines at Hanzhong City, 400km away. The first of these multi-opening press lines, supplied by Sichuan Donghua Machinery, started production in 1994, while the second was supplied by Shanghai Wood Based Panel Machinery and started up in 2000. The group also has a short-cycle production line and a decorative plywood line in the same city. However, for diversification, the group still owns a five-star hotel in Hangzhong.As you might expect, the main reason for building the group's latest line in Xian is the availability of wood. This is helped by the presence of an oilfield and an abundant local supply of natural gas, which means that wood is not burnt for fuel. A further advantage of this location is that Xian is a relatively large city, which means it has good communications and road connections. The company also receives enthusiastic support from the local government. In fact there was a delegation from there touring the factory during my visit. There are three main sources of wood supply for the new thin high-density fibreboard (THDF) line. Firstly, Xian City is surrounded by 618,000mu (over 41,000ha) of apple orchards and 10% of the trees are replaced annually so the felled trees provide a source of raw material, even if the fibres of apple tree wood are rather short. Secondly, there are poplar plantations near the city and this provides another, more suitable, source of fibre. Thirdly, the Qinlin Forest is only 100km away. This was seeded by aeroplane and covers 10 million mu (almost 670,000ha), but because of that aerial seeding, the trees are too close together and the thinnings provide further raw material for HDF. In all cases, Shanxi Zhong Xing only utilises the smaller trees and the branches. So wood supply is no problem for us and there is no competition from other industries because there are no others using wood in this area at present," said Mr Li Li, vice general manager of the Xian facility. I asked Mr Li why his company decided on a continuous press for this latest line. "It was because we felt that a continuous press can produce thin board well and this is replacing plywood for furniture and decorative uses in China," he said. The design capacity of the 23.2m x 8ft nominal Dieffenbacher CPS continuous press is 150,000m³, but Mr Li is confident of achieving 180,000m³/year on a 3mm basis, based on the experience of other Dieffenbacher lines he has visited. Construction commenced on the site in December 2004 and machinery installation in May 2005. The first board was produced on December 13, 2005. The land was in fact bought in May 2002 and was originally farm land, although there are now extensive industrial facilities there. Shanxi Zhong Xing originally planned to start construction in 2003, but the SARS epidemic caused the plans to be delayed due to the restrictions on mobility of labour imposed by the government at that time. The complete line from the dryer to the initial cut-to-size system and raw board handling was supplied as part of the Dieffenbacher contract, while the refiner and sander were on separate contracts: The refiner is a Pallmann 54in unit, while the sander is a six-head Steinemann. There is an angular panel saw line from Anthon of Germany. The fact that there are a number of heavy industries located in the area means that the electricity supply is reliable - which is not always the case in China as the country struggles to keep its infrastructure development going at the same pace as its rapidly expanding economy. The energy plant came from a domestic supplier and was manufactured in Changzhou City close to Suzhou, but employed technology from GTS Energy. It is fuelled by coal dust or wood residues from the HDF line. Bark is not available in any quantity as Mr Li said the logs are too small and irregularly shaped for debarking. The density of the thin HDF produced is around 880kg/m³ and the factory is aiming for E1 grade production, with some E2. The markets are in the northern part of China and are served principally by road. Some rail transport is used, but Mr Li said that there are too many complicated procedures involved so it is often quicker by truck. The factory employs some 100 workers, plus additional manual labour from farmers who hand-load the chipper line to feed the two Chinese-made chippers, for instance. The chips are sifted in an oscillating sifter again made by a Chinese company. The gluing system was supplied by Dieffenbacher and solid wax is added to the process by hand. Forming, pre-press and hot press are all Dieffenbacher supply and there is a mat spray and traversing mat density gauge supplied by Imal of Italy. The entire production line is protected from fire by GreCon spark detection/extinguishing systems. Like most of the larger Chinese panel production lines, Shanxi Zhong Xing has its own resin plant. Currently, raw board is the only production at Xian, but negotiations had already commenced with Dieffenbacher for the supply of a short-cycle press line once the revenue from raw board sales is well-established. laminate flooring is also in the plans. Mr Li said there are currently no plans for further raw board capacity at Xian because the investment required is too great for the company to consider at this time. One gets the impression that this project stretched the financial resources of the company, with the Steinemann sander having to be ordered later than the main production line, thus causing some delays to start-up. However, if the company is right in its expectations of the market for its thin HDF, the money should start rolling in soon, at which time the management's views on expansion may come under review.