READY TO GO: Cheng Geng dips the ink before painting with fingers (KYLE MULLIN)

At first it looks like he's painting a Rorschach inkblot - carefully dabbing dark lines and splotches to represent your very psyche. But it doesn't take long for you to realize he's not painting your mind's current state, but something it has yet to ponder - a corner of China with lush leaves, swaying branches and perfectly chiseled rock faces. All of this rendered with just his fingers, a painter dabbing each dark drop with his nails instead of a brush.

"A brush can't help you paint pictures like this," said Cheng Geng of the stark black and white finger paintings he creates before the eyes of patrons of the Xiu Shui Art Tea Shop at the top of the stairway that leads to Silk Street's fourth floor.

As if to prove his point, Cheng dunks his right pinky and ring fingers into a porcelain bowl filled with ink as black as sackcloth.

He presses the tips of his fingers on the pale white page, leaving two shadowy prints - an organic signature of sorts to compliment the natural scenery he's painting. He doesn't leave those prints as-is, but drags his fingers across them, smudging them so they stretch up the page. As he smears the ink, the same creases in his skin that made those initial fingerprints create slight gaps and rough edges in the smudges; the unique imperfections of his flesh make for a truly unique signature.

FINGER DANCE: Cheng Geng paints Mount Laoshan (KYLE MULLIN)	ALMOST DONE: Cheng Geng finishes painting Mount Laoshan (KYLE MULLIN)

Zhang Qin, one of the shop's employees, peers over Cheng's shoulder. "People like the paintings because they aren't of big cities like Shanghai or Beijing," she said. "It's so much more natural."

Meanwhile, Cheng dips the heel of his hand in the ink and then bashes the page with it, like a baker pounding dough before he kneads it. Cheng is painting one of China's most scenic attractions – Mount Laoshan in Shandong Province.

There are many reasons for Cheng to try and recapture this place. As China's highest coastal mountain, the area has seen millions of hikers looking to explore the Xiaqing Palace Temple, one of the birthplaces of Taoism. However, Cheng said that it was simply the mountain's beauty that inspired him.

In a way, the painting is not only a snapshot of that mountain; it also recaptures much of Cheng's youth. He grew up in Jiangxi Province, which is much further south than Mount Laoshan but shares many parallels with the towering peak. Both regions have deep Taoist roots, for one thing. Both areas are also appreciated just as much for their aesthetics as for their cultural value.

Capturing Mount Laoshan on paper is just another part of Cheng's family heritage; as he grew from a boy to a man in Jiangxi, his uncle taught him his ancestors' finger painting tradition. When he moved to Beijing to find work, Cheng took a piece of his home with him, along with the means to recreate a glimpse of the rural lifestyle.

And so, Cheng continues to paint. He vigorously smacks the page with another ink-stained fist, once again smearing the marks to change their appearance. He drags the marks down with the edge of his palm so that the mountain can take shape. Another downward stroke draws out the drops of a waterfall that thunders along the mountain's face. Cheng brings his hand back to the bowl for more ink; he dips his pinky nail, which has been waiting like an eagle's talon, poised and ready to scratch the paper's surface.

Cheng's pace quickens, his nail scratching sharper edges around the mountain and the waterfall. It looks as though he's scraping away a superficial layer of the paper itself, revealing finer details in his portrait of the mountain.

SO VIVID: The closeup of Mount Laoshan by Cheng Geng (KYLE MULLIN)

"I've only been there a few times (in the past)," Cheng said as he finished his rendering of the great peak. He pauses, listening to the raucous bartering that saturates the market before glancing back at the waterfall – the only thing that could possibly drown out the din of the busy market.

Cheng had just one more thing to say about Mount Laoshan:

"I would like to go back to see it again, it is the most beautiful place in China."

The author is a Canadian working in Beijing