Villagers in south-western China are scratching their heads over the local government's decision to paint a barren mountainside green, it was reported today.

Workers who began spraying the Laoshou mountain last August told nearby residents they were doing so on the orders of the area authorities, but had not been told why.

Some villagers believed Fumin county officials were attempting to change the area's feng shui - the ancient Chinese belief of harmonising the physical environment for maximum health and financial benefit.

Others suggested it was an unusual attempt to "green" the area in keeping with calls for more attention to the environment.

The mountain's exposed rock, covered in an artificial green the colour of Astroturf, looms over houses against a scrubby background.

China's official Xinhua News Agency estimated the cost of the paint job at 470,000 yuan (£31,247) and quoted villagers as saying that, if spent on plants and trees, the money could have restored a far greater area of barren mountain.

Laoshou mountain was quarried for more than two decades, but the quarrying was recently stopped following complaints about dust and noise.

Officials have also been trying to stem environmental damage in the surrounding Yunnan province, where logging and the development of mountain areas have been blamed for heavy floods downriver.

A woman who answered the phone at the Fumin county forestry department said workers there were also unaware of the reasons behind the paint job.

"This is an order from above," she said. "You should ask the leader from above. I don't have any information on this."