Jiangxi Province, 280km (174 miles) NE of Nanchang, 430km (267 miles) E of Wuhan
Jingde Zhen is a smallish town in the throes of growing up but without quite the economic clout to do so. For now, areas of ramshackle housing still survive behind the typical white-tile shopping streets but are clearly not due to be around much longer. The main attraction is the pottery industry, but the town doesn't present itself too well and its museum collections are weak, although the Taoci Lishi Bowuguan (Ceramic Historical Exhibition Area) is excellent. Local authorities are starting to recognize the importance of tourism and, in 2004, celebrated the area's 1,000th anniversary as an imperial kiln-production center.
During the Song dynasty, Jingde Zhen came to dominate porcelain production and gained its name from a decision by the Song Jingde emperor (reigned 1004-07) to upgrade it to a town. It dominated world porcelain production for nearly 1,000 years, not least because Jiangxi Province has Asia's purest deposits of kaolin clay suitable for firing, and Jingde Zhen was surrounded by wooded hills providing plentiful quantities of the right kind of firewood (coal causes yellowing in the glaze). Although 17th-century Manchu riots destroyed much of the town, the Yangzi to the north, and river systems leading south to Guangzhou, enabled the town to get its wares around China for sale, and later, via the treaty ports, to an increasingly enthusiastic European market. Imperial support also helped -- some kilns were employed solely for the making of wares for the emperors and their officials. The first kiln site to produce white china and to use certain underglaze painting techniques, Jingdezhen reached its peak of technical brilliance during the mid-17th to late 18th century with the gaudy full-colored enamel overglaze illustrations of famille vert and famille rose china.
Statues at the end of Zhu Shan Jie show the process of working the clay, blowing on glazes, carrying items to kilns, and more.
Jingdezhen Pictures 
Jingdezhen Attractions: 
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