Jingdezhen

I can't only post about the heart surgery recovering children, the school children and their libraries; it won't be the whole story (and I will save the story of Herbert the cockroach who shared my room when you buy me a beer next time we see each other). Part of the weekend experience for me, was also the drive to the area, and the two brief stops, one in an ancient city, and the other the large city center.

We visited an ancient town for a couple of hours in the afternoon of our last full day there; embarrassingly, I am writing this much later, and I can no longer remember the name (help will arrive with the shared photos I hope). While there we wandered the narrow paths on either side of the river. We stopped in a theater (with a continuing live performance), a buddhist temple, a couple of inns, and a building which had served some famous members of the communist revolution as an interrogation location. There was a very narrow plank which crossed the river as well and a much more solid traditional arched bridge. The river was filled with colorful carp.

One of the economic drivers of the area is tea. In this ancient city we saw large shallow baskets of tea leaves drying in the open air. While driving the winding roads to this area, nearly all of the hills were covered with tea bushes. Since it is spring, we also spotted many people picking the new spring leaves destined for the green tea market. I have no photos of this town- my camera battery had given up for the day (shortly after the school with the azalea photos)- I am promised some photos, and when I obtain them, I will share.

A second economic driver for the area is the making of porcelain. On the last day, we had some time to wander around the center of town of Jingdezhen; the bus took us from our hotel and dropped us off in the center of the town and let us wander around for a couple of hours. This is a historically famous location in China. The area is rich in kaolin clay which is the primary ingredient for making porcelain and began its fame when it produced cups and other ware that attracted the attention of one of the many emperors. For a time, it produced porcelain exclusively for the emperor and his table.
One of the websites that I consulted prior to my visit mentioned something that I would like to share with you. It is said that this is the location where the country obtained its name. The city was originally named Changning. When the Europeans came to the area they were unable to pronounce the name. Their best effort was to croak out "china", and so the porcelain became known as china ware, and the country was tagged as the place that made China, and therefore obtained the name China. I like it and it explains a lot to me- like why it is so different that what China calls itself, and because it is logical- although admittedly not very sensitive to how Chinese people identify their country.

In the Jingdezhen, there is porcelain everywhere and in all kinds of colors. Although the area is famous for the blue and white porcelain and the green celadon, there were vases and pots, and dining sets of all colors and sizes. The whole town is awash with porcelain. The lamp posts are made of blue and white porcelain and there is even a dragon in the town square that is crafted of cup lids, bowls and plates. I enclose a photo of a close up as well as the entire creature.


I bought a few things to remember the place. I am the proud owner of a lovely green bowl (the type of pottery is called celadon), a blue and white tea set and some very small odds and ends like chopstick rests, and another tea canister. There was a lot of pleasure in going around the shops and seeing the variety of goods that were for sale. There were lots of locals looking for replacement of broken objects, and bus loads of Chinese tourists shopping for the same things we were. Some of my bus mates bought large vases and tea sets.