Jingdezhen Ancient Kilns and Taoxichuan

Working Traditional Kilns And A Restored Porcelain Factory District In The Porcelain Capital · Jingdezhen, Jiangxi

The porcelain capital of the world, where clay has been fired for more than a thousand years and the imperial kilns supplied the Ming and Qing courts with the blue-and-white that carried the name of China across the globe. Two sites show the two halves of the story. At the Ancient Kiln Folk Custom Museum, wood-fired dragon, gourd and egg-shaped kilns have been rebuilt and are still lit, and elderly throwers, trimmers and painters work in open sheds, turning bowls on kick wheels and painting cobalt lines freehand at a speed that takes a lifetime to learn; the museum is as much a living workshop as a display. Across town, Taoxichuan is the other end of the trade: the derelict Cosmos Porcelain Factory, its brick kilns and saw-tooth sheds converted into studios, galleries, cafés and a weekend market where hundreds of young potters sell their own work. Between them lie the old Imperial Kiln ruins, the porcelain museum, and streets where broken shards still surface underfoot.

Ancient Kiln Folk Custom Museum, Cidu Avenue, Jingdezhen, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China

Ancient Kiln museum daily, roughly 8:00-17:00 (check); Taoxichuan is free and open about 10:00-22:00, busiest at the weekend market.

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