Temple of Heaven

In Beijing, the Temple of Heaven, ( 天坛) is another destination tourists must visit before leaving the capital city of China. The temple was magnificently built and its architectural form is unique. This unique circular structure of the temple typified the traditional belief that the heaven (天) is round while the earth is flat. From far, it looks majestic and elegant. Undoubtedly one has to really admire the wisdom and creativity of ancient people to have come up with such a beautiful building. The Temple of Heaven is situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. In early days of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the temple was frequented by Emperors for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvests. To the rulers of the past era, good harvests meant that the people would have plenty to eat and a comfortable life to live. When people were well fed and lived happily, they would have no desire to create troubles for the authority. Usually when people suffered hardship and there was not enough food to eat, there was a tendency for people to rise up against the rulers. When this happened there would be revolutions and uprisings over the vast land. This is evident through out history in the rise and fall of empires since ancient time. So do not underestimate the importance of this prayer hall in the mind of the rulers. As Emperor of China was regarded as the Son of Heaven, who administered earthly matters on behalf of, and representing heavenly authority. He had to show respect to the source of divine power from heaven  by offering prayer and sacrifices to heaven. At the same time, the Emperor used this opportunity to pray for good fortune as well as good harvests for the nation. This would please the people, so he could continue to reign over them.

 

The Temple of Heaven

Twice a year the Emperor and all his officials would move from the Forbidden city through Beijing to encamp within the complex, wearing special robes and abstaining from eating meat. No ordinary Chinese was allowed to view this procession or the following ceremony. The highpoint of the ceremony at the winter solstice was performed by the Emperor on the Earthly Mount. The ceremony had to be perfectly completed; it was widely held that the smallest of mistakes would constitute a bad omen for the whole nation in the coming year.

The Temple of Heaven was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor in the 16th century. The Jiajing Emperor also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of Sun (日壇) in the east, the Temple of Earth (地壇) in the north, and the Temple of Moon (月壇) in the west . The Temple of Heaven was renovated in the 18th century under the reign of Qianlong Emperor. Due to the deterioration of state budget, this became the last large-scale renovation of the temple complex in the imperial time.

The Earthly Mount

The Temple of Heaven was awarded the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world’s great civilisations..." as the "symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries."

Inside the Temple



Group photo in front of the Temple

The Great Wall

The Great Wall of China has been an icon of Beijing for centuries. There has even being a saying among the locals that goes like this: If you have not been to the Great Wall, you cannot call yourself a great man (hero)未登长城非好汉 .

The Great Wall of China is long fortified wall that was built along an east-to-west line across the northern borders of China  to protect the Empire against intrusions by nomadic groups or military incursions by enemy forces. Some older walls were built during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Era of the Warring States in the early 5th to 8th century BC. The states of Qin, Wei, Zhao, Qi, Yan and Zhongshan all constructed extensive fortifications to defend their own borders. These older walls were later joined together and made bigger, stronger, and unified are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall. Especially famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, who unified China in 221 BC and founded the Qin Dynasty. To protect the empire against intrusions by the Xiongnu people from the north, he ordered the building of a new wall to connect the remaining fortifications along the empire's new northern frontier. Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; the majority of the existing wall was reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty.


Great Wall of Mutianyu

Watch Tower

The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that reaches the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. A comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the Ming walls measure 8,850 km (5,500 mi).This is made up of 6,259 km (3,889 mi) sections of actual wall, 359 km (223 mi) of trenches and 2,232 km (1,387 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. In the early days, the Great Wall was also used as border controls, allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road, regulation of trade and the control of immigration and emigration. However, the main function of the Great Wall was for defence purposes with the construction of watch towers, troop barracks and garrison stations. The watch tower was equipped with signalling capabilities through the use of smoke or fire.

Visitors who come to Beijing have a choice to make, they can see either the section of Great Wall at Badaling or another section at Mutianyu. I was told that the Great Wall at Badaling is a bit tough for tourists to explore as the steps were steep. The slabs of stones used as steps on this section have irregular height, hence the path on the wall is not friendly to seniors. So when we were at Beijing, we visited the Great Wall at Mutianyu. There was a cable car ride that took us nearer to the site, so less walking. This stretch of Great Wall is good for visitors as there are no steep steps and the path on the wall is smooth and even. There is no ending to his hiking on the wall as it depends on how much of the Great Wall you can cover. Usually for tourists, it really depends on how much time the tour guide allows the group to spend on the Great Wall. Don't forget, they have other destinations on their itinerary to visit, the schedule can be quite tight. For us we had about an hour to explore the Great Wall at Mutianyu, with time spent on photo-taking and resting, it was rather short to explore such a great ancient structure. It was reported that there were people from Europe who spent 6 months to explore the whole stretch of the Great Wall, just imagine, certain section of the Great Wall was not accessible, others have even collapsed over the years of erosion and deterioration. It must be very tough to complete the whole journey.

Great Wall at Badaling

Great Wall at Badaling

Outside the Great Wall at Mutianyu

Another stretch of Great Wall we visited when we were on the Silk Road tour by train. This was the stretch of walls that visitors can have a glimpse of the famous pass, Jiayuguan (嘉峪关). The pass is located at the narrowest point of the western section of the Hexi Corridor, 6 kilometres southwest of the city of Jiayuguan in Gansu. The structure lies between two hills, one of which is called Jiayuguan Hill. It was built near an oasis that was then on the extreme western edge of China. Among the passes on the Great Wall, Jiayuguan is the most intact surviving ancient military building.

The entrance to the Pass 

The Pass at Jiayuguan

The pass is also known by the name the "First and Greatest Pass Under Heaven" (天下第一雄关). The pass was a key point of the ancient Silk Road. Jiayuguan has a somewhat fearsome reputation because Chinese people who were banished from their homeland due to criminal offence were ordered to leave through Jiayuguan for the west, most of these criminals were never able to return to their homeland. Amongst those once banished in disgrace was the famous Chinese Opium War Viceroy of Liangguang, Commissioner Lin Zexu who died in Urumqi where a statue in his honour can today be found in a local park.


Immigration Officer at Check Point

Outside Jiayuguan

 

Video on the Great Wall of China

Stone Forest and Hongtudi

In 2006, we started our tour to different parts of China. Our first destination was the Province of Yunnan in China. There are many scenic spots in Yunnan that attracted tourists all over the world. One interesting place we visited in Yunnan is the Stone Forest or Shilin (石林). The Stone Forest is located in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China, near Shilin approximately 120 km (75 mi) from the provincial capital Kunming. This place is full of rock formations. The tall rocks seem to emerge from the ground in the form of stalagmites, with many looking like petrified trees thereby creating the illusion of a forest made of stone. Since 2007, two parts of the site, the Naigu Stone Forest (乃古石林) and Suogeyi Village (所各邑村), have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites as part of the South China Karst. The site is classified as a 5As-class tourist site.

Entrance to the Stone Forest National Park

Covering a few hundred square kilometres, these rock formations in Stone Forest rise abruptly from the ground in numerous styles like bamboo shoots, forests and pagodas. On top of these rocks, visitors can view the whole region; it is just like a vast black forest. These rock formations, caused by the dissolution of limestone, are believed to be over 270 million years old and are a tourist attraction for both overseas and local tourists.  There are narrow and winding pathways that run between the  rock formations, taking visitors to ever more unexpected and beautiful scenes.  This region used to be an ocean. During the Long Geological Period from the late Permian Period 230 million years ago to 2 million years ago , the ocean subsided and giant rocks appeared. During this time the rocks were gradually worn away by water, forming the strange rock formations seem today.  As soon as we entered the Stone Forest scenic area, a crystal-clear lake comes into focus. By the east side of the   lake, a good array of fantastic stone pinnacles, pillars, shoots, and stalactites rise from the water , resembling a natural potted scenery.



Inside the Stone Forest, we felt as if  we were in a bizarre fairyland. Wandering in this area is a unique experience As we walked through the winding path around the rocks, we noticed  these rocks form strange shapes, standing still they look like a variety of things such as ancient fortresses, birds, beasts, flowers, trees, human beings, and whatever else one can imagine. The layers of mountains seem to be pressing forward; the curious shaped rocks excite people's imagination. In the depth of the Stone Forest, numerous lakes are like bright mirrors reflecting the rocks and peaks. 

The elephant Rock

Tea drinking inYunnan

Stone Forest from far

 

 



Hongtudi as captured by professional photographer

On our second visit to Yunnan recently, we visited a place called the Hongtudi 红土地 (Red Earth). This is actually a plateau on a mountain where the land has been cultivated for farming purposes. We had to go up to another mountain in order to view this spectacular place.The interesting thing about this place is that the farmland is divided into many parcels of farmland, with several parcels of the land lying at different levels. From afar, the landforms look like steps of a ladder. During autumn season, visitors can see a variety of colours from the agricultural plants that grow on the farmland of this plateau. The sight is beautiful. The tour guide told us that to capture the full view of this place indicating the diversified colour, professional photographers sometimes have to stay in this place for a few weeks; just to wait for the right moment to capture this spectacular view as shown above. As my photographic skill is very ordinary, the image I captured was far from spectacular (see below).

The view captured in my camera.

Hongtudi 2

Hongtudi

Ancient Villages

With over 5000 years of history and civilisation, there were numerous ancient villages spreading over a vast region of China. Many villages disappeared in the course of history because of war and natural disasters. There are still a lot of ancient villages that remain in existence, some are over 500 years old while others are around 300 years. Over the years of travelling in China, I visited quite a number of these ancient villages. Here I will share some of these villages that I have visited.

Hongcun ( 宏村) is a village in Yi County county, Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, near the southwest slope of Mount Huangshan. As I mentioned in my earlier post on Huangshan, this is the village I visited before setting foot on Huangshan in the afternoon. The village is arranged in the shape of an ox with the nearby hill (Leigang Hill) interpreted as the head, and two trees standing on it as the horns. Four bridges across the Jiyin stream can be seen as the legs whilst the houses of the village form the body. Inside the “body”, the Jiyin stream represents the intestines and various lakes such as the “South Lake” (Nanhu) form the other internal organs. The architecture and carvings of the approximately 150 residences dating back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties are said to be among the best of their kind in China.One of the biggest of the residences open to visitors, Chenzhi Hall, also contains a small museum. Inside the museum, one can see all the artefacts left behnd by the residents of Hongcun during the early days. Together with Xidi, the village became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. Scenes from the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were filmed on location in Hongcun.

Lake in front of village

Add caption

When we were at Hongcun, we caught up with a group of local artists who were sitting by the lakeside, busily putting the beautiful landscape onto their canvases. You can imagine the picturesque scenery at Hongcun.


Local artists enjoying a painting session

Another famous village we visited while we were in Zhejiang is the Zhuge Bagua Village. This village was known to be the place where the descendants of Zhuge Liang settled down. Zhuge Liang was the famous military strategist of  the three kingdoms era who assisted Liu Bei in an attempt to restore the Han dynasty. The unique thing about this village is that the whole village was designed and built according to the concept of Bagua 八卦 (Yin Yang Theory as used in Taiji). Zhuge Liang, the military strategist, was famous in using the Bagua concept to set up his army in confrontation with the enemy's camp.On many occasions, Zhuge Liang was able to defeat the Wei army led by Cao Cao's 曹操 camp using the Bagua concept.


On the way to the village

The tour guide told us that the houses and streets in the village when arranged according to Bagua's principle, the whole village looks like a complicated maze system. It is easy to come in but difficult to get out. Hence, the whole village is well protected against intruders. It was once said that a thief came in to steal from the villagers, he could not find the way out with his loot and was eventually caught.


Zhuge Bagua Village

Phoenix Town

On the street of Pheonix Town

Another exciting village is the Phoenix Town. This is the village we visited when we were in Hunan province of China. The village was built by the side of a beautiful lake.

Yet another village we went to is the water village in Hangzhou where ancient houses were erected by the sides of a river. This village is around 200 to 300 years old and the environment there is rather peaceful and tranquil. An ideal place to visit and soak in the atmosphere of ancient civilisation.




Water village in Hangzhou

To be continued........

Waterfalls of Guizhou

There are many waterfalls in the province of Guizhou in China. The largest of them all is the Huangguoshu Waterfall (黄果树瀑布). Located on the Baishui River (白水河) in Anshun of Guizhou, it is also the largest waterfall in East Asia with a height of 77.8 m and a width of 101 m. Huangguoshu Waterfall literally means Fruits of the Yellow Tree Waterfall.

A fast stream

Water from forest

Together with other smaller waterfalls, Huanggoushu Waterfall is undoubtedly a destination for tourists, both local and international. It is also classified as 5As scenic area by China Tourism Agency.

Huangguoshu Waterfall's vista changes depending on the location of the viewer. One viewing spot is Waterfall-Viewing Pavilion (Guan Bao Ting), where you see the whole waterfall from a distance. Another is Water-Viewing Stage where you get a bird's eye view of the whole region. The third is Waterfall-Viewing Stage (Guan Bao Tai) in which you raise your head to see the waterfall.

Apart from viewing the waterfall from a distance, we also went up the hill and walked through a path in the mountain behind the waterfall. From here visitors can peep through the waterfall from behind, it is like seeing a huge water curtain, over hundred metres long with water came rushing down before our eyes. The experience is like having a big white curtain continuously spreading in front of us. The sight is awesome and one can imagine how nature can produce such a wonderful landmark full of life and excitement.


Huangguoshu Waterfall

After leaving the Huangguoshu Waterfall, we next embarked on an adventurous journey to the south of Guizhou, a place called the Jungle in water水上森林 . When we reached the destination, we were told to buy a pair of slippers from local vendors to put on as our shoes would definitely get wet as we had to walk on some paths which might be flooded  with water. Just as the tour guide said, after putting on the slippers, we began to walk through a jungle where a stream flows in the middle. There we had to walk dangerously on a narrow path besides this stream where water was flowing at a rather fast speed. On many occasions, we had to cross the stream to the other side by stepping on some stones laid across the stream. As the tide was high that day, all the stones were completely covered by the flowing water; these stones were barely visible to naked eyes. It was scary as we had to put our best foot forward, with nothing to hold on, and step onto the stones. If we missed one step, we couldn't imagine what would happen to us. The worst scenario would be that we fell into the stream and be carried away. Then one smart guy came up with a solution; that we were to hold hands together, side by side, we walked dangerously across the stream. This could also be fatal as if one fell, all would follow him into the stream. But then, together we should be able to overcome the difficulties ahead. Step by step, we inched forward carefully. Eventually we managed to cross the stream. After walking on the side of the stream for a while, we came to a place where we had to cross over to the other side yet again. This showed the hardship, thrill and excitement for this part of the tour, the jungle in water (小七孔水上森林探险). After an hour or so, we managed to complete the whole journey. One mishap was that my friend dropped his slippers and had to walk bare footed half way through the journey. It was both scary and fun as can be seen from the photo below.  

United We Stand

Oh dear, something dropped!

Whenever we recalled this episode in our trip to Guizhou, we always felt how lucky we were that no one was injured or found missing in the jungle. We tell ourselves, we will never again put ourselves in such danger during a tour. It was not easy all along as we were all carrying our walking shoes, drinking water and our photographic equipment. We were struggling to keep our path straight, not to miss any step and at the same time, still want to enjoy the scenery and take photographs. A few of us was in the late 60s and one could be in his 70s. It was just unthinkable that we made it to the end.

Maling River Gorge

If you like waterfalls and deep river gorges, this is definitely a place to visit. The waterfalls come in all sizes, some hidden partially in thick forests, others like a big pool with water gushing to the centre, creating a lot of waves and sound effects.

Even when were leaving this place on the bus, through the window we saw water flowing everywhere before ur eyes, from the streams, on the ground and in the midst of thick forests. This must be a blessing from nature.

Interesting Sight where water streaming to the centre

A poem to share on Jungle in Water:

水流急且速

手抓两旁树

脚踩水中石

小心看前路

（记小七孔水上森林探险之情景）

Stunning Views of Huangshan

There is an old saying in China, "After you have come back from Huangshan, you won't look at other mountains anymore". Such was the high praise given to the beauty of Huangshan or the Yellow Mountain by the early travellers. What it means is that when you have seen Huangshan, you have seen the best.

Huangshan (黄山 literally means "Yellow Mountain"), is a mountain range in southern Anhui province in eastern China. This mountain range is composed of material that was uplifted from an ancient sea over a 100 million years ago. The mountains themselves were carved by glaciers with trees growing at altitude above 1,800 meters (5,900 ft). The whole region of Huangshan is well known for its scenery, sunsets, granite peaks, pine trees, and views of the clouds from above. These are the four things visitors to Huangshan are looking for: the different shapes of granite peaks, the mysterious sea of clouds, the beautiful sunrises and the irregular pine trees. Huangshan is a frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and literature, as well as modern photography. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of China's major tourist destinations.

The Huangshan mountain range has many peaks, some more than 1,000 meters (3,250 feet) high. The three tallest and best-known peaks are Lotus Peak (Lian Hua Feng, 1,864 m), Bright Summit Peak (Guang Ming Ding, 1,840 m), and Celestial Peak (Tian Du Feng, literally Capital of Heaven Peak, 1,829 m). This World Heritage Site covers a core area of 154 square kilometres and a buffer zone of 142 square kilometres.

The Welcome Pine

A special pine trees, Huangshan pine, are unique as these trees thrive by growing straight out of the rocks. Many of these pine trees are more than a hundred years old and have been given their own names (such as the Ying Ke Pine, or Welcoming-Guests Pine, which is thought to be over 1500 years old). The pines vary greatly in shape and size, with the most crooked of the trees being considered the most attractive. The mountaintops often offer views of the clouds from above, known as the Sea of Clouds ( 云海). The area is also noted for producing light effects from the sun, such as the renowned sunrises viewed from the observation platform. Watching the sunrise is considered a major item of visitors' itinerary. In order not to miss the sunrise, visitors have to wake up at 4 am in the morning and make their way to a location specially designated for viewing sunrise in Huangshan.  In addition, Huangshan has multiple hot springs, most of them located at the foot of the Purple Cloud Peak. The water stays at 42 °C all year and has a high concentration of carbonates, and is said to help prevent skin, joint, and nerve illness.

The many steps in the new route

A cable car ride to hotel

Our trip to Huangshan began at Guangzhou where we took a connecting flight to Anhui Province where Huangshan is located. After breakfast, we visited a local old village called Hongchun before setting foot to the Mountain. At the foot of the mountain, we were first treated with a cable car ride up the mountain. The scenery was beautiful and we could see the vast mountainous region of Huangshan. When we alighted from the cable car, we had to walk a one-hour journey (mainly steps and more steps around the mountain) to the hotel at Huangshan. By the time we reached the hotel, we were already dead tired, and the hiking in Huangshan had not even started. We could imagine the hardship and the uncertainty ahead of us. After we put down some light luggage in the hotel (where we stayed overnight), we started what seemed to be the longest hiking of our life, a 5-hour journey up and down the numerous steps of trekking in Huangshan. Set aside this hardship, we felt that the journey was worth it as the views of the majestic mountain ranges and the surroundings were spectacular. The pine trees of Huangshan were equally impressive, growing out of the rocks in diversified shapes and sizes. We live in a small country;  as we were hiking, we could sense the sheer size of this region, the vastness, it is really awesome. One thing worth mentioning in this trip is this new route that was just created and opened to tourists recently. This is the route behind (the back) Huangshan where the steps were much easier (more gentle) to climb than the old route (the front side of Huangshan) where the steps were steep and dangerous. If you are adventurous, I recommend the front route as it is more challenging. But for senior citizens like us, we rather kept to the new route for safety reason.

Huangshan

Huangshan pine

The Sea of Clouds 云海

These never ending steps in Huangshan were interesting. In order to climb up the mountain, sometimes we had to climb down the mountain a few thousand steps before ascending again. That was sheer tiring, if you are not fit, better stay out. My travel mate told me that he had to take pain killers the night before the trip to the mountain. As it turned out, he was the last to complete the journey (exhausted and almost burnt out), with much cheering from the rest of the group. The new route actually brought us down to the bottom and the view of Huangshan from below was magnificent. But the time we reached the hotel, we were late for dinner. The next morning, some of us were able to get up at 4 am and went to the designated place to view the sunrise. Unfortunately, I missed this opportunity as I was too tired to wake up to watch this spectacular view of sunrise in Huangshan. Luckily I have a photo from my friend who had viewed the sunrise and it is here for sharing. However there is still one thing we did not accomplish in Huangshan. We were not lucky enough to see the sea of clouds 云海 at Huangshan as the sky at that time was very clear, not a trace of cloud. What a pity. I was told that some visitors even stay for a few days at Huangshan just to catch a glimpse of this spectacular view.

The sunrise at Huangshan

Stunning View of Huangshan

The Tranquillity of Wuyuan



A local icon

Women washing by the river

If you like the tranquillity of country life, Wuyuan is the place you should go. There you will find country life at its best. Giant old trees, scattered traditional houses, live stocks,  rivers and farmlands all will make up a very beautiful landscape. As the place was pretty unknown to overseas travellers, we had to make special arrangement with travel agent for a tour to this remote part of China. Even when we reached there, the local tour guide was amazed that we knew this place and were to come up with the travel itinerary. The tour guide told us that usually Wuyuan was visited by local travellers, not many overseas visitors had heard of Wuyuan. That was a few years ago. Now most travel agents in Singapore will include Wuyuan in their advertising campaign. But for visitors who like busy city lives and plenty of shopping, probably they will skip this place. They do not realise how much they would miss. In this place you can really relax and immerse in the beauty of countryside life. You almost can feel that time really stands still and there is no need to worry about the uncertainty of tomorrow.

 

Wuyuan (婺源) is a county of Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Shangrao. Wuyuan, on the boundary of three provinces in Jiangxi's northeastern corner, has a landscape dotted with strange caves, deep secluded rocks and numerous historic sites. Wuyuan County is home to some of the best-preserved ancient architecture in China. Wuyuan's structures were built in 740 during the Tang Dynasty, its remoteness and inconvenient transportation protecting its villages from too many visitors.

 

River in Wuyuan



If you are an artist, you can put up your easel and start painting. Everywhere you will find beautiful landscapes for you to capture  on your canvas. Scenes like the bridges across the rivers, the villages, women washing by the side of river, the live stocks such as the ducklings and buffaloes and the padi fields and farmlands are interesting subjects for paintings. Occasionally you will bump into some friendly villagers who are keen to show you around the neighbourhood. Of course there are also villagers coming straight from their farmlands and trying to sell you some of their local produce to earn extra money. Do not worry, the price of such produce they are selling is generally very low.



Swimming ducklings



As we were wandering around in this vast country side, we came to a place where we saw a giant tree of more than one thousand years old standing in front of us. The tree was so huge that even 20 to 30 people could not embrace the tree trunk completely. This is the thing that most visitors would like to see, something special and unique that you won't be able to find in your own home town. We then gather together in front of the tree to take a group photo. After that some of us even tried to climb up the tree.

Tranquil country life

Waterway in village



Group photo in front of the giant tree

As Wuyuan is in Jiangxi, you will also get to visit the famous porcelain city of the world, Jingdezhen, and have a first hand knowledge of how porcelain ware are made, from the initial ware coming out of the potter's wheel to glazing and the final stage of firing (in electric furnace). When we arrived at the city, we were surprise to see that even the lamp posts were made of porcelain. These porcelain lamp posts line the streets in Jingdezhen as if giving us the unusual welcome to the city of porcelain.

Porcelain lamp post

Jingdezhen's porcelain is famous not only in China but in time it is known internationally for being "as thin as paper, as white as jade, as bright as a mirror, and as sound as a bell". A famous historian and well known scholar once wrote a poem that says (in translation): "China is well known in the world for its porcelain, and Jingdezhen is the most well-known centre, with the highest quality porcelain in China".

 

Most Jingdezhen porcelain is valued by collectors of antique porcelain throughout the world. According to media reports, a blue and white porcelain jar produced in Jingdezhen during the Yuan Dynasty was auctioned for the equivalent of RMB 230,000,000 yuan in London, UK on July 12, 2005. This was the highest price achieved by a piece of porcelain in the history of all porcelain auctions of the world. The reason for the high price is experts believe that the blue and white Yuan Dynasty porcelain has a dominant position in the history of Chinese ceramics. It represents the pinnacle of the development of Chinese blue and white porcelain.

Worker at Jingdezhen

A blue and white plate

Jingdezhen's natural resources include kaolin, coal, manganese, and lime, but it is the kaolin that has made the city famous in China and the world. For over a millennium, its unique kaolin has enabled Jingdezhen to make high-quality porcelain. Before we left Jingdezhen, we visited a few porcelain shops and purchased some good porcelain ware at very affordable price. There are also some high quality staff (such as porcelain paintings and crafts) produced by famous Jingdezhen artists, these were generally beyond the shoe string budgets of most travellers.


Painting on vase before firing