It has been three days since we returned home from China. Our trip was incredibly successful. The two main cities we visited were Yixing and Jingdezhen, two of the most important ceramic cities in China. historically and culturally.
We were able to make this trip because we were the invited guests of the Sino Canadian Ceramic Association based in Vancouver. Two of its members, Joyce Yin and Wei Cheng led us to well-known and off-the-beaten track sites that are usually unknown or unavailable to tourists. We are very grateful for their tireless efforts.
Two other Chinese cities we visited were Hangzhou and Shanghai, the former a stop on the bullet train and the latter the city we flew into and left. Hangzhou was beautiful - filled with beautiful images of what everyone associates with ancient China - exotic dragon shaped boats floating on a peaceful lily pad and lotus-leafed lake that is surrounded by green hills that have many different styles of pagodas and temples projecting from their summits. The lake itself is covered with islands, causeways and secret places accented with memorable architecture and paintings. Walls of Hibiscus flowers were in bloom. Shanghai is a gigantic ciity. Our view of it was the train and airport terminal, connected by super wide and efficient highways. e saw incredily futuristic and gigantic architecture.
In Yixing we participated in the opening of a new ceramic museum and the dedication of a new park that had once been a clay mine. We visited many museums, homes of Yixing teapot makers, the old village of Yixing with its 1,000 year old dragon kiln and too many other sights that I could mention here. I also saw my Robot teapot included in the First World Teapot Art Competition.
We traveled to Jingdezhen on a bullet train and saw as many sights there as we did in Yixing related to ceramics. JDZ has a history of being associated with the emperors so its museums and history had a very different focus. We saw a magnificently large five-storied museum that showcased Imperial porcelain. The entire history of Chinese ceramics is contained in these walls to include the Peoples Republic of China. We also visited a ceramic trade show in a building that dwarfed the Javits center many times in size. We visited the imperial kilns, met artists and visited ceramic production companies. We also had many less formal moments such as visiting the homes of ceramic artists and the Taoxichuan Art Center.
Before we will get the opportunity to get re-acclimated to our own time zone we will be leaving for France in a few days. Otherwise there would be many more observations and comments about our China Trip.
Here are some images:
