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UPON his return home from a trade mission to China in 851, an Arabian merchant described to a captivated audience a wondrous article he had seen during his travels. It was an exquisite vase, one so transparent you could see the water it contained inside. But the vase, the merchant enthused, a piece of porcelain, “was made from opaque clay.”

Impressed by the craft, Middle-Eastern merchants soon began to import large quantities of the high-end Chinese handicraft. A flourishing trade in porcelain, silk and tea quickly developed, spurred on by the evolution of the Old Silk Road. By the 14th century, Chinese arts and crafts were familiar adornments in aristocratic houses of Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

However, geographical distance hampered the development of truly thriving international trade. In order to satisfy soaring demand, canny Europeans decided to try to unlock the secrets of porcelain-making, and to manufacture similar articles closer to home.

However, the process proved more complex than the would-be porcelain craftsmen had imagined, and it was not until the 18th century that they managed a real breakthrough. That breakthrough came, according to Jan Divis, author of European Porcelain: An Illustrated History, when French missionary Francois-Xavier Dentrecolles discovered padding, glazing and kilning techniques in Jingdezhen, and after a seven-year stint there, brought them home.

Towns such as Jingdezhen,where porcelain was painstakingly developed over centuries, are still found throughout the country. It matters not that their porcelain processes were eventually compromised by outsiders – today these towns remain the masters of their trade.

Jingdezhen

With a history stretching back two millennia, Jingdezhen lies just north of the Yangzte River in what is today Jiangxi Province. Originally known as Changnan, such was its reputation for producing quality porcelain pieces that it was favored among imperial families from the time of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). In 1004, the ruling emperor bestowed upon the town the title of his reign – Jingde. And the town entered a golden period of its own during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when, using specially allocated imperial funds, it became the main supplier of porcelain for the court and its officials.

One of Jingdezhens masterpieces is a chicken vessel – a wine cup with a beautifully crafted chicken painted on it. As thin as paper, as transparent as glass and with unique colors, it can fetch as much as RMB 30 million at antique auctions.

Setting eyes on the town for the first time in 1712, Dentrecolles described it thus: “Jingdezhen is located on a plain, surrounded by rolling green mountains. Two rivers snake down the mountains, converging in the town to form a kilometer-long wharf. Docking at the wharf you will see the town is shrouded by clouds of kiln smoke, and at night it resembles a ball of fire.”

The cherished tradition of porcelain making remains the pillar industry of Jingdezhen. Ancient workshops – preserved to this day – attract hoards of visitors every year. One example of these workshops is the six adobes compound that now houses a fascinating Ancient Porcelain Exhibition. Workers make porcelain in the craft shops using the same techniques that their ancestors did back in the 15th and 16th centuries. The exhibition boasts a Ming-style kiln that is 18 meters long with a 21-meter-high thin-walled chimney to the rear. It is capable of blazing dozens of kinds of porcelain at the same time.

About an hours drive from Jingdezhen lies the town of Yaoli. Its name translates into English as “Inside a kiln,” so the relation to porcelain-making is clear. Like Jingdezhen, kilns blazed there 2,000 years ago. Unfortunately its industry dwindled during the Ming Dynasty, as emperors favored its neighboring rival, and Yaoli served only as a raw material center for ceramic glaze. Today, ancient workshops remain dotted throughout the town and are used as porcelain museums.

The Dragon Kiln of Yixing

Connoisseurs of Chinese tea favor Yixing teapots to make their brew. There is hardly a teahouse in all of China that does not boast among its collection of tea ware these purple clay Yixing pots.

The city is located on the lower reaches of the Yangtze, and it was during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220) that it began mass production of potteries. Local craftsmen developed the technique for purple clay pottery in the 10th century – and it has since become one of the countrys leading pottery bases.

Yixings Dragon Kiln is a must-visit place for those with an interest in the ancient craft. It is one of only two Ming kilns that still blaze today – the other is Nanfeng Kiln in Foshan, Guangdong.

The kiln is so called because it was designed in the shape of a dragon. The 50-meter-long, south-north kiln has an outer wall coated with stones and special white clay, while the inside is arched with firebricks.

Running down either side of the body are 42 “windows,” through which coal, pine branches and bamboo are thrown to fuel the fire. The windows also allow workers to keep control of the flame temperature – a crucial element of the process. On the west side of the kiln are five gates, and a wooden roof supported by granite pillars covers the entire structure.

Pottery production in Yixing now takes place on such a massive scale that the old, traditional Dragon Kiln simply cannot cope with churning out these large numbers of units. Porcelain producers now employ the more efficient tunnel kilns and electric kilns, which are powered by coal and diesel.

These modern kilns can generate large quantities of high quality porcelain in a fraction of the time it would have taken the traditional kilns. As such, most of the old kilns were gradually decommissioned – Qianshu Kiln is the only one that remains in operation. And it is set to carry the traditional pottery making flame for years to come, as in 2006, the government renovated the Qianshu Kiln to make it a living specimen of ancient ceramic-making.

Shiwan Dolls

Shiwan City in southern Guangdong is famed for both household and craft ceramics. It produces some 40 percent of the ceramics on the global market, and is home to many Chinese craft artists. One of its best-known products is the Shiwan Doll.

Like Jingdezhen and Yixing, Shiwan has been making ceramics since ancient times. Its first kiln was ignited during the Tang Dynasty, and by the Ming Dynasty it had a population of some 60,000 craftsmen.

Today, the Museum of Shiwan Dolls contains a large number of ceramics that have been unearthed at archaeological sites throughout the years. There are Buddhist figurines, ink slabs (used in traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy) and decorative gardening implements. Ancient products from Shiwan have also been discovered in far-away locations such as Southeast Asia and Europe, indicating that they were once as widely traded as those from Jingdezhen.

In Shiwan is the Nanfeng Ancient Kiln – a ceramics maker that has been in operation for the past five centuries and is now listed in the Guinness Book of Records. This “unmovable national treasure,” as it is known among locals, preserves not only the techniques but also the entire tradition of ancient ceramic production. Beside the kiln stands a giant figure. Locals introduce it as the God of Fire, and it was prayed to for centuries “in the hope of producing batch after batch of quality goods.”

The Ancestral Temple is another place where visitors throng to appreciate unique and charming dolls. In the past, the temple served as a gathering point for the Ancient Ceramic Guild. Unfortunately the original building was destroyed during war, but today the renovated temple, complete with Guangdong-style ridge tiles, displays thousands of individually crafted Shiwan dolls. These dolls tell legends and opera stories like a 3-D fresco.