Backgrounder: Timeless appeal of China's ancient "porcelain capital" Jingdezhen

NANCHANG, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The Jingdezhen Handicraft Porcelain Industry Sites were inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List on Saturday during the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan, the Republic of Korea.

It is the first time that China has nominated an industrial heritage site for World Heritage status, and it is also the first World Heritage site themed around porcelain. This inscription brings the total number of World Heritage sites in China to 61.

Located in east China's Jiangxi Province, the inscribed sites represent the handcrafted porcelain industry system that developed in Jingdezhen from the 10th to the 19th centuries.

Nestled in a hilly area of northeastern Jiangxi, Jingdezhen is endowed with abundant reserves of kaolin, also known as China clay, and other raw materials essential for porcelain production. The city also enjoys convenient waterway access, as the Changjiang River flows through it and links Jingdezhen to Poyang Lake, the country's largest freshwater lake, and further to the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway.

More than 700 years ago, artisans in Jingdezhen pioneered a formula that mixed kaolin with other raw materials in precise proportions, enabling porcelain clay to withstand kiln temperatures exceeding 1,300 degrees Celsius without deformation. Rather than guarding their techniques as secrets, they chose to actively spread the porcelain-making skills.

Once a modest town, Jingdezhen has long been renowned for its porcelain, which is as thin as paper and as smooth as jade. In 1004 AD, an emperor of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) was so impressed by the local craftsmanship that he bestowed his reign title, Jingde, upon the town. From the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) onward, local craftsmen mastered the globally celebrated blue-and-white porcelain, which would dominate China's ceramic exports for centuries.

The 20th century saw rapid industrialization in local ceramic production, particularly after the establishment of 10 large state-operated porcelain factories. Equipped with advanced machinery and coal-fired kilns that replaced wood-fired ones, these factories once produced nearly half of China's household ceramics.

However, the state factories were closed in the late 1990s amid the rise of the market economy. Thousands of private workshops emerged, but they also brought chaotic competition. Mass layoffs followed, and workers' dormitories fell into disrepair, with some deteriorating into shantytowns.

As officials debated how to revitalize the city, opinions were divided over whether to reclaim the ruins of the defunct factories. Ultimately, those advocating for preservation prevailed over those pushing for demolition to make way for real estate.

In 2012, restoration work began to repair the dilapidated factories while preserving their original appearance. Rather than focusing solely on tourism, local authorities set their sights on attracting so-called Jingpiao -- a community of young artists and artisans who choose to live and pursue their dreams in this porcelain capital.

Today, Jingdezhen's ceramic industry chain employs more than 100,000 people. As a still-thriving "porcelain capital," it is home to over 3,200 inheritors of intangible cultural heritage in ceramic craftsmanship. The city has also been named a City of Crafts and Folk Art under the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

As early as 2015, the Taoxichuan cultural and creative district in Jingdezhen launched the "Migratory Bird Program," an international artist residency initiative. The program has reached out to art institutions in more than 50 countries and regions, attracting 3,600 artists from around the world.

With a population of over 1.6 million, Jingdezhen recorded a net population inflow of 136,000 over the past decade. Among those who have started long-term businesses in the city, more than half come from outside Jiangxi Province, including many from overseas. ■