Jingdezhen, China
Tourism

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Xinping on the site of the present town was already known for the high quality of its porcelain production. Emperor Jingde (1004-07) declared the village to be the center of production for imperial porcelain and ordered all pieces produced thereafter to bear the words ''Manufactured in the Jingde period''. In the course of time the town's original name was replaced by that of the emperor. Under the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) Jingdezhen was one of the four centers of porcelain manufacture and had a total of 100 small factories and workshops. This porcelain is famed for being white as jade, clear as a mirror, thin as paper and having an unsullied reputation.

Today the city can claim pride of place in the Chinese art of porcelain-making. One-fifth of the population is in one way or another involved in this highly profitable industry. Kaolin, the raw material from which porcelain is made, comes from the mountain of Gaolin, hence its name.