May Day in pottery town Jin De Zhen, China - Part 1

China has one of the most public holidays in the world, and just last week, China went on a long break by celebrating May Day (or also known as Labour Day) from the 27th April till 1st May. We took this chance to travel out of Shanghai and visited one of China's lesser tourist spot, but a well known town for artists.

Jin De Zhen (景德镇), is a town at the North East of Jiang Xi Province. Just an hour airplane ride from Shanghai or 5 hours by car. It is a town famous for it's potteries. It is also known as the "Porcelain Capital" because it has been producing quality pottery for 1700 years. Many artists create hone their pottery skills and create great works of art in this town no bigger than 5,256 km.

Mr S and I traveled with our friends, Agatha, her husband, Petta and their little girl, Valerie for the 1st time. Valerie was excited to travel by airplane again and wouldn't stop talking about it. Her last airplane ride was back from Singapore after the Lunar New Year celebration.

Upon arrival at Jin De Zhen airport, we got tout by several drivers. It turns out that they were trying to get as many passengers to share their cabs. Lucky for us we didn't have to share as there were already 4 adults and 1 child.

Agatha found an affordable accommodation for us. We stayed at the International Youth Hostel which is right smack in the Sculpture Factory. The International Youth Hostel is a no frills hostel. We managed to get 2 separate rooms with attached toilets for 125 yuan a night. If you are on a tighter budget, you can choose the rooms with more beds and no attached toilets. Communal toilets and showers are available on each floor.

Mr S is happy to have arrived in Jin De Zhen

One of the dinning and working area in the International Youth Hostel

We were excited to check out the sights in Jin De Zhen so I didn't take much photos of the hostel. After checking into our rooms we head out to the Sculpture Factory. We arrived on the right day on Saturday as that when the weekly open air flea market happens. Many stalls were selling all kinds of potteries and ceramic jeweleries. We met some students who were manning their stalls and they are from the Jindezhen Art Institution.

Students whom we met at the flea market

Being the 1st time in Jin De Zhen, we didn't really know where to go and we didn't hired a guide. So we wandered around and saw a few sights along the streets on the 1st day.

Here are some photos of retro 80's architecture and abandoned factories which have been coveted to pottery studios and workshops.

Old buildings which are residents for the people in Jin De Zhen

Pottery Workshop in the Sculpture Factory

Inside the Pottery Workshop

That's what we did on the 1st day. Poor mommy Agatha had a heat stroke and fell sick during dinner so we all went back to our hostel after finishing dinner.

Watch out for my next blog on Day 2 in Jin De Zhen. We checked out an artist village which is 15 minutes cab ride from where we stayed.

See ya!