Taoxichuan Art Park

Looking at the picture of the Taoxichuan (陶溪川) complex, the latest development project in central Jingdezhen (景德鎮), one might have mistaken it to be some gentrified art and culture space sprouted in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei or even Hong Kong to a lesser extent.

Stranded in the Ceramics Valley

We were hopelessly stranded in a small ceramics shop/café in the Sanbao Valley art village when the rain which started slightly after lunch turned into a full-fledged storm. Luckily, a vacant taxi came to rescue after some point, we jumped right in and headed straight to Sanbao Ceramics Art Institute, a few kilometers down along the meandering road deep into the woods in the Sanbao Valley, for some much needed refuge.

China on the Park

One of the main reasons we wanted to travel to Kyushu at this time of the year was to attend the Arita Ceramics Fair, held once a year during the Japanese Golden Week long holiday, at Arita, a town in Saga Prefecture most famous for being the birthplace of modern Japanese porcelain industry, with history dated all the way back to centuries ago. In fact, this year they happened to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of Arita Ceramics  – what a great opportunity to visit the town and the fair on this special occasion.