Jingdezhen Travel Guide: Visit the Millennium Porcelain Capital in the World
Jingdezhen City has been known as the capital of porcelain since ancient times because of its rich and unique ceramic culture. Jingdezhen ceramic culture is characterised by a long history of porcelain making, distinguished porcelain making skills, innovative concepts, creative ceramic products, cultural landscape and folk customs. Chinese porcelain art and production has been advanced by the people of Jingdezhen as they cultivate a ceramic culture. After the late Tang Dynasty, the maritime Silk Road flourished, which was also the international trade road of ancient Jingdezhen ceramics.
Apart from its rich ceramic legacy, Jingdezhen City is also the birthplace of China’s helicopter industry, one of China’s famous historical and cultural cities, the World Capital of Handicrafts and Folk Art, and one of China’s most popular tourist cities. Therefore, jingdezhen tour should be added when you are planning your Jiangxi tour.
Jingdezhen City Facts
- Chinese Name: 景德镇 (jǐng dé zhèn)
- Location: Northeast Jiangxi Province, east bank of Poyang Lake
- Area:5256 km²
- Population: 6 million in 2023
Why Visit Jingdezhen City
- Jingdezhen ceramic culture: As “white as jade, as bright as a mirror, as thin as paper, and sound like a chime”, Jingdezhen porcelain is beautiful, varied, richly decorated, and has a unique style. The blue and white porcelain, rice-pattern decorated porcelain, famille-rose porcelain, colour glaze porcelain are known as the four traditional porcelain in Jingdezhen.
- Jingdezhen ceramic heritage:Jingdezhen has witnessed the advancement of products and technology in the development of the Chinese ceramic handicraft industry, and has preserved relics related to porcelain production in different historical periods. The kiln sites of the Tang Dynasty represented by Nan Kiln and Lantian Kiln, the kiln sites of the Song Dynasty represented by Hutian Kiln and Fenghuangshan Kiln, the kiln sites of the Yuan Dynasty represented by Luomaqiao, and the kiln sites of the Ming and Qing Dynasties represented by the Ming and Qing Dynasty Imperial Kiln Factory are all important relics of the ancient Chinese porcelain.
- Thousand-old ancient town: Jingdezhen City is home to the architectural remnants of former guilds, stores, ancestral shrines, marketplaces, workshops, and other structures connected to Jingdezhen porcelain development.
- Gourmet local food:Travel to Jingdezhen for a culinary trip. Jingdezhen food is spicy. There are three unique snacks in Porcelain City: cold noodles, dumpling ba and sod baba. Other popular local food includes Jingde board chicken, chilli baba, Yinzi baba, doughnut wrapped with hemp seeds, and Longjiao melon seeds.
Top Things to Do in Jingdezhen
- Explorethe ancient Chinese government-run porcelain factory at Jingdezhen Ancient Kiln and Folk Customs Museum, which was once the largest, most expansive, and most exquisitely crafted in Chinese history. It also features the oldest porcelain production line in the world.
- Admire many rare and beautiful ceramics, learn about Chinese ceramic history and culture, and immerse yourself in the this unique art form by watching aporcelain making performance.
- Learn from a local Jingdezhen ceramic masterand make a pottery, such as vase or tea cup.
- Discover various kinds of porcelains made by local pottersin the primitive Sanbao International Ceramic Art Village.
Jingdezhen Weather and Best Time to Visit
Jingdezhen City is located in a region with a subtropical monsoon climate, which has four distinct four seasons, with enough sunshine and rainfall. The average temperature in Jingdezhen urban area is 17.8℃ and the average annual rainfall is 1805 mm.
In the spring, Jingdezhen experiences erratic weather—it might be cold or warm. It always rains during the transition from spring to summer because warm and cold air frequently converge in the area. Concentrated rainfall occurs in the early summer, with 200–350 mm of precipitation on average per year in May, June, and July. There is little rain and pleasant weather in autumn. However, when the winter comes, it is freezing cold in Jingdezhen, as Siberia’s (or Mongolia’s) cold high pressure frequently affects winter.
Therefore, the best time to visit Jingdezhen is from the end of August to October, when the weather in Jingdezhen is mild, the temperature is around 25℃, with little rain. Additionally, October is the big time for the Jingdezhen International Ceramics Expo.
Recommend Jingdezhen tour packages in autumn:
Jingdezhen Transportation
How to Get to Jingdezhen
Jingdezhen is the railway hub of Jiangxi Province with the Anhui – Jiangxi Railway. Jingdezhen has four expressways: Hangzhou to Ruili, Jingdezhen to Yingtan, Dexing to Nanchang, Jingdezhen to Wuyuan and from Huanshan. Furthermore, Jingdezhen Airport is one of the 100 key regional airports in China. As a result, It’s convenient to travel to Jingdezhen from most China cities.
By air
Jingdezhen Luojia Airport serves 12 cities including Beijing, Xiamen, Chengdu, Qingdao, Kunming, Xi’an, Ningbo, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Haikou, and Tianjin. From Jingdezhen Airport, you can take a taxi or airport shuttle bus to Jingdezhen city centre, which is only 7km away.
By train
Jingdezhen Railway Station and Jingdezhen North Railway Station offer rail services to a number of China cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Nanchang, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Yangzhou, Kunming, Fuzhou, Shenzhen, Qingdao, and Nanchang.
It might surprise you that the architecture of Jingdezhen North Railway Station features unique Jingdezhen ceramic components and resembles a vase.
Extend your Jingdezhen tour to nearby destinations in Jiangxi. It take only 30 minutes to Wuyuan, 2 to 3 hours to Nanchang, Hongzhou, and Wuhan, and 4.5 hours to Shanghai.
