Ancient porcelain, modern vibes: Global creators revitalize Jingdezhen’s millennia-old craft

For thousands of years, Jingdezhen in China's Jiangxi province has stood as the world's unparalleled porcelain capital, where ancient kiln fires have burned continuously, nurturing exquisite Chinese ceramic craftsmanship that spans dynasties. Far from being a static ancient craft heritage, the time-honored porcelain art is embracing youthful vitality and global integration, as countless domestic and international enthusiasts flock here to experience handmade porcelain making and reimagine traditional art.

A plain, unglazed ceramic blank, professionally named a bisque, is the starting point of every unique handmade porcelain piece in Jingdezhen. Turning a simple pottery blank into personalized artwork requires elaborate manual craftsmanship and patient waiting. Visitors can select smooth mug bisques in local studios, outline delicate patterns with professional ceramic pigments stroke by stroke, and paint exclusive designs full of personality. After finishing the hand-painting process, a layer of transparent glaze is evenly sprayed on the surface to lock in vivid patterns, smooth the texture and brighten the final color tone.

Different from instant handicraft experiences, Jingdezhen's professional porcelain making follows rigorous traditional procedures. The painted pottery pieces will be sent for high-temperature kiln firing and professional post-processing. After around one month of dedicated production and finishing, the plain bisque will finally be transformed into a glossy, vibrant, one-of-a-kind handmade porcelain mug and mailed back to the creator, making every customized porcelain work a precious time-carried souvenir.

Blending traditional craftsmanship with contemporary creative styles, Jingdezhen's ceramic culture has gained soaring global popularity. In 2025, the city received over 43 million domestic tourists, with tens of thousands of art lovers and cultural travelers participating in hands-on porcelain painting and pottery-making activities. Meanwhile, it welcomed more than 150,000 inbound visitors passionate about traditional ceramic craftsmanship, marking a nearly 40% year-on-year increase in international cultural tourism. Beyond ordinary tourists, Jingdezhen has nurtured a unique global creative group — the "Jingdezhen drifters."

Known as "Yang Jingpiao," or foreign Jingdezhen drifters, nearly 5,000 ceramic artists and young creators from more than 50 countries and regions have settled and created in the porcelain capital, forming a diverse and inclusive international ceramic community. Among them is Pep Boadas, a professional ceramic artist from Quart, Girona, in Catalonia, Spain, and the eighth-generation member of a centuries-old family pottery tradition.

Born into a time-honored European pottery family, Pep has been immersed in traditional ceramic craftsmanship since childhood. His encounter with Jingdezhen's porcelain art began on social media, where he was amazed by the city's supreme porcelain craftsmanship and artisans' exquisite skills. "I saw craftsmen working in Jingdezhen online and was amazed by their high-level techniques. I knew I had to come here in person to learn and improve my ceramic skills," Pep told CGTN in an interview.

Jingdezhen has become his ideal creative sanctuary. This is Pep's second residency in the porcelain capital. Four months ago, he stayed for three months to participate in a residency project launched by the International Academy of Ceramics, and he will continue his artistic creation and technical study here for another six months. To him, Jingdezhen's charm lies not only in its profound traditional craftsmanship, but also in its global artistic inclusiveness.

"Jingdezhen is a perfect place for ceramic creators. It allows us to polish professional techniques, and more importantly, it gathers artists from all over the world," Pep said. He added that the city now hosts ceramic practitioners from Mexico, Ecuador, Russia, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and dozens of other countries, turning the ancient porcelain town into a global exchange hub for ceramic art.

While inheriting his family's traditional pottery skills, Pep is committed to breaking artistic boundaries and building new cultural dialogues between Eastern and Western ceramic art. He integrates Jingdezhen's millennia-old traditional porcelain craft with modern contemporary artistic concepts, endowing ancient Chinese porcelain with trendy international aesthetics and innovative expressive forms.

From ordinary tourists experiencing hand-painted porcelain to professional global creators inheriting and innovating traditional crafts, countless young makers and foreign "Jingdezhen drifters" are injecting endless youthful vitality into Jingdezhen's ancient heritage. They bridge the gap between traditional Chinese craftsmanship and global artistic trends, break the stereotype of ancient porcelain as an outdated antique, and make Jingdezhen's thousand-year ceramic culture more vivid, inclusive and fashionable in the new era.

As a living heritage that has endured for thousands of years, Jingdezhen's porcelain craft is constantly being rejuvenated by cross-cultural integration and youthful creativity. The collision of Eastern and Western aesthetics, the inheritance of ancient craftsmanship and the innovation of modern art are writing a new chapter of cultural exchange and mutual learning in this world-famous porcelain capital.