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The thousand-year porcelain town: Chenlu Ancient Town

source:发现陕西           editor:张雯妮

Old Kiln by Mr. Jia Pingwa vividly depicts the stories of him as a juvenile. The realistic style of the book truly brings out the image of an old kiln with comprehensive sentiment inside.

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And the town in the book actually originates from the Chenlu Ancient Town located at Yintai District, Tongchuan City, with the dynamic history of over a thousand years.

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The Chenlu Ancient Town has been known for the Yaozhou Kiln since the Song Dynasty, it seems the stove fire never sleeps, lasting a thousand years. The walls are built with clay pots and the roads are paved with tiles, not only showing the rough style of the northwest region, but creating a comforting and elegant artistic atmosphere.

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Here the original craftsmanship of pottery making is preserved to the most, and the firing technique of Yaozhou Kiln was included in the first batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Walking along the streets and alleys, you can capture the comprehensive facet of this ancient technique.

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If you look upon the whole town from a distance, you will find the residences all built on hillside, well organized and lined, which looks like the terrace. Therefore, it will be highly possible that the streets under your feet happen to be the rooftops of others.

As the town folks say, "Your rooftops, my courtyards." This featured architectural style of Chenlu Ancient Town is called —— Stacked Cave Dwelling.

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As you walk down the tranquil paths between the cave dwellings, the patterns on the tiles may catch your attention. They form the shape of the Chinese fans and clouds, and you may even spot some really old tiles painted with the character "寿"(longevity), which might come from the bottom of antique vases.

The tile-paved roads work for both carriages  and horses, endowed with a certain sense of performance art. The roads extend to all directions, just like the history and culture of Chenlu vitally extending through the cave dwellings.

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Probably the most characteristic site of the town, this "wall of pottery" is literally constructed and stacked by all kinds of potteries, and it might be pretty hard to capture another site in the world with the same level of oddity.

The pottery making here is highly family-based, each household could be an independent kiln porcelain factory. Compared with consuming much in the ceramic shop in the city, you can easily have your fun by stopping by at the local folks here, enjoying the pottery making at their houses with just a little cost.

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You may once capture this wine pot in Chinese costume drama, which is usually used by the bad guys to set somebody up. The pot actually comes with quite a reputation —— one of the four treasures of Yaozhou Kiln. With the name "Double-heart Flagon", this magical ware can contain two kinds of beverage at the same time.

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This Reverse Pot needs to be filled with water from the hole at the bottom. When you pour, the pot has to be reversed, yet without any drop leaking from that hole. There is one preserved at the Shaanxi Provincial Museum.

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The design of "The Fair Mug" is very smart, fully revealing the connotation of the name. The amount of the wine has to be just enough. If the water level exceeds the "dragon mouth", the wine will flow out accordingly via the hollow pipe inside.

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When poured with liquid, this Fengming Pot can make the sound like a bird, which is crisp, clear, and pleasant to hear.

The town is surprisingly well preserved with its original image retained, also with relatively low commercial atmosphere and light visits of tourists. For dining, you can choose a farmhouse in the town that could offer seasonal wild vegetables, buckwheat noodles with sour soup, nokdumuk, and the Longbai buds locally produced, which are all delicious.

Feel free to check it out any time and immerse yourself into this unique cultural vibe.

Chenlu Ancient Town is open all day, with no tickets required, and parking is free. The cost of making pottery is around 30 yuan.

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