For a thousand years, the best porcelain in China, and for much of that time the best in the world, came from Jingdezhen. The city, in the north east of Jiangxi province, grew up around imperial kilns that produced fine ceramics for the emperors, and its blue and white porcelain was exported across Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The secret of its success lay partly in the hills around the city, where the white clay known as kaolin was mined. The word kaolin itself comes from Gaoling, a village in the hills north east of Jingdezhen, where the clay was first dug. The point on this ride lies in that countryside, between the city and the old clay mines, in a landscape of wooded hills, tea plantations, rivers and villages.
The traditional porcelain industry involved a complex chain of skills, from mining and refining the clay to throwing, shaping, decorating and firing, and each step was done by specialist workers. The ancient kiln sites, such as Hutian, have yielded vast quantities of shards from different periods, and the old workshops and dragon kilns in the city, some of which have been restored, show how porcelain was made. Today, Jingdezhen is still a centre of ceramics, with thousands of artists and craftsmen working in studios and workshops, and its markets are full of porcelain of every kind.
Riding in China is complicated for foreigners. Foreign-registered vehicles need special permits and, in most cases, an accompanying guide, and foreign driving licences are not generally valid, so riders usually need a Chinese licence or join an organised tour. The roads in this part of Jiangxi are a mix of modern highways and smaller country roads, with traffic that can be heavy and unpredictable, including trucks, scooters, tractors and pedestrians. The countryside is green and hilly, with rice terraces and villages of whitewashed houses with black tiled roofs, in the traditional Huizhou style.
Jingdezhen, a city of several hundred thousand people, has fuel, shops and restaurants, and the local food is spicy, with Jiangxi cuisine known for its use of chili peppers. The climate is subtropical, with hot, humid summers, heavy rain in spring and early summer, and mild winters. Autumn is the most pleasant season for travel.