Close-ups of China

A program for young Sinologists is helping academics from all over the world gain a deeper understanding of the country. Xu Lin reports.

At a workshop in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, Polina Tsoncheva is carefully pinching clay on a spinning potter's wheel, molding it into a plate.

"It's such an indelible memory! The city is world-famous for its pottery and ceramics, and I get to see the process of how Chinese craftsmen make them," says the assistant professor who teaches Chinese and translation at St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, in Bulgaria.