Jiangxi

Jingdezhen

Jingdezhen, formerly known as the "Porcelain Capital " of China, is one of China’s most famous cultural and historic cities. It is situated in the northeast part of Jiangxi Province of East China. Endowed by nature with a network of rivers and hills, Jingdezhen is a municipality directly under the provincial government with a total area of 5,200 square kilometers and a population of 1.4 million. Leping City, Fuliang County, Changjiang District and Zhushan District are under its jurisdiction, among which Changjiang and Zhushan districts make up the urban area with a land area of 124 square kilometers and a population of 380,000.

Ever since the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), with old names of Xinping and Fuliang, the seat of Jingdezhen was a town. People there began to produce ceramics as early as in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). In the Jingde reign (1004-1007) of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Emperor Zhaoheng decreed to produce the porcelain used by the imperial court. From then on, people began to call this place as Jingdezhen. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Jingdezhen and other three towns, Zhuxianzhen in Henan Province, Hankouzhen in Hubei Province and Fushanzhen in Guangdong Province, were listed as the Top Four Towns of China.

"The best porcelain of the world is in China, and China's best is in Jingdezhen", the Chinese writer Guo Moruo once said. The ceramic industry experienced a long-time development at Jingdezhen. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the technique started to mature. Jingdezhen became a major porcelain producer in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The kiln in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) boasted the highest porcelain-making techniques. Thereafter, the Liangfu porcelain office was set up. Since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), it has been the center of the ceramic industry. In the Ming and Qing dynasties when skills became perfected and the general quality being more refined; governmental kilns were set up to cater exclusively to the need of the royal families. In the long-time development, the artists and craftsmen in Jingdezhen brought their full talent into play and created numerous masterpieces. Jingdezhen porcelain has formed four special features, which are "white like jade, bright as a mirror, thin as paper, sound like a chime." With its elegant form and unique technique, the art of Jindezhen porcelain is a bright jade in the Chinese civilization.

Jingdezhen, the ancient porcelain city, has been revived with new vigor now. Besides the porcelain industry, Jingdezhe has also developed other industries, such as automobile, refrigerator and food production. In recent years, Jingdezhen made remarkable achievements in industries like mechanics, electronics, chemistry, aviation, building materials and pharmacy. Encouraged by the opening up policy and the market economy, Jingdezhen has developed into an industrialized city while keeping its title of the "Porcelain Capital" of China.

The unique porcelain culture of Jingdezhen is attributed to the abundant porcelain relics, the valuable porcelain art, the excellent porcelain techniques and the intelligent porcelain artists. This culture was, is and will be a treasure for Jingdezhen's tourist industry.

Nanchang

Nanchang, the capital city of Jiangxi Province, lies in the lower reaches of the Hanjiang River and the Fuhe River, and faces the Boyang Lake. There are lots of of mountains, hills and plains within its border. Nanchang is a time-honored city with revolutionary traditions in southern China.

With a history of more than 2,200 years, Nanchang has always been the capital city of the ancient provinces. The Nanchang Uprising on October 1, 1927 won itself the fame of the Heroes’ City. A combination of the historical sites and beautiful scenic spots highlights the city’s unique characteristics.

Some 16.8% of the city is covered with forest of 413 tree species, mainly including pine, fir, laurel, gingko, and 480 species of wild animals, among which 20 bird species are under the state protection and 12 are ranked as rare kinds. It also has a number of lakes. Centered on the Boyang Lake, there are hundreds of lakes around, such as the Junshan Lake, the Jinxi Lake, the Qinggang Lake and the Yaohu Lake. In the northeast are the Aixi Lake, the Qingshan Lake and the Xianshi Lake, and four other scenic ones in the north, south, east and west.

With a subtropical monsoon climate, Nanchang has plenty of rain and sunshine. In terms of four seasons, summer and winter is long while spring and autumn is short. It is dry in autumn and winter and rainy in spring and summer; the average temperature is 17.5 oC in the spring, 28.2 oC in summer, 20.9 oC in autumn and 6.3 oC in winter. Obviously, the best time to visit Nanchang is spring or summer.

In 1986, it was proclaimed by the State Council as a national historical and cultural city.

Ganzhou

Ganzhou, situated on the upper reaches of the Ganjiang River and in the south of Jiangxi Province, is also called Gannan. It borders Sanming City and Longyan City of Fujian Province to the east, neighbors Meizhou City, Heyuan City and Shaoguan City of Guangdong Province to the south, and adjoins Chenzhou City of Hunan Province to the west. Ganzhou is a main routeway from the inland to the southeast coastal area. Under its jurisdiction there are counties and county-level cities like Ruijin, Ganxian and so on.

Related authorities of Ganzhou successively named its Xinfeng County as the Town of Navel Orange, Nankang City the Town of Sweet Shaddock, Anyuan County the Town of Jiulong Honey Shaddock, Xunwu County the Town of Tangerine Orange, Dayu County the Town of Daphne, Chicheng County the Town of White Lotus, Chongyi County the Town of Bamboos for Brush Making, Ganxian County the Town of Salted Duck, and Huichang County the Town of Rabbit Meat.

Famous scenic spots in Ganzhou mainly include Sanbai Mountain in Anyuan County, Jiulian Mountain in Longnan County and the Post Road at the Meiguan Pass in Dayu County. Sanbai Mountain is the origin of the Eastern River; Jiulian Mountain is the most complete section of sub-tropical natural ecosystem with numerous living fossils of wildlife are preserve, and has been listed as a key nature reserve under the protection of Jiangxi Province.

Zhanggong District is where the city government of Ganzhou is located, and visitors can find many cultural sites here. Ganzhou boasts 7 cultural relics sites under the national protection, 48 under the provincial protection, and a lot of historic sites, mainly including the well preserved city wall of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the magnificent Dajing Terrace, the Yugu Terrace, the Temple of Literature and the Tongtian Rock, etc.

Ganzhou is one of the famous old revolutionary areas in China, and used to the locus of the Central Revolutionary Base and the Chinese Soviet Republic temporary government. Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Ye Jianying, Deng Xiaoping, Chenyi and other proletarian revolutionists one took part in revolutionary activities in Ganzhou. The world-famous Long March started from Ganzhou. Numerous revolutionary historical sites are preserved in the city, among which Ruijin, the Red Old Capital, is the most famous.

Ganzhou was proclaimed as the national level historical and cultural city by the People’s Republic of China on January 4, 1994.

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