Chen Lu

This little pottery village in the mountains had to be all time favourite spot in my 3 ½ months here. The kilns were terraced and while walking the streets you were really walking over a kiln and the kiln entrances were like doors to houses. I often wasn’t able to distinguish between a house and kiln. Nobody could possibly just arrive at this village by happenstance. We were lucky that our fearless leader Li Chao is able to get us there and make the connections in the first place. At one time it was a real going concern for pottery production but they literally ran out of fuel. The kilns were fired by coal and the coal was getting further and further away from the site of the potteries. Fuel and finished pottery had to be shipped in and out of this mountainous village.