Yixing Purple Pottery

As some of you know; I work with pottery as a hobby. So while in China one of the things I really wanted to do, was visit some of the famous pottery making places. As luck would have it I live just up the road from Yixing, home of the purple pottery teapots. Also as luck would have it; a student here whose English is very good lives by Yixing. So she and another students whose English is improving but whose mother used to make teapots, acted as my translator and guide.

So Wednesday I took a bus trip China to Yixing. This in itself was a story, a friend bought the ticket for me and of course since it was in Chinese, he told me which number was the gate number and which number was the seat number. But I forgot. Luckily I asked someone at, the what I thought was the right gate and she indicated that the other number was the gate number. So I went over the correct gate and then had to figure out when they were calling for my bus to load. Again I asked for help from another stranger and after nervously thinking I heard the name Yixing for two other bus, she motioned for me to get into line.

Once I got on the bus my confusion wasn't over. There was a man sitting in the seat next to mine and he didn't seem to want to move to let me get to my seat. Then an older man across the isle started talking to the man and the man started yelling at the older man. All the while people were squeezing and bumping past me to get to their seats. Finally the stubborn man got up and found another seat, I sat down and someone totally different sat down. I have no idea what had just happened, but the bus ride was enjoyable from then on.

Yixing is actually a nice, small city. The air is clean, there seems to be a lot of greenery and the pace is relaxed (except of one of the local bus drivers). My translator and guide were Li Qing and Chen Shi Tao. They are students at the old campus of JIETT where I teach. Chen Shi Tao's mother used to make tea pots and acted as our guide. Li Qing's pronunciation is very clear and her voice is very pleasant, so she is a good translator. Both students are very enthusiastic and enjoyable to be around.

The pottery making is not done in Yixing though, it is in a smaller town withing Yixing's jurisdiction; called Dingshu. The first place we went to was the pottery museum. Unfortunately we got there just after the craftsman who makes teapots at the museum went to lunch. But the people there showed us what he was working on and I was impressed with the quality. Chen Shi Tao said his mother would make one teapot a day, so a lot of craftsmanship go into these teapots.

We also saw some of the raw material including a chunk of clay just out of the ground and several bags of clay. Each bag which looked like it was around 10kg (20lbs) and cost 3000RMB ($430). Expensive stuff. I can't actually tell you exactly how the teapots are made since I didn't get a chance to see one made. But I do know that the pots are hand built rather than thrown on a spinning wheel like we do in the west. From my experience hand building takes longer than throwing", but there is less clay wasted in the process. Which is good at 3000RMB per bag (about $425).

Yixing clay is a deep brown that under certain light can look purple. The feel of the clay was very smooth when I briefly touched it. I have a feeling would be great to work with. It seems very plastic and suitable for shaping. A more detailed description can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yixing_clay

The teapots themselves are small and only hold enough for one or two people at the most. They are unglazed and porous. This allows the teapot to take on the aroma of the tea used in it and usually people will only use one variety of tea in an individual pot. The teapots range in both quality and design with the most expensive teapots probably going for 1000's of RMB. The price also depends on who made it. There are some artist who have made a name for themselves and can ask for higher prices.

When I went looking for a teapot to buy; the first one I picked up that I really like was $800 and it just felt great in my hand. But I settled for a less expensive teapot. Chen Shi Tao helped me bargin (actually he bargained, I just smiled).

Yixing is an interesting place and I did not get to see or do all that I wanted to there. So I shall return.

Bus Ride

Periodically, here in Nanjing, I get on a bus just to see where it goes. I usually ride it to the end of the line or until I get to a place where I want to get off. Then I get off go across the street and ride the same bus number back. Only once did that not work. One evening, a couple of months ago, I got on my most frequently used bus #52 but I was a little tired, I was catching the bus at an unusual place for me and you guessed it, I got on the bus going in the opposite direction.

When I realized I wasn't recognizing anything, I thought no problem and got off the bus went across the street. After I had walked several blocks in both direction I realized there wasn't a bus stop for #52 going in the other direction. Then I remembered that when I looked at the map of the bus route, on the bus, that it makes a loop and heads back to where it started.

Again, although I was a little disconcerted, I thought no problem I will walk to the end of the loop and find the return bus. Remember that I mentioned I was tired. Well as it got darker and colder I realized I did not know how to find out where the bus route went; since the map on the bus was written in Chinese characters. Even though I was somewhat familiar with the area, because a friend had taken me here to show me where I could shop for things, I didn't know it well enough to navigate in the dark.

Obviously I found my way back to my apartment, since I am writing this. But I had to do the one thing an American male hates to do. I had to admit I was lost and I called a Chinese teacher friend of mine, , whose English is good and who would know how to direct me. At last, something I tried that evening worked and she directed me to the nearest subway station where I could find a bus to take me back to campus.

Then just as I approached a bus stop and could see the Metro station sign, I looked up and saw the 52. So I said what the heck got on, the bus made the loop and took me home. It only took to two extra hours of walking in the cold and dark but I finally got back.

Buses In China

From Vehicle CN 1

Traffic jam from a buses point of view.

From Vehicle CN 1

Bus schedule for a supermarket bus line.

Oh yes, I do have the Internet, I do have the Internet Today. . .

The Internet is back in the Old Campus where I live. So for the moment I can communicate with the virtual world again. But I am late for an appointment. So see/talk to you later.

No Internet

I may not be able to post or email much for a while until the school fixes the internet where I live. I am in a bar right now posting this. But stay tuned.

Happy New Years!!!

The cooks who run the noodle restaurant at the schools cafeteria that I affectionately call The Noodle Folk Restaurant, invited their student workers and me to dinner on New Years Eve. By the way these two people are some of the nicest people I have met anywhere and they treat their student workers like family.

For some strange reason I thought the restaurant would be a nice little out of the way restaurant with a simple menu, but I guess I forgot I am in China. The restaurant was huge and we had a private room where we had barbecued sheep and tons of vegetables that I don't know the names of; serve in a hot pot that was heated with coal. Then because this is China "Uncle", as the students call him, and I had bei jou (a strong whiskey like drink) while his wife and Noodle Folk co-owner "Auntie" heaped serving after serving on to my plate.

Well two to three hours later I bid everyone good bye and headed off to Finnegan's Wake to meet Dave one of the other teachers at JIETT, listen and sing to some music and usher in the New Year. This seemed like a good idea, since the solar New Year is more of a Western celebration and celebrating it in an Irish pub seemed appropriate.

I don't know what I was thinking. When I go there Dave gave me a Guinness and we kept ordering shots of who knows what; finally washing it all down with champagne. I left at 1:30am way too early for some but way too late for me and today I feel a bit sick.

Happy New Years!

Here are some New Years photos.

By the way I couldn't stop taking Christmas photos. Check out the photos in Christmas in Nanjing slide show and vote for your favorite holiday image, in the comment link.

Christmas in Nanjing

Many of my students have asked me if I am going home for Christmas. I tell them it would be a little expensive to fly to the US for one day, plus I have to teach for eight hours on Christmas. Then they ask if I will be home sick during Christmas. My thoughts usually turn to endless traffic jams, hearing Alvin and the Chipmunks singing Christmas carols or of having my mail box being stuffed with Xmas sale fliers and I just tell them not really. But I think to myself; Christmas is where you find. It is in the sharing, the peace and the joy. Here are some examples of Christmas in China.

I will keep adding photos until the day or so after Christmas. So Check back for more.



This is not a Christmas meal or anything like that. But this bowl of tomato, egg and noodle soup looked so warm and festive that I decided to include with this Christmas entry.

China Green

When most people think of China the colors that come to mind are red and yellow. I think green should come to mind also. In many ways China is far ahead of the US in conservation and sustainable practices. Energy use per person, how people travel, laws cities have put in place, how buildings are designed, and where people live are a few areas where American's have a lot of catching up to do.

At look at the roofs of houses in China illustrates this. The use of solar hot water heaters is very popular. Clothes can be seen drying the in breeze in every part of every city. Gas and electric clothes dryers seems like a strange idea here, since the sun and breeze does the job just as well and it is cheaper.

Buses and subways come frequently and actually go places people want to go. Unlike the US where siting some form of public transportation is like finding a rare bird in a forest. Laws restrict certain gasoline power vehicles in major Chinese cities. For examples only electric scooters and bikes are allowed in Nanjings city limits, and Beijing restricts the use of older, more polluting cars.

Building are built to make use of the sun in the winter and have design features that shade windows somewhat in the summer. In Beijing and Shanghai is fashionable to grow grass and trees on top of buildings to increase green space. During construction high rise buildings are wrapped in green wind screens; so cement dust in the air is reduced. Major streets have sidewalks, bike lanes with physical barriers between them and the street, plus rotaries to help control traffic but still keep it movin. The bottom floor of most residential high rise building are used for small shops like restaurants, and small shops; so people don't have to travel far to shop.

This does not mean that China does not have problems with the environment. There really is not anywhere, in the world, that does not have some problem with the environment. But China is doing something about it, both individually and collectively. Granted they are not doing these things out a concern for the environment. They are motivated by necessity. They have 1.6 billion reasons to work towards sustainability.

What these actions do though, is they give China an advantage over the other economies, because they are gaining experience and knowledge on how to work towards an economy that is sustainable. This knowledge will be important as the global competition for resources intensifies.