Jiangxi. There is also another place I really like in Jiangxi, so we
found ourselves hitting the rail and getting the heck out of Dodge. In
other words, we got out of Shanghai for a long weekend.
I can't say the vacation has got off to a great start. On the CRH
(China's version of the high speed rail) Hudson emptied the contents
of his stomach onto the floor of the train. Why he cannot tell us that
he isn't feeling quite right, I do not know, but he doesn't and when
he did it, I would say I was very surprised.
The next day, he managed to complain on the entire 5 hour bus ride.
Fortunately, there was not throwing up. And his attitude was excellent
when we were walking through the folk pottery customs museum. We got
to see the old kiln and some people making pottery. Actually, this
place turned out to be across the street from where we stayed last
time, but we did not even know about it.
I suppose this is the first time I saw such a large scale pottery
making operation. One guys job was to throw the pots. I was really
surprised when the man was throwing pots and when he was finished the
pots were not really all the uniformly made. Granted the size was
similar. Unlike what I thought I had seen previously was that the pots
were then passed on to another person whose job than was to place them
over a stone that was the right shape for the inside of the bowl.
Next, the guy trimmed the bottom of the pot and the side of the pot. I
was surprised he could do this without first anchoring the pot, but I
suppose he has more than 60 years of doing this work, so he should be
good at it. After him, there was a guy who glazed the pot. I did not
see where these pots were actually fired, but there was one kiln
building that we did not visit. It made me try to imagine what
Jingdezhen would be like when it was at its height, when it was busy
with making pottery for all of Europe. That is to say, when China
became China to the West.
It also changes the meaning of handmade to me. Sure, the pots are hand
made, but at the same time, they are mass produced by many workers. To
me, hand made is more of of a kind of craftsmanship. A product that
from start to finish is made by the same person. I feel disappointed
that the work here is not made in this way. It was rather
unimpressive.
After checking out the pottery place, we wanted to get a bite to eat.
Last time we were here, we told the taxi driver to take us to a good
place. He took us to a place that served wonton, and it was good. So
good, in fact, that we went back there with Marco and Julia. And this
time, we wanted to go there again, but we could not remember the name
of the place. We told the taxi driver to take us to a place near the
center of the city that served good wonton. He brought us to the same
restaurant. This somehow really impressed us because the place is
still in business and he knew what we were talking about. The food was
as good as we remembered.
That night, we came back to the hotel. I enjoyed watching some
"Friends" on TV. However, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something
scurry across the floor. I managed to focus in on it, and it was a
little mouse. A little mouse in our hotel room where we are going to
be sleeping was not what I wanted to see. And yet, Hudson was already
in bed sleeping. Meng was had already been napping for a few hours, so
I also did not want to move. Besides, we are in rural China, what can
we expect?
Today, we are going to do some pottery shopping. The next day we are
heading off to see Wuyuan, and then on Monday, I am heading back
towards Shanghai. I have work to do on Monday.
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