During the Spring Festival holiday, Taoxichuan Ceramic Art Avenue in Jingdezhen, east China's Jiangxi Province was granted a new identity of State-level Cultural Industry Demonstration Park. Visitors can touch the brilliant history of a 1,000-year-old ceramic capital and experience the inheritance and innovation of ceramic culture.
The busy construction site of Taoxichuan Phase II project lies in the south of Taoxichuan Road. As a key project of the national ceramic culture inheritance and innovation pilot zone in Jingdezhen, it extends and broadens the first phase project to further enrich the cultural connotation of "Dream Chasers Space" for the young generation.
Not far away, the restoration of Taoyangli Historic Block preservation and utilization project is also in full swing, which aims to fully showcase the historic context of this 1,000-year-old ceramic capital.
To restore the world ceramic capital, the bustling construction sites show the vitality of the city and the aspiration for cultural inheritance. Represented by Jingdezhen polishing the city symbol and expediting the construction of landmark culture and tourism project, Jiangxi Province is striding forward towards the inheritance and innovation of excellent traditional culture and stronger competitiveness of cultural industry.
Imminent New Landmark
The kiln fire has kept burning over the past 1,000 years and Jingdezhen has never changed its soul of culture or stopped the steps of inheriting and trailblazing.
When building the national ceramic culture inheritance and innovation pilot zone, Jingdezhen proposes to concentrate on the core regions of "One Axis, One Belt, Five Areas and Multiple Points", among which, the Five Areas include Taoyangli Historic Block, Taoxichuan Ceramic Art Avenue, and Science Education Area of Ceramic University.
The ongoing Taoxichuan Phase II project covers theater, hotel, ceramic apartment, art and sci-tech laboratory, vocational education and training base, cloud engine, Wanyao Plaza, Mountain Sports Camp of Mount Phoenix, etc.
Different from the orientation of Phase I project to realize the transformation and upgrading of industrial heritage by revitalizing, restructuring and restoring, the Taoxichuan Phase II project concentrates on the needs of young people, makes relevant perfection of supporting facilities and industry chains, and satisfies the Makers' needs of study, growth, production and life with a broader space.
According to Xiong Honghua, Deputy General Manager of Jingdezhen Ceramic Culture Tourism Group, the Taoyangli Historic Block integrates the old kiln sites, blocks, guild halls and alleys to present Jingdezhen's relics forms of ceramic production, commercial trade, native life and cultural fusion, and reproduce the scenario of entangled life and production of this 1,000-year-old ancient town.
"We design the business layout under five major topics of food, accommodation, artwork, entertainment and shopping, to turn Taoyangli into a new window showing Jingdezhen's ceramic cultural richness, and presenting the 1,000-year ceramic cultural relics, 600-year imperial kiln culture relics and 70-year ceramic industry relics", said Xiong Honghua. He also said, as a "field force" in building the pilot zone, the Group will strive to awaken the city's memory, preserve the root and context of ceramic culture, and light up the "immortal fire" of "13 Alleys in Taoyangli" in the history.
Progressing New Projects
It was getting late on February 17, but the construction work at the Taoxichuan Phase II site remained busy in an orderly manner.
Owing to the epidemic prevention and control and the engineering schedule, more than 600 staffs of the Engineering Department of Hyatt Regency for Taoxichuan Phase II project had to celebrate the lunar Chinese New Year at the construction site. "Despite of our homesickness, we must go all out for the project", said Hu Xiaomin, Secretary of the Party Branch of the Engineering Department. He took a lead to stay on the site and served workmates well.
Wang Ningning and other teammates in charge of interior decoration ran on two shifts a day, "Except for the New Year's Eve, we work day and night, and try our best to complete the project before March 20."
Situated in the western side of Taoxichuan North Road, the Phase II project lasts for 24 months and has a total land area of over 90,000 square meters including hotel, Wanyao Plaza, and Music Square.
So far the Taoyangli Project is in the final sprint stage and will be unveiled by the end of this March. "The two projects have almost the same deadline. Many of us have made an appointment to tour around Jingdezhen after completion and appreciate the charm of this 1,000-year-old ceramic capital", said Wang Ningning.
Creating New Future
At 9:00 February 18, Fu Hongsong, a guide born in the 1990s, was taking visitors around the Imperial Kiln site. A group of workers were restoring a civilian house in Pengjia Upper Alley while at a construction site in Pengjia Lower Alley, a dozen of workers were handling the wood for decoration.
Fu Hongsong grew up by the side of Changjiang River and has a deep affection for the old blocks and alleyways in the old city of Jingdezhen. He said the Taoyangli core area will be officially opened during this year's provincial tourism development conference. At that time, the full guided visit will last for over two hours, more than one hour longer than the visit of Imperial Kiln site.
As the provincial tourism development conference approaches, Yan Huiyu, an art designer got much busier. He is from Dandong city of northeast China's Liaoning Province. After graduation from Jingdezhen Ceramic University in 2007, he went to France to study contemporary art and returned to Jingdezhen to work as an artist in Taoxichuan, now in charge of the glass studio of Taoxichuan Phase II project.
Going through the 1,000-year history, Jingdezhen is now attracting more ambitious young people and embracing a new round of development with an open and inclusive attitude. (Source: Jiangxi Daily)
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