Nearly 30 media practitioners from 18 media units of 15 countries and regions participated the 2018 “Hi Jiangsu” Media Camp that is organized by the Information Office of the People's Government of Jiangsu Province and China Daily. They are currently having a one-week trip to different cities across Jiangsu and having their own interviews to understand further about local cultures and overall development.
After a two-day visit in northern Jiangsu’s Suqian city, the group took a 4-hour drive to the southern part of Jiangsu. The first destination of southern Jiangsu is Yixing city, a city famous for its tea and clay. The first thing that the group did after their arrival was to encounter Yixing’s rich tea culture.
The drizzling weather added a little artistic conception to the tea garden of Longchi Mountain. The melodious zither sounds, the graceful performance of the tea ceremony, and the rich aroma of tea made this place even more unforgettable.
People say that the tea ceremony has “five beauties”: tea, spring water, fire, tea pots, and the environment. Yixing boasts beautiful tea gardens as well as unique and exquisite tea pots. It is famous for its pottery and is called the Chinese pottery capital. The history of making potteries could date back to 7000 years ago.
The Zisha or Yixing clay is something original here to make potteries. It is a type of clay from the region near the city of Yixing that is used in Chinese pottery. Zisha ware are typically left unglazed and use clays that are very cohesive and can form coils, slabs and most commonly slip casts. The best known wares made from Yixing clay are Yixing clay teapots, tea pets, and other teaware.
Qianshu Longyao Kiln is the only kiln in Yixing that still fires pottery by traditional methods. Here, the foreign reporters saw the ancient kiln from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and observed the production of Yixing’s "Five Golden Flowers" – five types of pottery. They also watched the traditional opera and dragon dance.
Elena, a Ukrainian journalist from China Arab TV, learned a little tea performance. She said she loved Chinese tea and was very interested in it and found it very beautiful. At the same time, she also knew that the choice of tea set is very important, but she did not expect that Yixing is the birthplace of the purple clay pot.
The group then went to Hufu Town Service Center for Senior Citizens. Every senior citizen above the age of 60 in Hufu Town can enjoy non-profit public canteen service, calligraphy training, photography classes etc. The place also holds different activities from time to time to enrich the senior citizens’ leisure time.
Stephen of Bangkok Post was very interested in the Service Center. He believed that how the government and society treated his elderly population directly reflected the country's development, and he was impressed by the establishment of Service Centers like this one.
He asked detailed questions about the price of lunch, number of the senior citizens that receive the service, and the building of supporting facilities. He said: “These details are very important to my story because I see these old people smiling at the center and they are happy here. I want to put it all in my story.”
