Firing up a shining past for porcelain

In 2012, Yu Xilai, former Party secretary of the Jingdezhen Jianguo Porcelain Factory, was surprised to receive a call asking him to help repair the Xujia Kiln, which had been abandoned for years.

Yu began working at the kiln when he was 20, following in his father's footsteps. Back then, the kiln was used by the Jingdezhen Jianguo Porcelain Factory to produce ceramics for export.

When Yu saw the crumbling bricks and walls of the old kiln, he was determined to do everything he could to restore it.

"Many former craftsmen were really excited when they heard about the restoration plan for the kiln. They volunteered to come back and help out. A lot of them were quite old then, some even in their 80s," says the 68-year-old.

Reviving this monster, which is 17 meters long and five meters high, was no simple task.

They searched for wooden beams from other dismantled or abandoned workshops to maintain the kiln's original appearance as much as possible. Nearly 150,000 bricks were used, and it took the craftsmen three months to piece together the arched surface brick by brick. The wooden planks used to carry firewood to the kiln were re-created from memory. In 2016, the project was finally completed, and the Xujia Kiln was once again fired up after years of inactivity.

"We need half a year to prepare for a successful firing, which can produce over 10,000 pieces. Many people are eager to collect ceramics made in a wood-fired kiln," says Yu.