Jingdezhen raises porcelain standard

In the northwestern city of Xi'an, one of China's ancient capitals, young designers decorate pins, magnets, cups and bags with icons from local cuisine, scenic spots and poetry.

At the Panda House souvenir shop in the southwestern city of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province and home to the giant panda, panda dolls wearing unusual outfits, such as tunics and Superman costumes are sold.

These shops stand out from other souvenir shops with their interesting and culturally rich designs.

"I was very excited when I saw this little shop and all these original postcards and scarves. After looking around for a long time, I finally found something worth buying," says Zhang Qin, a Beijing tourist who visited Yang Yang's souvenir stall.

But these young designers and entrepreneurs also have problems. Unlike the Letian creative market, which is organized by the Pottery Workshop, a ceramic art education and communication center, young souvenir designers in other cities are fighting alone.

Although Yang Yang now heads a team that includes three salespeople and four designers, there are few others with similar support in Dunhuang. She envies the creative and lively atmosphere in Jingdezhen.

"I am not afraid of competition. I hope that more people can join us so that we can learn from each other and come up with better creative ideas and designs," Yang says.

They are also bothered by a serious piracy situation.

"Sometimes I make something new and sell it in the market. A week later, the same design is everywhere," says Xiaoshao, who sells his self-designed ceramic cups at Letian market.

Yang has faced the same problem.

"We have to speed up the process of creating and designing to make sure that the copycats can never catch up with us," she says.

She says she expects more government support to protect intellectual property rights.