11 Apr – 18 Apr 2025
Back in 2020, during the first year of our China trip, we went to a small old town Shaxi (沙溪) in Yunnan and met a lovely young woman Huihui who ran a charming guesthouse. We stayed about 10 days at her place. At the time, she just sold her guesthouse business and planned to learn pottery in Jingdezhen.
Huihui later got married and travelled to various places in search of a suitable spot to open another guesthouse. After searching high and low, she found an idyllic spot in a village in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi.
We decided to see Hui Hui after our long break in Zhongshan. It’s about one thousand kilometres to drive from Zhongshan to Jingdezhen. We stopped briefly in Longnan (龍南) at the southern tip of Jiangxi (江西) and found out that it is the township of Hakka.
The Hakka are a southern Han Chinese subgroup which fled from the north to different areas of southern China in the past due to social unrest and invasion. However, as they migrated later than other southern Han people, fertile lands were already occupied by the earlier settlers and the Hakka people could only settle in infertile land or hilly areas. Hence, they are known for being hard-working, especially the Hakka women. They are traditional in terms of family commitments and are dexterous craftsmen.
When one talks about spicy food, Sichuan or Chongqing cuisine usually comes to mind. But Jiangxi cuisine is in fact the spiciest of all. Hakka dishes in Guangdong are mild but in Longnan, even the Hakka dishes are spicy.
We then drove to Hui Hui’s guesthouse in Jingdezhen. She has a good eye and found a tranquil spot in a village not far from the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute. The moment we turned into the small road and saw the fields next to her guesthouse, we immediately felt very at home.
It was so nice to see Hui Hui again after five years. Her husband A Cai is very down to earth and kind. He’s from Guangdong and gave us the chance to speak Cantonese. We had dinner together and reminisced what we did since we last met.
Hui Hui designed the guesthouse all by herself and spent months renovating the local house and front yard into a charming guesthouse of five spacious ensuite rooms. We slept so well the first night and woke up to the crowing of the roosters.
The first day, we rode their electric moped went to a weekly pottery fair after breakfast. It is so popular that the organizer started charging an entrance fee (RMB50). Hui Hui booked for us in advance so that we got a discount. Despite a relatively windy morning with drizzle, there were many young people at the fair.
Jingdezhen is renowned for fine ceramics since it has a long history of producing high-quality porcelain in the country dates back to the 6th century. There are many ceramic factories and kilns all over Jingdezhen and some of the old factories have been renovated or reconstructed as major tourist attractions.
Tourism of Jingdezhen has taken off in recent years and many young people come to take ceramic classes. A lot of the guests at Huihui stay for one week or longer for these short-term ceramic courses. There are many ceramic markets of different qualities. Some markets sell cheap ceramics which in fact are not made in Jingdezhen but mass produced in Yiwu (義烏) – the world’s largest small commodity wholesale market.
There are a number of ceramic museums and we tried to visit one of them. It was so popular that we were unable to book appointments online. Each hour, the museum issued limited tickets on site. But when we saw the hordes of tourists outside the museum, we decided to give it a pass and went to lunch in town instead. It turned out to be a wise decision as we saw people posting on Red Note showing how crowded it was.
We did not visit any popular destinations like Sanbao Village with a high concentration of artisan ceramic workshops, chic cafes and shops. Instead, we often chilled in the guesthouse and spent time with Hui Hui and A Cai. Or we strolled around the neighbourhood.
Hui Hui is full of life underneath her unassuming personality and quiet appearance. Starting and running a guesthouse is no easy task and it takes a great deal of independent thinking and vision to be successful in this highly competitive business. And she and A Cai make a great team. While Huihui takes care of the bookings, pick up arrangements and guest liaison; A Cai is busy with the back end such as supplies for breakfast and dinners, cleaning and taking care of the front yard, etc.
Huihui has good aesthetic taste which is clearly reflected in the way she designed her guesthouse. She is meticulous and pays great attention to details – such as providing earplugs and fruit plates to ensure the guests have a pleasant stay.
Hui Hui is very practical and frugal in the way she lives. She reads whenever she has time and she is curious and eager to learn and broaden her horizon. We are so glad to see her again and see her business blooming.
We only spent a week in Jingdezhen as we needed to meet friends in Yangzhou. We plan to come back and stay longer next time to further explore Jingdezhen.
