Ceramic artist combines Chinese ceramic culture with Japanese tea culture.

Known as China's ceramic capital, Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province is famous for its centuries-old cones and master craftsmen. Ceramics produced here have wowed the world for thousands of years, and its charm has not weakened with the passage of time. Now, traditional crafts have been upgraded with automatic production and innovative designs. With old cones and workshops turned into art museums, the city has become a modern porcelain powerhouse, taking on a new look. For Japanese ceramic artist Aya Takayanaki and her husband Wen Minxiong, ceramics is the art of time. Due to the same interest in porcelain, they got married 10 years ago. They moved to Jingdezhen in 2013 and called it the best place for pottery. In Japan, ceramics and tea are very popular. I never wanted to go to Jingdezhen, but I had a husband who was Chinese, so I decided to go to Jingdezhen if I wanted to make ceramics in China. In China, Jingdezhen is famous as an international city for pottery. People all over the world want to try pottery in Jingdezhen. Aya is also a tea ceremony master. With the help of her husband, she combines Japanese tea ceremony culture with Chinese porcelain culture. Now, they are going to make a new batch of porcelain for the coming tea ceremony. For this batch of porcelain, they have been preparing for over one month. Although Wen Minxiong is an experienced porcelain maker, it is still unknown whether a perfect teacup will emerge from the cone. When the fire burns in the cone, porcelain begins its phoenix-like rebirth. In the firing process, cone changes may occur. It is an unexpected glaze effect that can affect porcelain's color and shape, as well as quality. But it can also achieve unexpected beauty. The ancient Chinese porcelain craftsmanship the couple are obsessed with is called Temoku, meaning heaven's eye in English. It originated from the Southern Song Dynasty some 900 years ago. Iron black glaze and white ash glaze are used, allowing the black pattern to appear on the surface after firing. It takes about 48 hours to fire the Temoku teacups. Finally, it's the time to see the result. The couple say it is a place where ideas and inspiration never end.