Hemu Colored Pottery Culture Village

　　   Hemu Village is situated in the central part of Jiangshan City, 13 kilometers southwest of the city center, and belongs to Qinghu Town. Qinghu was set up as a township in the Tang Dynasty and called the Fifteenth District in the Song Dynasty. It served as the last major dock on the upper reaches of the Qiantang River that could accommodate large sailing ships bound for Fujian, and also marked the endpoint for vessels coming from the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. In the old days, Qinghu Town was lined with masts and sails, bustling with “merchants from all over and goods spread out like stars.” Along the ancient Xianxia Trail, there was a constant flow of travelers, “with scholars and officials frequently passing through.”

　　   As early as the Neolithic Age, humans had already settled and thrived on this land, forging ahead through thick and thin for over 4,000 years. The revival of earthenware production during the Qing Dynasty became a traditional industry of Hemu. At its peak, there were more than 100 earthen kilns producing items such as cooking pots, soup jars, clay hot-water kettles, chopstick holders, tile tubes, and fire pots, with an annual output of 450,000 pieces. These products were transported via the Xianxia Ancient Trail and ancient waterways to regions including Fujian, Jiangxi, Anhui, Guangdong, Hunan, and Shanghai, earning widespread fame.

　　   In the 1970s, 11 ancient pottery sites were discovered within several kilometers of Hemu Village. Collected samples included stamped pottery, black-glazed pottery, sandy pottery, and proto-porcelain. Among them, black-glazed pottery was a particularly distinctive type. Testing by the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences showed that its chemical composition and firing temperature were consistent with those of proto-porcelain, proving that proto-porcelain evolved from black-glazed pottery and originated 4,000 years ago. This also confirms that humans had lived on this land since the Neolithic Age and contributed to the transition from pottery to porcelain.

　　   With the widespread use of modern household utensils, the sales of pottery products gradually declined, and the Hemu earthen kilns lost their former glory. It wasn’t until 2006, when antique-style colored pottery production techniques were introduced, that the traditional ancient pottery village regained new vitality.

　　   In 2008, 15 million yuan was invested in the construction of the Colored Pottery Culture Village. On July 3, Zhao Hongzhu, then Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, visited the Colored Pottery Culture Village. He noted that this project not only preserved pottery culture but also found a key point for upgrading the colored pottery industry, turning culture into a soft power for rural development. He praised it as a bold and meaningful practice and exploration in the construction of a new countryside.

　　   Address: Qinghu Town, Jiangshan City

　　   Phone: 0570-4728008

　　   Transportation: Take the Huang-Qun-Nan section of the Beijing-Taipei Expressway and exit at Jianglang Mountain. Turn right onto Provincial Highway 46 to reach the site. Alternatively, depart from downtown Jiangshan, take Jianghe Highway, turn left at the Cement Factory intersection, pass through Qinghu Town, and continue on Provincial Highway 46 to arrive.

　　   Opening Hours: 8:00–17:00