THE WORLD'S AXCIEXT PORCELAIN CENTER 



399 



cause of the financial sup- 

 port that would be involved. 



Ching-teh-chen is devoid 

 of electric lights and tele- 

 phones. The few rickshaws 

 which now facilitate com- 

 munications are fighting for 

 existence. While we were 

 in the city a number of 

 workingmen's guilds peti- 

 tioned the Chamber of 

 Commerce to abolish the 

 rickshaws on the ground 

 that they interfered with 

 traffic. 



There are many indica- 

 tions of progress, however. 

 Christianity is influencing 

 the life of the city through 

 three Protestant churches — ■ 

 the China Inland Mission, 

 the Methodist Episcopal, 

 and the American Protes- 

 tant Episcopal — and the 

 Catholic Church, which has 

 been in Ching-teh-chen for 

 60 years. 



A park, located beside a 

 lotus-covered lake, is the 

 recent creation of a liberal- 

 minded magistrate. Within 

 two years this has developed 

 into a social center, with its 

 industrial museum, restau- 

 rant, arbors, open paths, 

 and walks. It is the only 

 place in the city where one 

 can get a breath of fresh 

 air. 



The Orphan Asylum is 

 an institution that cannot be overlooked. 

 It should be properly named the Aban- 

 doned Girl Baby Asylum. Last year 245 

 girl babies were received by this institu- 

 tion through a small door in a revolving 

 barrel which is located in a niche near 

 the front gate. Later these babies were 

 sent out into the homes of the city to 

 become wives and servants of the well- 

 to-do class. 



A DOZEN EXCELLENT CLAYS FOUND NEAR 

 THE CITY 



Ching-teh-chen has twenty-two schools 

 enrolling about 2,000 pupils of grammar- 

 grade age. The Chamber of Commerce 

 is a live organization, housed in a mod- 



ONE METHOD OF APPLYING PORCELAIN GLAZE 



Here the operator is blowing the glaze through a bamboo tube 

 as the vase is slowly revolved bv his toe. 



ern foreign-style building and headed by 

 a merchant-scholar of much executive 

 ability. 



The geographical location of Ching-teh- 

 chen is not accidental. It became the 

 pottery center of the country centuries 

 ago because of the enormous quantities 

 of excellent clay in the district around 

 Po Yang Lake. More than a dozen kinds 

 of excellent clay are found in the neigh- 

 borhood of the lake. 



The chief places from which the hard 

 paste comes are Nan K'an. Yu Kan. Tung 

 Keng, and Chi Men. At Chi Men. which 

 is just across the border in Anhwei 

 Province, there is a whole mountain of 

 fine white clay. 



