Artistic attraction

But for Read, the story began long before Jingdezhen was spoken of as an international hub for ceramic art and cultural exchange.

His fascination with Chinese art dates back more than four decades to his student years in North America. The more he learned about classical Chinese painting, the more strongly he felt pulled toward China. That interest eventually brought him to Jingdezhen for the first time in 1989.

"Jingdezhen is renowned for its porcelain," he recalled."I was a watercolor painter and I also did ink painting. And the city seemed to be a very strong cultural city at the time. It's rough but really powerful. It fascinated me."

During that short visit, he made a bamboo cup while sitting at an ancient kiln site in what is now the Taoyangli historical and cultural district.

"It was an ancient kiln site for at least 400 years," he said. "That made it more profound. I felt like I was surrounded by the history and the culture."

He returned in 1996 as an artist-in-residence at a local college for half a year. Over time, his ties to the city deepened.

Read came back to the city again and again. He opened his own studio years later and began spending much of the year in Jingdezhen.

What stayed with him, he said, was not simply the city's reputation for ceramics, but the feeling that its cultural life had never been completely severed from ordinary people.

"I think the true heart of China and Chinese culture and the arts is here," he said. "Eventually, more foreigners will come over and stay for a long time because of the incredible art and culture and history, but also the people living here."