Visit to a Porcelain Factory

Porcelain was invented in China, hence the name "China." Today I visited a factory (about 30 minutes north of where I live) where they make the pieces, from powdered soil clay, to the finished product. It's a very labor intensive process. The first mix the powder with water in the large black barrel you see pictured. Then the pour it into the molds. They pour it into a mold, let it set for 30 minutes to an hour, then pour the liquid off, leaving a coating in the mold that forms the jar, vase, plate, whatever. It dries and then they remove it from the mold. Next, the object is fired in an electric kiln (my camera ran out of batteries at this point in the visit.) After the pieces are baked in the kiln for 10 hours, they are taken to the workshop. In the workshop, a designer paints a design on a sample piece, using a thick coat of paint. Then, another worker takes a cloth and flattens it over the sample, transferring the design to the cloth. Then, she takes the cloth and transfers the pattern to other pieces, again and again, until there is no more paint on the cloth. Next, a woman will paint the details and color on the pieces. Finally, they are fired in the kiln again. We were told that an 80% success rate (factors in breakage an mistakes) is considered a success.
I purchased a tea set that I really like. At first, the price seemed high for local factory prices. Then, we were taken on the tour of the place and shown all the work involved. Somehow, after seeing it all, 10 kuai ($1.27) per cup seems like not so much. My tea set, pot, sugar/tea leaf bowl, 6 cups (Chinese style) and dish cost 100 kuai ($12.70). Seems like it should have cost more! I am really happy to have had the opportunity to see a place like this and have a tea set to remember it.

The workers seemed happy. They have 10 days off for Chinese New Year and get every Sunday off from work. Many places do not give days off at all.