Ancient Sanlu Temple Street

Jingdezhen is a world-renowned porcelain metropolis. It has a porcelain making history of over 1700 years, which has been crystallized into it's rich cultural tradition of ceramics, rare ceramic relics, superb ceramic craftsmanship, unique ceramic customs, graceful performance of ceramic musical instruments and beautiful rural scenery make up the peculiar tourist culture of Jingdezhen, and hence make Jingdezhen the only Chinese tourist city featuring ceramic culture.

Ancient Sanlu Temple Street is a famous scenic spot in Jingdezhen City. In ancient times, Sanlu Temple street used to be the bustling wharf in Jingdezhen, along which large numbers of merchant ships moored. It is located on the west bank of the Chang River, in the center of Jingdezhen. It is a famous street in China, renowned for its long history and beautiful traditions that come from its ancient culture. It is composed of three parts each of which fully reflects its prosperous past and its important position as a transportation center: Ming Street, Qing Street and the Old Pier.

Ming Street was established in the Ming Dynasty (1271-1368) and is about 90 meters (about 295 feet) long and 3 meters (about 9.8 feet) wide. This arch-shaped street is paved with blue bricks, which are put together and arranged in the shape of turtle shells. From a distance it seems as if crowds of tortoises are creeping toward the pier from the village. The old buildings flanking the sides of the street are, like the rest of the street, very well preserved and have survived through more than 600 years of political and other historical changes. These Ming Dynasty buildings are now listed in the major protected heritage areas of Jindezhen because of their architectural and historical value.

Qing Street was established in the Qing Dynasty (1368-1644) and is much longer and wider than the Ming Street. It is 231 meters (about 758 feet) long and about 4 meters (about 13 feet) wide and is paved with long blue flagstones. The ruts on the stones were created by the old-fashioned wheelbarrows that were in common use in the past. This was a very prosperous commercial area during the Qing Dynasty and the shops, teahouses and residences along side of the street are well preserved. In the 1990's there was a rebuilding project which added some modern buildings to the street and they live side-by-side with the buildings of the past. Here is yet another place in China where the modern and the ancient come together to serve the present.

This charming Old Pier is made up of three layers of blue stones. Since the Ming Dynasty it has been an important pier for ferries. From here the exquisitely beautiful and fancy porcelains of Jingdezhen were transported to important homes across China and around the world. This is a pier that can meet the requirements of transportation during any season. While we take this as commonplace now, it was very uncommon 700 years ago. This pier was unique for its time and even now. Located on this ancient pier is the famous Sanlumiao Temple that was established to memorialize the great poet, Qu Yuan.

Finally, not to be missed on Jingdezhen Old Street are several well-maintained residences, most of which were built during the Ming and Qing dynasties. These exquisitely designed and decorated residences were clearly the elite residences of their time and demonstrate the highest skills and architectural knowledge of Chinese artisans of their eras. Visiting these residences offers a unique view into the philosophical and artistic sensibilities of Chinese culture during their time.

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