The Yixing dragon and lion teapot
Yixing Chinese tea set artisans apply some of the most refined forms of Chinese art in their work: calligraphy, painting, sculpting, and engraving.
They mold ceramic clay into every possible form: plants, fruits, animals, people, and even abstract designs. Their sophistication and creativity is something that cannot be copied anywhere in the world.
The Yixing monkey teapot
The exceptional tradition of Yixing china tea sets began long, long ago. Recent excavations show that people in Yixing began to make pottery almost 7, 000 years ago, even earlier than the Egyptians.
So the techniques used today have been perfected over thousands of years and artisans in Yixing produce some of the best Chinese tea sets available.
Today the largest ceramic museum in China, and maybe the world, stands in Yixing. There you can see all kinds of precious Yixing teapots made in this interesting little town.
Some of these china tea sets are massive and date back so far that the original shapes have been weathered and changed into new, strange objects.
