Turning ancient art into modern business

Waking up at 7 in the morning, 25-year-old Fan Yupei cleans up, waters flowers in the courtyard, and then opens the door of her Jun porcelain production studio, ready for a new day's business.

Life in her hometown, Shenhou town, Central China's Henan province, is much slower and happier for Fan, who used to work as a Jun porcelain saleswoman in Beijing for more than 5 years.

"Jun porcelain production is an ancient technique with more than a thousand years' history. It was born in my hometown Shenhou and my whole family is working in the industry," Fan said.

"But now I want to create something special through combining Jun porcelain production with modern art, and that's a main reason why I quit my job in Beijing and started my own studio with my husband," said Fan.

Jun porcelain is one of the top five Chinese porcelains, dating back to the Song Dynasty. It is famous for its change of colors when heated in kilns. The rare ceramic ware is now listed as a state-level intangible culture heritage.

Shenhou town is the home to Jun porcelains. In recent years, the local government of Yuzhou city, where Shenhou town is found, has rolled out a series of measures promoting Jun porcelain production, renovating old kilns into stylish houses for visiting, and developing tourism based on the resources.

According to the Yuzhou government, it has invested a total of 5 billion yuan ($706 million) developing Jun porcelain making-related industries.

"There were a lot of tourists to Shenhou everyday before the coronavirus outbreak. It was very helpful to our business. Back in Beijing I made 3,000 yuan per month plus bonus, but now our studio makes about 150,000 yuan per year for net profit. We just started and I'm confident we can earn more in the future," Fan said.

"Besides, I can create something I really like with my husband. Now he is in charge of Jun porcelain making while I am responsible for sales, but we often share thoughts about designs. I practiced modern painting for many years. My husband really likes some of my ideas and often presents them on our work," Fan smiled.

Fan was not the only person who benefited from local government's policies to promote Jun porcelain making and tourism in Shenhou town. To date, more than 280,000 people in Yuzhou city are working in Jun porcelain making-related industries.