Feature: Rediscovering Chinese white porcelain in Frankfurt

FRANKFURT, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- An exhibition that concluded here on Wednesday offered a rare opportunity for locals to get to know Chinese white porcelain for the first time.

Over 90 items of selected white porcelain, produced in Dehua County in China's southeastern Fujian province, followed the footsteps of their ancient predecessors and made their debut at the exhibition that kicked off on Monday.

Dehua white porcelain used to be a household name among European people who fancied the delicate and exquisite Chinese white porcelain in the Ming Dynasty. They used to be referred to as "Blanc de Chine."

In the forms of tea services, vases and effigies, the porcelain attracted the attention of viewers at the exhibition where a tea ceremony was performed in parallel.

The art crafts are appealing for their purity, which is a peculiar quality of porcelain. They are to the liking of German viewers, Martin Schmidt-Magin, a German spectator with a doctorate degree in art history, told Xinhua.

Karl-Heinz Koch, a pensioner who used to work in the banking sector in Frankfurt, told Xinhua on the closing day that he felt lucky that he hadn't missed the exhibition.

"We should have come yesterday to the exhibition, which is an attraction for people who are keen on Chinese culture. The porcelains have epitomized the long history of China," he said.

The effigies being presented are fine pieces of Chinese porcelain with intricate carvings, he said.

To another visitor who only gave her name as Andrea, Chinese porcelain is still a novelty. Intrigued by the exhibition, she said she could see both Chinese and Western characteristics in traditional and modern designs of the Dehua white porcelain.

Germany has long been the biggest trading partner of China in the European Union and an important export market for Dehua porcelain, Huang Wenjie, Dehua County's Party Secretary, told Xinhua.

The Frankfurt exhibition is significant in the sense that the porcelain producers in Dehua are able to rejuvenate the ancient bonds with Germany, strengthen cooperation and achieve win-win outcomes, Huang said.

The exhibition was part of an ambitious five-year international exhibition tour by Dehua porcelain producers designed to cover over 20 countries and regions, he said.