World's Largest Wood-fired Ceramic Kiln Reopened

It's official: The ancient kiln in Jingdezhen City is the world's largest wood-fired ceramic kiln.     China Foto Press

    After being abandoned for 15 years, the only remaining wood-fired ceramic kiln in the world reopened in August 2009 in China's porcelain capital of Jingdezhen City.

    The ancient kiln with an 18-meter-long furnace and a volume of 260 cubic meters was built in the first year of Emperor Qianlong (1736) in the Qing Dynasty. The firing didn't stop for 259 years, until 1995 when it started to crack. Temperatures inside the giant may reach 1,320℃, and it was able to produce more than 20,000 porcelains of different sizes at the same time. Workers relied on their experience to rekindle the kiln exactly according to the ancient protocol – without any modern instruments.

    The kiln was refired in the interests of preserving cultural heritage.