I visited the Chaoshan area in China’s southern Guangdong province in spring 2019, just before leaving Mainland China for Hong Kong. After spending most of March in the mountains of Yunnan I wanted to catch the early picking season in the Phoenix Mountains close to Chaozhou 潮州. During my two nights and three days on the beautiful peak of Wudong Shan - THE most important terroir for Dancong oolongs - I indulged in lots of tea, witnessed the ancient tea bushes, and even came across fellow tea friends working on a photo book about tea.

On the third day, one of my friends and I caught a ride down the mountain. We were on a mission to discover the unknown artists of Xitang village (which now is a part of Chaozhou city). Xitang is considered to be one of the first places in China where teapots were made using the hand-thrown technique on a potter's wheel (chin. 手拉壶 “hand-pulled teapot”). This is surely no coincidence, as Chaozhou is regarded as the birthplace of modern GongFuCha. Dancong oolongs (the local teas from this region) are among those teas that profit the most from high leaf-to-water ratios and short brewing times. Therefore the demand for teapots that complement this method of GongFuCha naturally arose from this region. Chaozhou’s role in the history of tea as we know it (as well as practice), makes it, for me personally, the second most important place for teapots in China (after Yixing).

Xitang village 西塘村

This ancient pottery village became part of the urban area of Chaozhou during its expansion, and is now part of Fengxin, a residential area of north-western Chaozhou. In an old Census all non-agricultural inhabitants of Xitang village carried the family name Zhang. The Zhang clan are descendents of two brothers who entered Guangdong from Fujian in the 12th century. The Zhang family name currently comprises over 30,000 people all over Guangdong. Among them are also many famous tea ware artists (like Zhang Yanming, Zhang Ruiduan, Zhang Haiyuan, Zhang Zefeng etc.). Read more about Xitang and the Zhang clan here .

After roaming around a few rather disappointing wholesale shops in Fengxin (Chaozhou is also a production center for a lot of mass-produced ceramics wares, many of these teapots are made using colorants or oxides) we stumbled upon a small tea-ware market. This was during a sleepy lunchtime and most shops were closed, and seemingly dominated by mostly porcelain teaware. As we were losing hope, one open shop caught our eye. Not only was it open but soon the friendly vendor waved us in and began showing us her beautiful Chaozhou teapots. She proudly demonstrated the precision of the lid-fit by rotating the pot in mid-air and just holding it up by the knob of the lid. I was in awe of the craftsmanship and determined to meet the potter, and the friendly vendor introduced us just an hour later. I am very happy to present this second TEA LOG featured artist release: Zhang Xuefen 章雪芬, master craftswoman, makes some of the most precise teapots I have ever held in my hand. As far as I know, she is one of very few established female tea-ware artists in Chaozhou.

Zhang Xuefen 章雪芬, short BIO:

master craftswoman in the ChaoZhou Arts and Crafts Assoc.
design and production of hand-thrown teapots for more than 30 years
until 2001: training at Zhang Hao Teapot Art Studio 章好壶艺工作室
Zhang Xuefen’s creative works and skills have won several awards in national and provincial professional exhibitions and evaluations:
- 2017: "Golden Bell Pot" won the "Silver Award" at China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry fair
- 2018, "Excellent" in the Guangdong Province Arts and Crafts Industry Professional Zisha and Zhuni Pot Creation Skills Competition

Precision - Functionality - Decoration

Zhang Xuefen's technique results in ultra-precise teapots, sometimes the boundary between the teapot body and lid is invisible. The fit of the lid is so precise that one can lift most of her teapots from the handle of the lid and rotate the body in mid-air. She is inspired by traditional teapot shapes and modifies them with her creative twists and takes on these designs. I personally admire simple, traditional tea-pots which are not overly decorated, but I find the stylistic technique of her so-called “thousand lines” 千線 teapots extraordinary. Despite the artistic nature of her throwing style, there is no sacrifice in functionality. Zhang is prioritizing functionality over pure aesthetics (thickness/size of handle and lid knob) while striking a balance between both to produce teapots which are a wonder to look at and use on a daily basis.

Zhang Xuefen also published two articles in recent years: "Chaozhou Hand-pulled Pot and Phoenix Tea" (Ceramic Science and Art), and "A Brief Analysis of the Aesthetic Function of Chaozhou Zhuni Pot" (Chaozhou Arts and Crafts).

I am very happy that I stumbled across Zhang Xuefen’s studio with patience and guidance from my friend and locals on that day. I am also proud to feature one of the very few established female teapot artists of Chaozhou. The smooth finish and unique clay make the teapots shine in a melange of brown, dark red, and purple, depending on light and age/level of seasoning. Due to the microporosity of the clay surface, the teapots absorb the flavors and oils of the teas and develop a beautiful sheen with continuous use. This clay can harmonize with most types of teas but we would recommend using it for roasted Oolongs (esp. Dancong, also Yancha, Taiwanese Oolongs) but also for Pu’erh and Hong Cha, if you want to increase aftertaste.

Xuefen’s Chaozhou Clay

Chaozhou clay has a high plasticity and a low shrinkage rate, and is often associated with less of a muting effect on tea flavor compared to the classical Yixing ZiNi. Chaozhou clay ist often referred to as ZhuNi due to its cinnabar like red color (not to be confused with Yixing ZhuNi which has a much higher level of vitrification). Zhang Xuefen is using a special darker type of almost purple Chaozhou clay mined by her brother which is not available on the market and only used by her family. The yellow-purple clay does not contain any additives or colorants and its firing temperature and exact mining location is kept a family secret. This raw ore still has to be processed to workable clay (pulverized, sieved and made into a slurry before drying). I will post a more detailed post about the suitability of this clay soon.

The 6 different tea pot designs available in this release:

Golden Bell Thousand Lines (90ml, award winning)

See CoLLECTION

(Available on SAT FEB 19th 2022 from 8pm CET onwards)

Here a small preview gallery

Some more impressions from Zhang Xuefen’s 章雪芬 Studio and her works. All photos by Marcel Karcher.