Firing up the next generation

Xia Houhui also learned the craft of making celadon-glazed pottery from his father, Xia Houwen, a national-level inheritor of Longquan celadon. The 88-year-old master made the gifts that were presented to former US president Richard Nixon when he visited China in 1972.

Inheriting the gift from his father, Xia Houhui is now a provincial-level inheritor of Longquan celadon. His father always tells him that the beauty of celadon pottery can last for centuries. "The more you look at it, the more you love it. It's not a love at first sight," says Xia Houwen at the studio he shares with his son.

Xia Houhui agrees with his father that the charm is timeless.

He plans to ask his own son to continue the family's craftsmanship spirit. The youngest Xia is still at college majoring in data and journalism.

"Each generation has their own unique expression of the traditional craft. It helps the craft to live on," says Xia Houhui.