Yaoli Ancient Town

Known for porcelain origins, tea and forest, Yaoli lines both banks of the Yao River with hundreds of Ming and Qing Huizhou-style carved houses and flagstone streets.

Completed in the Daoguang reign, this three-hall shrine has an exquisitely carved brick gatehouse, and Chen Yi once held an anti-Japanese mobilization rally here.

The village of Gaoling gave kaolin its international name, and remains of countless ancient pits, washing sites and water-powered mills survive.

Deep in shady old forest, a row of ancient water-driven hammer mills along the stream once harnessed the current to crush porcelain stone.

By the mid-Tang, Yaoli had ceramic workshops, while its kaolin resources later supplied Jingdezhen's porcelain industry.