Foshan｜Nanfeng Ancient Kiln｜A sacred place for pottery art where the dragon kiln fire has been burning for 500 years

🏺 Overall Overview Nanfeng Ancient Kiln is located at No. 6 Gaomiao Road, Chancheng District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province. It is a national 4A-level tourist attraction and one of the oldest wood-fired dragon kilns still in use in the world. For more than 500 years, the kiln fire has been burning continuously, carrying the millennium context of Shiwan ceramic culture. It integrates ancient kiln ruins, Ming and Qing Dynasty architecture, pottery experience and natural landscape. It is a unique destination for exploring Lingnan pottery and experiencing the daily life of ordinary people. 🌟 Core highlights: A living epic of unquenchable fire 🔥 Millennium Dragon Kiln: The Eternal Dialogue between Mud and Fire • Nanfeng Ancient Kiln: It is 34.4 meters long and built along the mountainside. The kiln head faces south, using the wind to help combustion. The kiln is fired once a month. The temperature inside the kiln can reach 1250℃. The pottery fired has a jade-like glaze and is known as the "living ceramic museum." • Gao Zao: Built during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, it is known as the "Shuang Yao" together with Nanfeng Zao. The mottled brick walls of the kiln tell of the passage of time. The ancient banyan tree at the end of the kiln coexists with the kiln body, forming a natural wonder of "tree wrapping the kiln". • Monthly kiln firing days: On the first and fifteenth day of the lunar calendar and during traditional festivals, you can witness the kiln opening ceremony and witness the shocking moment of ceramics being “reborn from the ashes”. 🏮 Cultural Secrets: A Symphony of Ancient Architecture and Art • Lin Family Hall: A representative of Lingnan dwellings from the Qing Dynasty, the blue brick wok-ear houses and carved wooden windows restore the elegance of a scholarly family. Shiwan opera performances are often held in the courtyard, where you can listen to famous Cantonese opera segments. • Ceramic Sculpture Park: Bringing together works by ceramic masters from around the world, the 38-meter-high "Ceramic Girl" sculpture and the "Light of China" ceramic column group showcase the magnificent imagination of ceramic art. • Green Boat Peacock Garden: A secret place on the waterfront where 1,500 peacocks live. You can feed the peacocks and take photos of the “peacock spreading its feathers”, which forms a wonderful collision of “ceramic rhyme + ecology” with the ancient kilns. 🖌️ Pottery experience: feel the thousand-year-old temperature with your own hands • Pottery Art Center: Provides experience courses such as wheel throwing, carving, and painting. Professional masters guide the production of exclusive pottery. The finished products can be taken away after firing (the cost is about 50-150 yuan). • Pottery Market: A creative market is opened on weekends, selling handmade pottery cups, pottery bells, and pottery blind boxes. Some works incorporate modern aesthetics and have both practicality and collection value. 📝 In-depth guide: A pottery journey from morning light to starry night 🎫 Tickets and opening hours • Ticket price: Adult ticket is 25 yuan (half price for students/seniors), night tour ticket is 30 yuan extra; reservations must be made in advance on the kiln firing days of each month. • Time: 08:30-17:30 (ticket sales stop at 17:00), night tour open until 21:00 (Friday to Sunday). 🚶 Recommended routes • Half-day cultural route: Nanfengzao→Gaozao→Linjiating→Ceramic Sculpture Park (about 3 hours), focusing on experiencing the beauty of ancient kilns and buildings. • Parent-child experience route: Make pottery at the Pottery Center → Feed peacocks at the Green Boat Peacock Garden → Watch pigeons flying at the Ancient Stove Square (suitable for the whole day for the family). 🌸Hidden gameplay • Exploring the Ancient Kiln: Look for traces of “kiln god” worship along the Dragon Kiln Trail and learn about the beliefs and wisdom of ancient kiln workers. • Starry sky camping: Set up tents in designated areas of the scenic area (150 yuan/tent), participate in pottery bonfire parties at night, and fall asleep to the crackling sound of kiln fire. 🍲 Flavors on the tip of your tongue: Fireworks from the Pottery Capital and Cantonese flavors • Must-eat recommendations: ◦ Double-skin milk: Shiwan’s time-honored brand “Renxin” makes freshly made double-skin milk, which has a rich milky flavor and is even more stomach-warming when paired with ginger milk. ◦ Blind Man’s Cake: Thin, crispy and fragrant, with a moderate salty and sweet taste. Available in shops inside and outside the scenic area (10 yuan/box). ◦ Ceramic Banquet: Nanfengtang Art Museum offers creative dishes served in pottery, including "braised pigeon in pottery jar" and "glazed seasonal vegetables". 🚗 Transportation Guide: Convenient options for traveling between Guangzhou and Foshan • Self-driving: ◦ Guangzhou/Shenzhen: Guangfo Expressway → Jihua Road Exit → Gaomiao Road, the whole journey takes about 1 hour; ◦ Zhuhai/Zhongshan: Western Coastal Expressway → Guangao Expressway → Foshan First Ring Road, 1.5 hours direct journey. • Subway + bus: Take the Guangfo Line to Kuiqi Road Station, transfer to Line 2 and get off at Shiwan Station, Exit D, and walk for 8 minutes. 🏡Nearby accommodation: enjoy the tranquility of Taoyi Residence • Art Homestay: ◦ Zhuojian Courtyard: Next to Nanfeng Ancient Kiln Area D, red brick Zen design, guest rooms are equipped with pottery tool kits, and you can experience throwing pottery in the morning (standard room 600 yuan/night). ◦ Tao Garden B&B: Renovated from a century-old pottery kiln, the courtyard displays pottery works and provides a pottery-themed breakfast (duplex room 800 yuan/night). • Cost-effective choice: ◦ Green Boat Inn: Located near the Peacock Garden, you can see peacocks walking around when you open the window. It includes a pottery experience voucher (standard room 200 yuan/night). ◦ Taoyuan Cottage: Blue bricks and gray tiles with Lingnan style, 5 minutes walk to the scenic area, 150 yuan per person including breakfast. 📸 Photography and travel suggestions • Shadow Phase: ◦ Ancient Kitchen God Banyan: Look up and you will see the tree canopy intertwined with the kiln. The scenery is most charming at dusk with dappled light and shadow. • Joint tour routes: ◦ Cultural route: Nanfeng Ancient Kiln → Shiwan Ceramics Museum → Meitaowan Cultural and Creative Park, connecting the entire ceramics industry chain. ◦ Ecological route: Nanfeng Ancient Kiln → Green Boat Peacock Garden → Half Moon Island Wetland Park, experience the integration of nature and humanity. • Festive Easter eggs: Beidi’s birthday on the 23rd day of the third lunar month (ceramics parade), and Ceramics Fair (International Ceramics Exhibition) in October. From the thousand-degree flames rising from the dragon kiln to the temperature of the clay flowing through your fingertips, from the tranquil courtyards of ancient buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the gorgeous wings of a peacock spreading its wings, Nanfeng Ancient Kiln has become the most immersive cultural landmark in the Greater Bay Area with its profound "one kiln containing the past and the present". Whether you are a pottery enthusiast pursuing craftsmanship or an urban traveler longing for a slow trip, there is always a kiln fire here to ignite all possibilities of tradition and rebirth for you.