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Qinghai

Qinghai · Map

At Ta’er Monastery, butter becomes a temporary sculpture. In the Hehuang valleys, painted clay, embroidery and temple murals hold other kinds of time. Northward, Qinghai Lake is crossed by fish and birds; westward, salt works and telescopes bring two different kinds of work to the Qaidam Basin. Farther south, painters, carvers, herders and river patrols bring the headwaters into view through particular places and tasks. Follow the material, the water or the work: each route opens another Qinghai.

Qinghai
Xining Haidong Haibei Huangnan Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Golog Yushu Haixi

Selected waterways · simplified geography

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From the journal

Nangqian Black Pottery: Shaping and Firing a Vessel

A 2020 workshop report follows Nangqian artisans as they shape vessels by hand and fire them in a sealed pottery jar using smoke carbon.

1 min readYushu
Reported black-pottery sequence and sealed-jar firing; the schematic does not depict a particular vessel. Original editorial diagram; illustrative, not a photograph or measured site plan.
Reported black-pottery sequence and sealed-jar firing; the schematic does not depict a particular vessel. Original editorial diagram; illustrative, not a photograph or measured site plan.

Tools move around the vessel

A 2020 report from a Nangqian workshop describes artisans breaking and sifting material, shaping vessels on a wheel, trimming and drying the clay, then polishing and engraving the surface. Wooden hammers, paddles and scrapers move between hands and vessel walls. Each tool meets the clay differently as the maker works around the turning form.

The workshop shelves held jars, pots, teapots, incense burners and butter lamps. Their forms serve household, religious and display settings. One craft worker turned a teapot toward its final carving stage, where a snow leopard motif was cut into the surface.

A sealed firing

A craft worker described firing formed pieces inside a large finished pottery jar, sealed with yak-dung fuel. Smoke carbon darkens the clay while the maker manages heat and timing through experience. The outer jar holds the heat and smoke around the pieces inside.

The 2020 report also describes a training center founded in 2017, where artisans teach and develop the craft. A cooking pot, tea vessel or small incense burner carries both a practical form and the knowledge needed to shape and fire it.

Keep following the story

GologBanma Black Pottery: From Kneaded Clay to Everyday Vessel A 2025 report from Banma’s pottery training center follows artisans kneading clay and refining vessel shapes, and lists both practical wares and contemporary forms. YushuNangqian Salt: Brine, Sun and Salt Beds In Nangqian, villagers guide brine through hillside beds, let it settle and evaporate, then gather the crystals by hand.
Continue exploring · Yushu ↗
Photo credits and rights
  1. Reported black-pottery sequence and sealed-jar firing; the schematic does not depict a particular vessel. Original editorial diagram; illustrative, not a photograph or measured site plan.© 2026 IFreeing · Rights information Photo source ↗ Proportionally resized and converted to WebP without cropping. No objects were added, removed or reconstructed.