Illustrator He Yun collects her pottery from a kiln in Jingdezhen, August 25, 2023 in the Chinese province of Jiangxi (AFP/WANG Zhao)
“I have zero pressure now!”: from employees in a big city to… budding ceramists in a town of artisans, young Chinese, unemployed or tired of the metro-work-sleep, start a new life in search for meaning.
From her two-room apartment on the seventh floor, He Yun, a 28-year-old illustrator, enjoys a panoramic view of the surrounding green hills.
She arrived in Jingdezhen in mid-June, after an economic layoff.
World capital of ceramics, this city in central China is seeing an influx – even more so with the current economic sluggishness and record youth unemployment – of city dwellers who come to recharge their batteries by learning ceramics, an art taught here for more than a year. millennium.
What attracts them? Very low rents, slow pace of life and close nature in this city of 1.6 million inhabitants – very small by Chinese standards.
Illustrator He Yun leaves her home in Jingdezhen on August 25, 2023 in the Chinese province of Jiangxi (AFP/WANG Zhao)
“I came because on social media everyone was saying that it was a great place for craft fans, like me, and that there was a scent of freedom. And that’s really it! “, explains He Yun to AFP.
“Unemployed, I ruminated at home” but here “it’s easy to make friends”.
– “Search for meaning” –
Its rent: 500 yuan (64 euros) – 15 times less than in Beijing or Shanghai. Less stress.
“No more need to set the alarm in the morning,” she smiles. “I have zero pressure now!”
Illustrator He Yun sells her pottery at a market in Jingdezhen, August 25, 2023 in the Chinese province of Jiangxi (AFP/WANG Zhao)
His typical day? After breakfast, she makes her ceramic candle holders and necklaces in a workshop with friends. Then go and bake his works in one of the many kilns in Jingdezhen.
“At the end of the afternoon, we go to the surrounding villages and swim in the streams to relax,” she says.
“I put my works on Xiaohongshu (Chinese Instagram, editor’s note) where people contact me to buy. But we mainly sell on markets.”
Between the trendy cafes, boutiques and stands offer glasses, bowls, cups, teapots, plates and even earrings.
Chen Jia, 24, hair dyed dark red, helps make feminist pendants in the shape of sanitary napkins.
Illustrator He Yun during a pottery class in Jingdezhen, August 25, 2023 in the Chinese province of Jiangxi (AFP/WANG Zhao)
A music graduate who arrived in June, she didn’t like her first job as a piano teacher, nor the following ones in a milk tea shop and in a cafe.
“I am looking for meaning in my life,” she says. “Many young people today no longer want to clock in at work at a fixed time.”
– Renunciation –
Many Chinese people feel that despite their hard work at work, they will never be able to afford an apartment or improve their life – unlike their parents’ generation.
Illustrator He Yun (d) and a friend bathe in a stream in Jingdezhen, August 25, 2023 in the Chinese province of Jiangxi (AFP/WANG Zhao)
Especially since youth unemployment has reached a record level, exceeding 20% according to official figures.
In this context, social networks have made Jingdezhen a refuge for those seeking a so-called “tangping” lifestyle.
An expression which literally means “to lie on one’s back” but can be translated as “renunciation”: giving up a great career, money, to concentrate on a simple life and pleasures.
At the Dashu ceramics school, around twenty students work with clay on their pottery wheels or chat, drinking their iced lattes ordered online.
“Many young people cannot find work” and “come here to reduce their anxiety,” explains Anna, 39, the director.
Pottery class in a workshop in Jingdezhen, August 25, 2023 in the Chinese province of Jiangxi (AFP/WANG Zhao)
“Ceramics are very accessible. In two weeks, they can produce simple works and sell them on markets.”
The training costs 4,500 yuan per month (570 euros), a very affordable price.
– “Blow” –
One of them, Guo Yiyang, 27, resigned in March from his well-paid job as a computer programmer: after working overtime for years, he wanted to “take a breather”.
Xiao Fei (l), former decorator, speaks with people who want to learn how to make pottery in her workshop in Jingdezhen, August 26, 2023 in China’s Jiangxi province (AFP/WANG Zhao)
“In big cities (…) you just work. You don’t have your own life,” explains the young man who sees himself “never again” working as an employee.
“The desire for another way of life” is also what motivated Xiao Fei, 27, a former interior designer who arrived in Jingdezhen in mid-June after having resigned.
“Before, I didn’t have time for myself (…) I came home tired and I didn’t want to talk to others.”
She now smiles behind the stand where she sells her works: “I feel happier, more free and I meet people who have the same ideals.”
According to Chinese media, 30,000 young urban people lived in Jingdezhen in 2022. But few stay long term.
Xiao Fei already knows that she will not go back.
“After tasting this new life, I don’t want to go back to an office job at all!”
© 2023 AFP
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