I've been to the Yingge Museum, twice actually! Once just for a visit, and another time for their pickled plum event during plum season. Surprisingly, I've never actually strolled through Yingge Old Street; I've only heard of its reputation, always associating Yingge with ceramics. In the past, it used to be a hub where a lot of pottery originated from. When people wanted to buy pottery, they would think of Yingge, at least for many years. However, with the emergence of cheap, mass-produced ceramics in recent times, Yingge has lost its former prosperity, you could say it has declined.
It's quite poignant to see the pride it once held gradually fading away with the changing times. While it may not be able to compete in terms of quantity and price, there should still be opportunities in other aspects. However, it seems like those opportunities haven't been properly utilized.
The overall appearance of the ceramic old street is still quite nice, with tidy and clean streets. However, if you talk about the atmosphere of an old street, there's none of that 'old' feeling. Moreover, the ubiquitous rental signs make it feel even more run-down than imagined. Perhaps there are hardly any tourists willing to come anymore? When you see some shops selling mass-produced ceramics imported from mainland China, it all becomes clear! As a tourist, why would you come here to buy mainland Chinese ceramics when you can easily buy them online from Taobao or any other platform? The sense of value in Yingge itself seems to have all but disappeared; visiting once almost guarantees you won't want to come back again.
0 留言