Jingdezhen

Jingdezhen 景德镇市
Prefecture-level city
Location of Jingdezhen City jurisdiction in Jiangxi
Coordinates: 29°17′N 117°12′E / 29.283°N 117.200°E / 29.283; 117.200Coordinates: 29°17′N 117°12′E / 29.283°N 117.200°E / 29.283; 117.200
Country	China
Province	Jiangxi
Government
• CPC Party Secretary	Xu Aimin
• Mayor	Yan Ganhui
Area
• Total	5,256 km2 (2,029 sq mi)
Elevation	35 m (114 ft)
Population (2007)
• Total	1,554,000
• Density	300/km2 (770/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	333000
Area code(s)	0798
Licence plate prefixes	赣H
Administrative division code	360200
ISO 3166-2	CN-36-02
Website	jdz.gov.cn

Jingdezhen
"Jingdezhen" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese	景德镇
Traditional Chinese	景德鎮
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jǐngdézhèn Wade–Giles Ching3-te2-chen4 IPA [tɕìŋ.tɤ̌.ʈʂə̂n] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Gíng-dāk-jan Jyutping Ging2-dak1-zan3 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Kíng-tik-tìn

Jingdezhen (or the Town of Jingde) is a prefecture-level city, previously a town, in northeastern Jiangxi province, China, with a total population of 1,554,000 (2007), bordering Anhui to the north. It is known as the "Porcelain Capital" because it has been producing pottery for 1,700 years. The city has a well-documented history that stretches back over 2,000 years.

During the Han Dynasty, Jingdezhen was known as Xinping. Historical records show that it was during this time that it began to make porcelain. Xinping then was renamed Changnanzhen (Changnan Town) during the Tang Dynasty since it sits at the south bank of the Chang river. In 1004 CE during the North Song Dynasty, it was renamed again as Jingdezhen, taking the era name of the emperor during whose reign its porcelain production first rose to fame.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Jingdezhen was considered one of China's four great towns in terms of commercial and industrial importance. The others were Foshan in Guangdong, Hankou in Hubei, and Zhuxian in Henan.

In the 19th century, Jingdezhen became a county. During the period of the People's Republic of China it became a provincial city but retained the Jingdezhen name. Usually when a town is upgraded to a city, the designation of "city" replaces that of "town", but Jingdezhen retained its name to honor its history.

Jingdezhen was named one of top 24 national historical and cultural cities of the People's Republic of China on February 28, 1982.

In 2004, Jingdezhen celebrated the millennium of its becoming the porcelain capital and its assuming its present name.