China Cultural News in Brief: ancient kiln; porcelain pieces for Guinness records

The following are Chinese cultural and archaeological news items in brief:

Ancient kiln unearthed in Central China

Archaeologists in central China's Hunan Province have unearthed a kiln that once produced porcelain during the Northern Song Dynasty almost 1,000 years ago, said the provincial archaeological research institute on Sunday.

The discovery revealed that production of ceramics began 680 years earlier than previously thought in Lilin City, one of China's most famous porcelain centers. Before now, production in the city was believed to have begun in 1729, said Hu Jianjun, an archaeologist with the institute.

Meanwhile, more than 2,000 pieces of porcelain have also been unearthed from the ancient kiln named Machong in the two-month excavation since August, he said.

The Machong Kiln is one of the three kilns discovered in the 5,000-square-meter excavation site in Tangjia'ao Village, but the other two are yet to be excavated.

Archaeologists are excavating the kilns as a highway will be built where they presently are.

Porcelain pieces to be evaluated for Guinness Records

Representatives of the British-based Guinness World Records will attend the upcoming 2010 China Jingdezhen International Ceramics Fair in east China's Jiangsu Province to evaluate several ceramic art pieces for world records, organizers said on Sunday.

Around eight of an array of porcelain from across China had a good chance of being listed in the Guinness World Records, said Wang Zhigang, an organizer of the fair.

The representatives would evaluate the pieces and announce those that qualified on-site on October 19, he said.

The fair, to be held from October 18 to 22 in China's porcelain capital of Jingdezhen City, will be attended by over 3,000 Chinese and overseas exhibiters.