"China", another name for fine porcelain, with a dainty, nostalgic feel. The name speaks to the prominent position China once held in the craft. The name "Jingdezhen" in particular speaks of the acme of expert craftsmanship. For centuries, the small town monopolized the manufacture of products from earth and fire for the Imperial household. Now, for the first time, the site of the town's imperial kiln is open to public. It offers a rare insight into the town's splendid ceramic past. The site was excavated a dozen times before the earth yielded the mysterious oven for manufacturing Imperial ceramics. The oven proved to be a multi-layered structure with each chronologically set out layer revealing a different epoch of the site's history in making porcelain. Archaeologists unearthed intact porcelain wares as well as tons of shards. Visitors to the site will be able to see the archaeologists still at work. The archaeological endeavor began in 2002. Excavation work covers an area of nearly eight hundred square meters. The commitment of the workers reaped abundant rewards. A stack of artifacts was discovered. Most were porcelain pieces from the early and middle Ming Dynasty, about seven hundred years ago. The porcelains have twenty different types of glazes and they take on as many as one hundred different shapes. Archaeologists say it's a reaffirmation of the tradition for making elaborate ceramics and the exquisite craftsmanship for which Jingdezhen is famed worldwide. Jingdezhen, located in the northeast corner of Jiangxi province, is the most famous Chinese porcelain-making center. It boasts a sixteen-hundred year ceramic-making history. It served as the porcelain factory for different Chinese imperial dynasties. The town possessed the best raw materials and finest craftsmen during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Given these advantages, the kiln once exported the world's finest ceramics.