| type: Park | location: Yaoli, Jiangxi, China |
| user: Sarah S. | gender: Female | nationality: American |
The ancient village of Yaoli is just a couple hours from bustling porcelain city of Jingdezhen. At one time this village was a functioning outdoor studio as well as one of three primary firing sites for all the country’s pottery. Today, apart from shattered porcelain graveyards and the desolate remains of studios and kilns, it is hard to imagine this place as a working community at all. This is my happy space for several reasons, and the memory of it continues to make me smile even since leaving it. No where else on this earth have I felt so at peace with the natural world and all it provides for us. Never have I experienced such a level of silence; it was as though I could sense the mountains breathing around me. Never have I felt so connected to higher forces, nor do I believe I will ever experience this connection again. In that moment it became very clear to me that I was in the right place, and although my body continues to travel on, my mind has never left the little gazebo on the mountainside.
