Chinaware unearthed in China's porcelain capital of Jingdezhen is on public display Thursday for the first time in the Jiangxi provincial capital, Nanchang.

The findings came from an excavation, begun in October 2002, by archaeologists from the province, Jingdezhen City and Beijing University.

Among thousands of unearthed items, the most notable were 70 painted vases, censers, bowls and containers, said Li Yiping, deputy head of the Jingdezhen Archaeological Institute of Porcelain.

The items include a 10-cm high chalice with a diameter of 16 cm, which was made during the reign of Emperor Yongle (1402-1424), which bears an inscription indicating the time of manufacture, said Li.

Jingdezhen has a porcelain-making history of more than 1,700 years and is one of China's biggest producers and exporters of porcelain products.

The city has many imperial kilns dating back to the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911). Thousands of ancient porcelain items have been found in the remains of the kilns over the past 20 years.
 
(Xinhua News Agency January 2, 2004)