Dai Ethnic Traditional Pottery-making Craft

Dai pottery-making in Yunnan dates back over 4,000 years, primarily preserved in traditional villages of Jinghong and Menghai in Xishuangbanna. This unique craft has been passed down matrilineally, retaining Neolithic-era techniques.

The craft features primitive slow-wheel techniques using wooden wheels, bamboo scrapers and patterned paddles. The process involves: mixing clay with sand for material preparation, foot-controlled slow-wheel shaping, imprinting patterns with wooden paddles, and open-pit stack firing.