Cloisonne Factory

Detail of a Chinese cloisonne pattern

Stopping at a "factory" of some sort appears to be inevitable if you have a guide. Our tour company, China Highlights, was very good, and we only did one factory each day. On the day we travelled north to the Great Wall, the chosen factory was a cloisonne factory.

I was vaguely aware of cloisonne, of course, but had not the least idea of how it was made - well, do you?

The factory was an eye-opener! I had no idea how labour intensive the work was, and in the film we don't show you the firing and polishing - we were too early or too late or the month had an 'R' in it or something and those parts of the factory weren't operating.

Still, the finished product is mouth-wateringly gorgeous - and eye-wateringly expensive. My wife came away with a hair clip and that was all we could afford, but that day's guide was luckier than on other days, when we bought nothing at all!