Thursday, October 4, 2007

Gaolin--The original source of kaolin


We went on a field trip to Gaolin. Gaolin is the original source of kaolin for the world of ceramics. The word kaolin is derived from the name of this location where the kaolin clay was mined and processed to make the first high fired porcelain.


At Gaolin we were able to go into the #1 mine. I went all the way to the end of the cavern and looked back without my headlamp to see what it must have been like if your candle went out while you were hauling kaolin out of here. You can see other people coming up behind me with their headlamps. The passages were very small and hard to navigate. Very much like spelunking.

When I turned my camera’s flash back on I caught Bobby trying to pull an Ozzy Ozborne on this innocent bat that was trying to get some rest.

This is Bob Anderson, the director of the West Virginia University China program. He is not guilty! He was actually just riding in the police escort car that was arranged for us to visit this area. Apparently, there is a missile facility near by that required a police escort for our chartered bus.

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