---
title: 'Qinzhou Nixing pottery'
url: 'https://howtotea.me/teaware/materials/chinese-ceramics/nixing'
markdown: 'https://howtotea.me/teaware/materials/chinese-ceramics/nixing.md'
lang: en
date: '2026-10-25'
description: 'Nixing from Qinzhou: unglazed Guangxi pottery from two local clays, kiln transformation, teapots for Liu Bao and dark teas, care, buying and fakes.'
---

# Qinzhou Nixing pottery 坭兴陶

 Editors · October 25, 2026 · 10 min read

Unglazed pottery from Qinzhou in Guangxi. It is made from a blend of two local clays and fired so that its color comes from the kiln itself. [Liu Bao](https://howtotea.me/teas/dark/liu-bao) is the tea most often brewed in it.

 ![Two Qinzhou Nixing teapots: polished unglazed clay with yaobian colour shifts](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-9037f5a1.webp) Illustration 

坭兴陶

Nixing

níxīng táo

 Region: Guangxi, Qinzhou city

Clay: blend of east-bank (soft) and west-bank (hard) clay

Firing: 1100–1180 °C by the local standard

Glaze: none, the color comes from firing

Heritage: PRC national list, 2008

Teas: Liu Bao, ripe pu-erh and other dark teas

Qinzhou, in southern Guangxi, makes pottery that China ranks alongside Yixing. Nixing (坭兴陶) is one of China's “four famous potteries,” with Yixing, [Jianshui](https://howtotea.me/teaware/materials/chinese-ceramics/jianshui) and [Rongchang](https://howtotea.me/teaware/materials/chinese-ceramics/rongchang). Tea drinkers pair it with Liu Bao, the dark tea from the same region.

## Two clays on one river

The Qinjiang river runs through Qinzhou. Its east bank yields a soft, white, sticky clay, its west bank a hard, red, ochre one. Potters call them “flesh” and “bone.” The local standard DB45/T 565-2018 calls them white and purplish-red clay and sets out the composition of the blend.[1](#fn:1)

Sources disagree on the proportion. The Guangxi government writes “soft six, hard four,” meaning six parts east-bank clay to four parts west-bank. The shop Mud and Leaves reverses the figures: four parts east to six parts west. Other sources just give “4:6” without saying which clay comes first.

Purplish-red clay contains 5–8% iron oxide, and the iron is what sets the color. The clay does not go straight from the pit to the wheel. The west-bank clay is left out in sun and rain for 4–6 months until it crumbles, then crushed and mixed with the east-bank clay. The body then goes through a ball mill, a sieve and a filter press. Under the standard it rests for 15 days in a dark room, passes through a vacuum pug mill and rests again. The residue on a 250-mesh sieve must stay under 1%. The result is fine and uniform, nothing like the gritty [zisha](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/yixing/clays) of Yixing.

## Shaping and firing

Teapots are mostly thrown on the wheel. The standard also allows beating out and, for some wares, slip casting in molds. In Nixing, casting is no sign of a fake. A fake starts with a clay body from somewhere else.

Tradition sums up the craft as the “six arts of Nixing”: gathering the clay, kneading, throwing on the wheel, carving, tending the fire and polishing with a stone. The last is called “peeling the skin to open the muscle.”

Nixing is fired unglazed. The standard gives 1100–1180 °C, the heritage register about 1200 °C, and a 2012 patent describes a rise to 1050–1100 °C. The figures depend on the clay blend, the kiln and the atmosphere, so there is no single number. Sources also disagree on porosity: the register says “without pores,” other descriptions “lets air through but not water.” Measured [water absorption](https://howtotea.me/science/material-and-firing/teaware-materials) is 1.5–5%, and the standard caps it at 5% for teapots.

### Yaobian

The defining feature of Nixing is yaobian (窑变), “kiln transformation.” The iron in the clay changes valence with the kiln atmosphere. Where the kiln is starved of oxygen, the body turns blue-green; where oxygen is plentiful, it turns yellow. Spectroscopy of a yaobian layer found an excess of divalent iron, and a thin “self-glaze” keeps it from oxidizing as the kiln cools.

At first the color is hidden. After firing, polishing removes the top layer of oxides and reveals bronze, dark green, purple, “sky spots” and “tiger stripes” underneath. The piece is then heated, rubbed with a thin coat of food-grade paraffin and finished on a cloth wheel to a smooth, almost metallic gloss.

There is a myth about how rare yaobian is. With [wood firing](https://howtotea.me/science/material-and-firing/kilns-and-firing), about one vessel in a thousand came out with a beautiful pattern. After research in 2003–2005, the share of sound pieces rose above 90% and the share with yaobian to 60%. According to the Qinzhou authorities, an electric kiln raised the yaobian share from 0.5% to 80%. So a vivid pattern on a modern teapot proves little in itself, though especially striking and rare patterns are still valued more highly.

### Wood firing

Potters on the Qinjiang were building a dragon kiln as early as the Ming: the first kiln of Gangwaiyao village is dated to 1371. The present one, about 80 meters long with 99 firing ports, was assembled in the 1950s from older kilns and is thought to be the longest surviving in China. It is fired with pine branches. The potters watch the color of the flame, and when it turns “golden” they close that port and move on to the next. This is called “racing the fire.”

Today most Nixing is fired in electric and gas kilns. Wood firing survives for small batches: four days and three nights, a last stage at 1000–1200 °C, then another 7–10 days of cooling, with about 60% of pieces coming out sound. Practitioners agree that wood-fired Nixing mutes tea more than electric-fired. People compare the difference to the one between [zhuni and zini](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/yixing/clays).

## History in a few dates

Qinzhou has made pottery for a long time. Shards about 4,000 years old were found near Duliao village, and archaeologists uncovered Sui and Tang kilns in the 1970s and 80s. Modern Nixing starts later.

In the 1860s and 70s more than forty workshops gathered on Yuliao Hengjie street, the “pipe lane.” In 1903 an official, Li Xiang, opened a government school, and the bases began to carry the mark “钦州官窑.” Real success came early in the 20th century, with gold medals at the Jiangning fair in 1910 and at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915.

The Japanese occupation wrecked the craft. In 1939 the potters scattered, and in 1956 the Qinzhou Nixing Factory was founded. The firing technique was added to the PRC national list of intangible heritage on June 7, 2008, and since December 31 of that year Nixing has been a geographical indication product.

There are two explanations for the name. The Qin county chronicle says the ware was “clay utensils” (坭器) and that “xing” (兴) means “in fashion, loved.” The other traces it to “Yixing” pottery, since the characters 宜 and 坭 sound similar in the local dialect.

## What to brew in Nixing

For heat retention and breathability, Nixing sits between a [gaiwan](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/gaiwan) and a [Yixing teapot](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/yixing). How exactly it changes the liquor is a matter of debate.

- **Aged Liu Bao.** In a side-by-side test by the shop TeaVivre (same leaf weight, 100 °C water, same timing), Nixing produced a less bright but deeper aroma and a thicker, smoother liquor than Yixing zini. The seller puts this down to the thicker wall and better heat retention. For young [Liu Bao](https://howtotea.me/teas/dark/liu-bao) it recommends a Yixing pot. The Wuzhou brewing guide says Nixing softens the smell of piling and [storage](https://howtotea.me/brewing/basics/storage) and adds body.
- **Ripe [pu-erh](https://howtotea.me/teas/dark/puer) and other [dark teas](https://howtotea.me/teas/dark).** These need water near 100 °C, and Nixing holds heat. The usual advice is a pot with a narrow neck and thick walls. Forum members single out Nixing for fuzhuan, tianjian and Liu Bao.
- **Heavily roasted [oolongs](https://howtotea.me/teas/oolong)** also work, according to a seller and forum posters.
- **Green and scented tea** are a poor fit. When one blogger brewed jasmine green in Nixing, the aroma and sweetness vanished and only astringency remained.

Mud and Leaves take the opposite view. By their estimate Nixing has finer pores than zini and duanni and holds heat less well, closer to zhuni, so it suits any tea, delicate ones included. Mei Leaf, based on its own tastings, finds it suitable for [black tea](https://howtotea.me/teas/black), green oolongs and Chinese [green tea](https://howtotea.me/teas/green).

Liu Bao in Nixing

The official Wuzhou guide, 7 g to 110 ml.

1. Warm the pot, the pitcher and the cups with boiling water.
2. Pour off the first infusion after 15–20 seconds. If the tea smells of piling or storage, rinse once more.
3. Infusions two to five run 10 seconds each, and you can pour water over the outside of the pot.
4. After that, add 10–20 seconds to each infusion. Water at a full boil (212 °F), poured out to the last drop.

For ripe pu-erh, [Anhua](https://howtotea.me/teas/dark/anhua) and other dark teas, no tested grams and seconds for Nixing turned up, only a general benchmark of about 100 °C. Treat the Wuzhou scheme as a starting point, not a rule.

## Care

Seasoning a new Nixing pot (kai hu) works much as it does for Yixing and is covered in detail under [teaware care](https://howtotea.me/teaware/care-and-collecting/care). The traditional method for Nixing is to put the lid and body in a saucepan, cover them with water, bring to a boil, add the tea you plan to brew in the pot and simmer for an hour. Then let it cool in the water, repeat and rinse. The quick version is 10 minutes in hot water and a rinse with tea. Not every expert approves of boiling, and the debate is covered there too.

The rest is standard for unglazed clay. Keep one pot for one kind of tea, because the clay absorbs flavor. Keep oil off it, since greasy stains are hard to wash out. Wash in hot water only, without detergent or soda. Dry it with the lid off, or a damp pot will grow mold. Nixing “saturates” with tea more slowly than Yixing zisha, and in a new pot you can try different teas without a long period of readjustment.

## How to choose and not get fooled

Volume. The standard divides teapots into small (under 100 ml), medium (100–500 ml), large (500–1000 ml) and special (over 1000 ml). For [gongfu cha](https://howtotea.me/brewing/methods/gongfu-cha) people choose small pots and the lower end of medium. A specialist seller lists pots from the Li Wenxin workshop at 80–170 ml, and a Russian shop suggests 100–130 ml for one person and 150–200 for two.

Workmanship. The spout, handle and lid knob sit on one line, the base does not rock, there are no cracks where the spout and handle join the body, the lid fits tightly and the pour is even.

Wax. For brewing, choose a pot without wax on the surface. The paraffin used in standard polishing is a different matter: the concern is a visible coat that a seller adds for shine.

Fakes. Since the 1990s the market has seen molded “teapots” of chemical clay selling for about 30 yuan, some of them made in Qinzhou itself. A 2026 document from the city market authority names “ordinary clay with dye” passed off as yaobian and cheap fillers in a body labeled “pure Nixing clay.” If a “handmade” pot costs as much as a mug, something is off.

There is also a UNESCO myth. One Russian shop writes that Nixing is on the world heritage list. It is not: the firing technique is on the PRC national list. Individual pieces have received a UNESCO mark, though, such as Li Renping's vase “High Drum” in 2006.

## Common questions

Is Nixing a copy of a Yixing teapot?

No. The clay is different: a blend of two weathered local clays, finely milled, rather than the gritty zisha of Yixing. The shaping differs too. Nixing is mostly thrown on the wheel, while a Yixing pot is assembled from slabs. The name may in fact be tied to Yixing, but that is only one of two explanations.

Is yaobian a rare stroke of luck?

With wood firing it used to be: by older estimates, about one vessel in a thousand. According to the Qinzhou authorities, an electric kiln with a set schedule raised the share of pieces with yaobian from 0.5% to 80%. On a modern teapot yaobian is the norm and says nothing about rarity.

Which teas is a Nixing teapot for?

Mainly aged Liu Bao, ripe pu-erh and other dark teas brewed with boiling water. Delicate green and scented teas are a poorer match: in one test with jasmine green tea, the aroma and sweetness disappeared.

Notes

1. Guangxi Market Supervision Administration, DB45/T 565-2018 “Geographical indication product. Nixing,” in force from December 31, 2018. Clay composition, process, firing at 1100–1180 °C, teapot water absorption up to 5%. Text: [bzchaxun.com](https://www.bzchaxun.com/view/5230334023000000.html). [↩](#fnref1:1)

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