Dingzhou

Their colour, once described as silver or snow, was long held to be an achievement of the potters of the Song dynasty, but excavations at the Dingzhou kilns in Hebei as early as 1941 have established that white ware was already in production at that location during the ninth century.

The Communist Party chief of Dingzhou, a city in northern Hebei Province, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in one the bloodiest rural clashes in recent years, family members of the victims said.

Dingzhou residents who lost family in a land row insist on official probe, saying five convicted in court are scapegoats Residents of Dingzhou, Hebei province, where six villagers were beaten to death last summer over a land dispute, have been taking turns to petition authorities in Beijing for further investigations into the case despite a court verdict last month. Although a court in Handan city sentenced four people to death and Dingzhou party secretary He Feng to life in prison for their roles in the violent crackdown, the villagers say they are convinced the five are only scapegoats and Beijing must act to bring the real criminals to justice.

Yousheng Village, Dingzhou City, Hebei Province, is about 100 miles southwest of Beijing.