THE Chinese are particular about their teapots, and the Zisha teapots, produced in Yixing in China’s Jiangsu province, are considered the best.
Zisha teapots are made from purple clay -about 1 kg of Zisha can be extracted from one tonne of raw clay.
It is believed that tea brewed in a Zisha teapot will not develop an overboiled taste nor will it turn sour when kept A Zisha teapot will also absorb the tea and after long usage, one can enjoy cups of tea from the pot by just adding boiling water without using any tea leaves.
About 100 200 Zisha teapots, priced between $ 28 and $ 1,388, are being displayed daily at Takashimaya SC Shopping Centre until Oct 22.
The first Zisha teapot was created during the Ming dynasty, by a pageboy named Gongchun.  Some teapots have been collectors’ items alongside Chinese calligraphy, jade carvings and snuff bottles.
Rare productions, by well-known teapot craftsman Gu Jingzho, can well fetch $ 120,000 in Hongkong art and crafts shops.
All the Zisha teapots made from the area bear the stamp of the craftsman.  It takes approximately two months to produce a handcrafted teapot decorated with calligraphy and paintings from literati.
To preserve a pot’s uniqueness, each craftsman in the Jiangsu factories does not produce more than 10 duplicates from each design.