Artist shapes ceramic celebration of One World, One Dream

"What can a potter do for the Beijing Olympics," Xing Liangkun has kept himself thinking since Beijing won the right to host the 2008 Games.

Last month, Xing, from Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning province, donated 180 ceramic items to the Beijing Organizing Committee on behalf of the Dalian municipal government. One of them, an item that looks like an ancient three-legged vessel, is to be exhibited in the National Stadium.

"It is a great honor for me to show the world the theme of 'one world, one dream' with Chinese ceramics," Xing says.

The Organizing Committee will exhibit Xing's ceramic works in Beijing's main Olympic venues.

"Working day and night, I had tried hundreds of wares, using complicated procedures: kneading, drying, glazing and firing. Some big items have to be glazed and fired four or five times before they were finished," Xing recalls.