African visitors view Longquan celadon works. [Photo/Tide News]

A Zhejiang celadon tour exhibition has opened in Rabat, Morocco, with Longquan selecting 36 contemporary reproduction celadon works. The exhibition marks a key cultural exchange event for the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Africa and the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges.

Celadon provides important evidence of ancient Maritime Silk Road exchanges, with Yue and Longquan kiln porcelain from the late Tang (618-907) to the Ming (1368-1644) dynasties reaching North, East, and South Africa.

The travelogue of Ibn Battuta, a 14th-century Moroccan traveler, recorded that Chinese porcelain remained rare and luxurious in Morocco. Documents from Egypt show a Longquan celadon plate could fetch a camel in North African markets.

Longquan's 36 works draw on prototypes from the pre-Qin period (before 221 BC), the Five Dynasties (907-960), the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty (960-1279), and the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

Chinese and Moroccan experts will hold academic salons on celadon archaeology, craft inheritance, and cross-cultural communication, with an online exhibition also open to global audiences until Sept 30.