"China – the name of a country – is also the common-usage term for porcelain. By studying items in the hands of Western collectors, as well as that salvaged from shipwrecks at the bottom of the sea, it becomes clear that porcelain was not only exported as a utilitarian handicraft. Foreign enthusiasts actually paid more attention to its aesthetic value than its practical function. Chinese porcelain and silk were status products in Europe during the 17th-18th Century, and were valued as transcendent objects of art." — An extract from Chinese Scholars’ Another Way of Thinking by Zhang Xianliang, a renowned Chinese writer

From February to May, 2010, the exhibition of Chinese Export Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) was held at the Capital Museum in Beijing. From the 200 exquisite items on display, audiences could begin to understand why during the ill-fated Qing (especially over the course of the 18th Century), Chinese porcelain conquered the Western imagination, and was frequently sold at the price of gold.

Decorated with lush bamboo, the ground floor of the museum is in the style of a traditional Chinese courtyard. Visitors are quickly drawn to the porcelain exhibition which is staged on one side of the courtyard, through a corridor featuring various designs on plates hanging from the ceiling. The floor space of the exhibition hall is modest but the displays are impressive. The porcelain is classified into different categories including flowers, auspicious wishes, landscapes, towers and pavilions, and novels and dramas.

Since the 16th Century, Chinese porcelain has been one of the most sought-after export products. It was used to make dining utensils, and quickly replaced plain wood and pottery as well as expensive metal products, as must-have items for well-to do European families. In countries such as Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, porcelain gradually became a luxury and a privilege that only royals and nobles could afford. These elites fought to acquire the latest pieces so they could display them at court as symbols of wealth and power.