Ayer Hitam - Ceramic Town of Johor

Ayer Hitam, referred to as 'the town that never sleeps', because of the busy town streets where the traffic is endless here, as people would stop here for a meal on their way to Johor Bahru an Kuala Lumpur. It will only take less than an hour to reach here if you travel by car from Johor Bahru.

There are many activities for visitors to participate in, some of them include horseback riding, fishing, and camping. Visitors can purchase anything ceramic here, as Ayer Hitam is famous for it. One can buy vases, flowerpots, porcelain, jars, photo frames, and ready-made customized souvenirs.




Not only can visitors browse through the quality souvenirs, visitors can also sample some local food. Among the famous food that is sure to satisfy your stomach are prawn crackers, tapioca chips, steamed corn and the must-have 'otak-otak'(steamed coconut-milk based fish cake). The food are freshly made and pre-packed for visitors

Since we are talking about Ayer Hitam I am going to bring you to the AW Pottery another must visit attraction here when you passing by Ayer Hitam either from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur or the other way around.

One thing you guys should know that AW Pottery is an ceramic factory which slowly turn into a famous tourist attraction. Among its famous visitors were the royalty, second Prime Minister the late Tunku Abdul Razak and Singapore’s former premier Lee Kuan Yew.The pictures of visiting dignitaries were framed and hanged on the walls in the mini museum which houses limited and exclusively made pottery pieces.

During its heydays, the showroom-cum-factory received more than 20 buses ferrying local and foreign visitors daily and cars from other states. During long school holidays were the busiest times as many schools in Johor and some from Singapore made their field trips here.

The main attraction at the place is the 48.7m dragon kiln built in the 1950s, the only one in Malaysia and among the few left in South-East Asia. However, since 1980, it has not been put to use and the kiln was blocked from view with stacks of pottery.

Another attraction here is the outdoor toilet decorated with colorful broken ceramic pieces and probably the only one in the country. Perhaps this was the most photographed toilet in Malaysia and it has been featured in several local and foreign publications.

Aw Pottery was founded 52 years ago by Aw Eng Kuang as the place was suitable for pottery-making because of ample reserves of kaolin clay in the area. Apart from marketing its products locally, the Machap factory also exported the pottery to the United States and European countries although the number had been reduced.

Apart from buying the finished products ranging from vases, dinnerware to flower pots, visitors can have a first-hand look at how potteries are made. Visitors can either tour the factory area on their own or can ask Wong or his staff to guide them and explain the production process. Customers can choose to buy flawless or first-grade items with normal pricing or those with minor defects or second-grade items which are cheaper. Big clay flower pots, urns and water containers imported from China are also available here and these are the hot selling items among landscape companies.

The landscaped garden at the entrance of the showroom decorated with aquatic plants and fountains provides ideas to prospective buyers. Aw Pottery is located at No. 13, Kampung Machap and opens from 8am to 5pm daily except on the first three days of Lunar New Year and Hari Raya Aidilfitri.