Yamdrok Lake, Tibet, China

Apropos of absolutely nothing - how do you pronounce February/februari? Take your pick from the above – it's a short month, so no-one’s likely to notice (so short in fact that we actually forgot all about it, hence this February newsletter coming to you in mid-March!) That said, 2024 is a leap year, which is good news for anyone born on February 29th. Not only do they finally get to celebrate their birthday, they also get US presidential elections and the Olympic Games thrown in for free! The leap year was also good news for Uppsala fans of ramen noodles because it meant they had a whole extra day to enjoy Yocha’s newest offering - our vegan and pork Yocha Ramen – so, hurray for leap years!

This year, as often happens, China’s annual 15-day marathon celebration of the New Year took place in February. Also known as Spring Festival, Chinese New Year, or even CNY, February 10th marked the beginning of the year of the dragon in the Chinese Zodiac calendar - the wood dragon to be more precise. As more than one member of the Yocha team happens to have been born a Dragon, we thought it would be nice to offer a small discount around the Chinese New Year for anyone who could prove their ‘dragonhood’, wooden or otherwise. And as St. Valentine’s Day falls on February 14th, we decided to offer the same discount to anyone buying a Valentine’s Day gift for their significant other. We did ask for proof of eligibility in both cases but weren’t too strict about it - essentially if you looked something like a lovestruck dragon you got your discount. Congrats to all involved.

Chinese New Year in Paris

Now, as readers of this newsletter will be aware, one of our goals at Yocha has always been the spreading of a little cultural awareness. Until now, we've generally approached this by running weekend workshops on various aspects of Asian culture here at Yocha. These have ranged from Kung Fu tea demonstrations and blind tea tasting to Asian cooking, languages and even ink painting and handicrafts. But there is only so much space and time available at Yocha Studio so, over the next few months, we are hoping to bring some of our cultural workshops out to the wider community. Essentially, we would like to run workshops onsite for community groups, business or other organisations around the Uppsala area. In this way we hope to be able to introduce a wider range of people to the wonders of Asian culture, as well as spreading the word about Yocha Studio of course! So, if you are aware of any groups or community organisations in Uppsala that might be interested in learning a little more about some fascinating aspects of Asian culture, please let us know at info@yochastudio.se. Thanks!

Like January, February was a workshopfree zone due to the absence of our workshop queen and CEO, Fang Danrui/Zoe. However, she is now safely back in Uppsala, following a well-deserved few weeks of R&R in China. Not only does she return to the fray with renewed vigour, she also comes bearing gifts in the shape of limited edition teapots and other goodies of interest to tea nerds – come and check them out.  In fact, the first workshop of March has already taken place with four Mahjong fans of varying abilities spending an enjoyable morning (and afternoon actually) exploring the weird and wonderful world of this quintessentially Chinese pastime. And later this month Zoe will be overseeing another of our popular Kung Fu Tea workshops where the mysteries of China’s millennia-long fascination with this wonderful beverage will be explored – and plenty of tea drunk too of course.

Finally, Yocha Studio will be celebrating the second anniversary of the opening of our Tea House and boutique in Kungsängsgatan, Uppsala in March – doesn’t time fly! It’s really been a pleasure and a privilege to share all the ups and downs of this adventure with our many customers and friends so, to mark the occasion, we’re offering special discounts on our wide range of design products from Asia, including some newly arrived items, from the 17th to 24th March – come along and see for yourself!

Teapot and Pitcher丨Stoneware (S)

Short as it was, we understand that you may not have been able to make it to the Yocha Studio store in Uppsala (even for our new delicious new Ramen!!) But remember, you can still check out our website www.yochastudio.com or social media channels for the latest news on all our Asian design products available for purchase online – all with delivery to your door.

Till next month,

Best wishes, and a big happy birthday and congratulations to all those lovers and leapyearlings, from the Yocha Team.

Tray丨Moso Bamboo