The Great Wall in Fall, China

Autumn is really here and, to misquote Shelley, if autumn comes, can winter be far behind? Well, no, not really. Here in Uppsala, we’ve already had a few sub-zero nights and the first, rather anaemic, snowfalls. Sweden’s trees, at least the deciduous ones, are doing their usual fine job of painting the landscape in autumnal shades of yellow, orange and red as they slowly shed their summer cloaks. Meanwhile, well insulated winter wear is becoming the norm amongst the better prepared denizens of our city, although the odd hardy soul can still be seen sporting shorts and T-shirts and pretending it’s still ‘quite warm’ - but they’re in denial of course. Winter will win, what can you do?

Well, you could try sipping a few cups of hot, aromatic Chinese tea of course! To fend off the cold we were at it again in the warmth of Yocha Studio this month, spreading the word about Chinese tea culture with yet another Blind Tea Tasting workshop. These congenial ‘tea fan’ get togethers have become a regular and popular event at Yocha, but there is one problem - as each participant has their own selection of cups and teas, we can only cater for a small group at a time! That means spots at our Chinese tea table are always limited (and workshops always sold out!) Our advice - keep an eye out for announcements about upcoming tea workshops - and book early to avoid disappointment!

Tea Blind Tasting

Teacup Set丨Four Seasons

In other workshop news, we held our first Cloisonné (enamel inlay painting) workshop this month at the (reasonably) warm Yocha Studio premises. And we had a full house with more than a dozen a would-be ‘cloisoneérs’ arriving at 10 o’clock sharp, eager to hone their enameling skills. We began with a presentation on the origins and development of this ancient art given by Yocha founder and closet cloisonné fan, Fang Danrui, aka Zoe. She first explained the origins and history of this ancient enamel inlay technique, followed by a description of its development in China to its golden age during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Then it was down work! Each budding artist was soon using an array of tools to snip, bend, twist and glue. We watched, fascinated, as long strips of thin golden wire were slowly transformed into intricate patterns forming leaves, fruit, Chinese characters and, in some cases, friendly Chinese lions.

After that came the rinsing and preparation of the enamel sand in preparation for the artistic part of the process – colour inlaying. As ever at Yocha studio events, a mix of nationalities and ages took part with participants ranging from ten years old to, well … several multiples of ten. Indonesia, China, Sweden, Ireland, France and Finland were all ably represented in our first cloisonneé cohort and it was heart-warming to see our dream of cultural exchange taking place through a variety of languages and gestures in front of our very eyes.

Rome was not built in a day and neither is a true work of art - let alone within a two-hour workshop. Still, with the basic skills mastered, our new artisans took their masterpieces home for completion – we eagerly look forward to seeing the final results! 

Cloisonné workshop

Speaking of languages, we are planning to run another ‘Taste of Chinese’ workshop later in November. No, this has nothing to do with Chinese food (although Chinese tea and snacks will be served), instead it is an introduction to Chinese language, with a bit of culture thrown in for free! We won’t be teaching you Chinese in two hours of course, but we will learn some popular phrases and discover more about the mother tongue of around 20% of the world’s population. If you’d like to learn more about this fascinating language – along with some cultural insights into Chinese society, then this is the workshop for you! Discover how Chinese characters work; what is the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese? Why can the same word in Chinese have dozens of different meanings; and why might some Chinese people find it easier to write rather than speak to understand one another … coming soon to a Yocha Studio near you (the latter only true if you live in Uppsala, naturally!

Notebook丨Chinese Calligraphy

This month marks a year since we launched our authentic Yocha Studio Asian lunches and our baozi (steamed pork or mushroom bun) set has proven so popular with adventurous Uppsala lunchers that we are now offering this nutritious and delicious option outside traditional lunchtimes, as well as at weekends – as long as stocks last that it is! But wait … there’s more …!

As we mentioned last month, we are expanding our lunch choices to include that tasty Japanese lunch staple, Ramen Noodles, and our plans are now in the final stages. With Yocha’s signature attention to quality, detail and presentation, these Ramen will be worth the wait, we promise! Of course, both meat-based and vegetarian options will be available, so no matter what your dietary preferences, be sure to keep an eye on the Yocha social media channels for more Ramen details.

As always, if you aren’t able to make it to Yocha Studio store in Uppsala, whether for tea, lunch or a workshop, 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 from the autumnal Yocha Team.

Chopsticks丨Walnut Wood