Theme
Makers and Studios
A demonstration lasts twenty minutes and teaches you nothing. A day at the bench teaches you how long the real thing takes, which is the only fact about making that actually transfers.
There is a moment in every one of these days, usually around the third hour, when the thing stops being charming and becomes difficult. That is the moment worth paying for.
Enamel in Beijing, clay in Xi’an, silk and indigo in Hangzhou, brocade in Zhangjiajie. Different materials, same shape of day: one maker, one bench, and enough hours to feel the gap between watching and doing.
5 days
-
A Private Day in Beijing's Hutong
Beijing · One day, roughly 08:00 to 20:00
Morning park life, a studio session with a maker, lunch cooked in a courtyard home, and the lanes at the pace people actually live them.
-
Modern Shanghai by Architecture
Shanghai · One day, roughly 10:00 to 19:00
A private day reading Shanghai as built form — the Bund's stone banks, a tea room high above the river, and the districts being drawn now.
-
Private Forbidden City Morning
Beijing · Half day, roughly 07:30 to 14:00
The Forbidden City at opening with a specialist, read as architecture and court routine rather than a list of halls — then lunch and the view from above.
-
Silk Studio and Dye Workshop in Hangzhou
Hangzhou · One day, roughly 09:30 to 18:00
A private day with silk — from cocoon to loom at the national collection, then dyeing and binding your own cloth in a working studio.
-
Terracotta Warrior Clay Workshop in Xi'an
Xi'an · One day, roughly 08:30 to 20:00
The excavation with a specialist, then a studio session shaping and firing your own figure with the artisans who supply the site.
Questions
Do I need any experience to join a studio day?
No. Every session starts from zero and the makers are used to beginners. What varies is what you attempt, not whether you are allowed in.
Will I have something to take home?
Yes, in every case. Fired pieces are posted on once they have cooled; textiles usually come with you the same day.
Are these real working studios?
They are. The people teaching you sell their work and will be back at it the next morning. That is what makes the day worth having.
How long is a studio session?
Between three and five hours, broken by a meal. Long enough to get past the first clumsy hour, which is where the interesting part starts.