New Book Arrived

The Art of Heikala: Works and Thoughts is the first major publication by popular Finnish illustrator Heikala.

"My inspirations come from the beautiful nature of my home country, Finland, but I am also hugely inspired by Japanese animation and my travels to Japan, which I try to reflect in my artwork."

"There will be step-by-step tutorials on watercolor painting and product design, and information on how I have been able to build a successful career as an artist."

Grain Rain (谷雨),

The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Grain Rain (Chinese: 谷雨), as the last term in spring.

Starting on April 20 and ending May 5.Grain Rain originates from the old saying, "Rain brings up the growth of hundreds of grains," which shows that this period of rainfall is extremely important for the growth of crops. The Grain Rain signals the end of cold weather and a rapid rise in temperature.

Drinking tea:  There is an old custom in southern China that people drink tea on the day of Grain Rain. Spring tea during Grain Rain is rich in vitamins and amino acids, which can help to remove heat from the body and is good for the eyes. It is also said that drinking tea on this day would prevent bad luck.

Nixing pottery

Long Shaorong, vice-general manager with Qinzhou Nixing Pottery Arts Co Ltd, one of the top four potteries in China, which originates from Tang Dynasty.
Visitors can look around at pottery workshops and talk with workers to know how Nixing pottery is made, learn the pottery's history at an art museum, make a pottery themselves at DIY experience room, and buy pottery products at a shopping hall.

Bidder Beware

Auction house Christie's shows a pair of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) porcelain bowls created during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng (1678-1735), at a media preview; April 11, 2019. 
The Christie's Hong Kong Spring Auctions 2019 will be held in Hong Kong from May 24 to 29. Those to go under the hammer include several treasured porcelain and handcraft works from ancient China, each estimated at more than HK$10 million ($1.2 million).

Xu Shan ... a young Potter from Qing Dao

Xu Shan, from Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, is a porcelain crafts-woman. 
After graduation from the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, China's only college with a focus on porcelain and ceramics, Xu chose to stay in the city and opened a porcelain workshop. 
Xu's designs have won her awards in many competitions and gained popularity among customers.

White Elephant Tea Mountain

Farmers pick spring tea at Dingxin Tea Garden in the Baixiang Mountain, or White Elephant Mountain, in Ba'nan district, Chongqing. 
The mountain has more than 8000 mu (533 hectares) of tea plantations.

An old steam train travels through rapeseed fields in Jianwei, Sichuan province.

Woodblock Printing --- China

Yang Luoshu, a 19th-generation member of an artisan family, makes New Year woodblock prints in Shandong province.

Stunning views of Nianhuawan in Wuxi

Nianhuawan, in Lingshan Mountain of Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province.

Young woman finds fortune in tea mixing

A member of the post-1990 generation has found fortune in tea mixing in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province.  Wu Wei, a young woman from Quzhou who is fascinated by tea, decided to give up her stable job and open a Taobao tea shop online in 2016.  She mixes various kinds of tea together or with fruits in different proportion to make tea with a variety of tastes and functions.  

Wu studies each kind of tea and information from the international flower and fruit tea industry each day.  To promote a new product, Wu will test hundreds of recipes. She once tasted 50 cups of tea to ensure the quality of one batch.  Sales from her teashop on Taobao reached 8 million yuan ($1.19 million) in 2018, up from 3 million yuan in 2017, and 2019 is expected to reach 10 million.

  Wu Wei mixes tea with different proportions of tea, flowers and fruit.