Authentic Chinese cultural experiences and themed collections for organizations that host events — anywhere in the world.
Yaji — the 1,700-year-old Chinese salon
Most gatherings end, and all you feel is tired. Yaji is different. Ya means the refined setting. Ji means coming together. For seventeen hundred years, this is how the Chinese have gathered — an unbroken tradition that began in 353 AD at the Orchid Pavilion in Shaoxing, where cups of wine were set drifting down a winding stream. The poems written that day were gathered into a single collection, and the preface Wang Xizhi wrote for it — the Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid Pavilion — has been treasured ever since.
The recipe hasn't changed: a beautiful setting, a few carefully chosen objects, and one thing everyone is happy to sit around and finish slowly.
Nothing to perform. No small talk to hunt for. Your hands are busy, your company is warm, and your phone lies quietly in your bag.
When it's over, you walk out with one more thing in your hands — and a little less on your mind.
Our advantage
- In foreign trade, we know event planning best; in event planning, we know Chinese culture best.
- Based in Zhejiang, China — the country's densest craft region.
- Sourced at the workshop, not from a reseller's catalogue.
- Sampling is arranged per project and confirmed in writing.
- Followed from start to finish: from your first email to the last carton.
Yaji Gatherings · Six Ways to Host
What your guests actually do. Each runs one and a half to five hours, from a single long table to a whole garden.
Decor Styles · Four Settings
What the room looks like. Colour, material, light and flowers decide which season — and which dynasty — your event belongs to.
Ten themes, freely combined — every gathering can be dressed in any of the four styles.
Or go fully bespoke — tell us what you have in mind. Talk through a combination
On requestThe full programme, the material list and the timeline are shared after a short call.
The hands-on part, packed and shipped
Materials, tools and step-by-step instructions for the activity at the centre of the gathering — sized to your guest count, and built for people with no experience at all.
A Chinese evening that travels.
Artardor is a small studio in China that designs Chinese cultural gatherings — the setting, the objects, and the one thing guests make with their own hands — and ships them to venues anywhere in the world.
What we believe
The way Chinese gatherings actually work — a beautiful room, a few good objects, and something everyone is happy to sit around and finish slowly — is worth more than a paper lantern and a dragon cut-out. It has simply never travelled well.
What we do
We design the programme, name every object on the list, and assemble it into one package: themed settings, craft packs, and step-by-step material written for hosts who have never run a Chinese event before.
How we work
One end of the studio sits inside China's craft regions, close to the makers. The other sits in Europe, close to the venues. Both ends run on the same brief — and goods ship straight from the workshop to your door.
Process
Common questions
Still unsure about something? Ask us directly — we reply to every enquiry within one business day.
Ask us anythingContact Us
Tell us the occasion, the date, the guest count and the venue — we take it from there.