Mindful Tea & Pottery - a special collaboration with Cambridge potter Mingyu Du · 立冬 Start of Winter

Beginning of Winter 立冬 · Mindful Tea & Pottery

A special collaboration with Cambridge potter Mingyu Du

Ely · Sat 7 November · Ely Museum · 10:30am–12:30pm Two hours · 12 places

There is a moment in the Chinese solar calendar called 立冬, the Beginning of Winter. This year it falls on the 7th of November, the very morning we meet. We gather on winter's first morning to welcome it in, with warm hands.

🏺 THE POTTERY · Choosing What Holds You

This gathering is a collaboration with Cambridge potter Mingyu Du, whose work is held at Kettle's Yard.

You'll begin by choosing a handmade piece to be yours for the morning. You turn it in your hands, feel its weight, until one of them feels like yours. That choosing is a practice in itself.

Mingyu will share a little of how each piece came to be. The clay, the glaze, the fire. Knowing how it was made changes the way it sits in your hand.

And if your piece has become yours by the end of the morning, as they tend to, you can take it home at a special gathering rate.

🍵 THREE TEAS · Light to Deep

Then we brew, each of us with a 蓋碗 gaiwan, the lidded bowl Chinese tea has been poured from for centuries. Lid, bowl, saucer, and all the time in the world.

Most people have never held one. You'll learn in minutes, the tilt of the lid, the way it holds the leaves back. Then the loveliest part: we take turns pouring for one another.

Three teas across the morning, moving light to deep:
Ancient-Tree Yunnan Golden Tips 古樹滇紅, honeyed and bright, to arrive
Wuyi Rock Oolong with rose 武夷岩茶, mineral and blooming, for the middle
Aged Pu-erh 普洱, deep and earthy, to ground and close

All three are warming teas, chosen for the season we're stepping into.

There is something about pouring for someone. And something else about being poured for. We'll notice both.

Feel the warmth move through the clay into your hands. That warmth is the heart of the morning. Winter arrives in its own time, and this is how we meet it.

THIS GATHERING IS FOR YOU IF

You'd love to slow down enough to taste your tea.

You're drawn to handmade things, and the people who make them.

You'd like to meet the darker months gently, and begin winter warmly.

You've always been curious how Chinese tea is really brewed, and would love to try a gaiwan for the first time, with someone who grew up with one.

You'd love to meet the person behind the pot, and perhaps bring home a piece with a story, at a rate only this tea room will get.

YOU'LL LEAVE WITH

The know-how to brew with a gaiwan, a small skill for life.

The memory of three teas poured between warm hands. And if a piece has claimed you, the chance to take it home at a special rate.

Your noticing card, and a small tea takeaway to brew at home.

Warm hands, and a gentler way into winter.

PRACTICAL DETAILS

Ely Museum, Market Street, Ely CB7 4LS

Saturday 7 November, 10:30am to 12:30pm

Two hours, 12 places

Your place: £45. Two together (bring a friend): £85 for two.

Everything included: your handmade piece by Mingyu Du for the morning, three seasonal teas brewed together, your noticing card, tea to take home, and Mingyu's pieces available to buy on the day at a special gathering rate.

YOUR FACILITATOR

Pauline grew up in Hong Kong, learning food as medicine from her Po Po. Ginger tea before symptoms appeared, soups for prevention. Now an ICF PCC Body-Oriented Coach (The Somatic School, UK), she weaves East Asian ancestral practices with modern body science, helping women find their way back to themselves, one slow morning at a time. Find out more

KIND WORDS

"I really enjoyed the tea ceremonies and was amazed about how relaxed I felt afterwards." — Denise "

The energy was perfect — calm, warm, and welcoming." — Charlene

"A nurturing calm space to create and relax." — Ruth

何人可 — everyone can.