Four Chinese handmade traditions, gently introduced.

Sewn from silk or cotton and filled with dried botanical materials and fragrant herbs, xiangbao are carried as seasonal charms at Duanwu, given as small gifts between friends, and tucked into a child's clothing as a keepsake of care.

Each sachet is embroidered before it is closed, so the blessing is sewn inside with the scent. At Yuan-Yi Art, sachets are stitched entirely by hand, following patterns remembered from village elders.

For generations, mothers and grandmothers across rural China have sewn embroidered shoes for young children — the most beloved being the tiger-head shoe, whose fierce-but-kind face watches over the wearer from the toe.

Fish, chicks, and blooming flowers appear too, each motif carrying its own quiet wish. The shoes are made slowly in stages: the cotton sole layered and stitched, the embroidery completed before assembly, the whole finished with a touch of red for good fortune. They are objects of love before anything else.