meet the maker
Liu Luolin
Liu Luolin, an officially recognized representative inheritor of porcelain-body bamboo weaving. Her practice is grounded in close observation, material understanding, and the judgment developed through years of making.
In 2014, Liu began her formal study of traditional craft under Yang Li’erqian, a national-level lacquer-art master. In 2019, she began systematic training in bamboo weaving under Yang Longmei, a provincial-level representative inheritor of the craft.
Having lost her hearing at the age of one, Liu developed a deeply visual and tactile approach to learning. Rather than relying primarily on spoken explanation, she studied the position of the hands, the sequence of each movement, the direction of the bamboo, and the subtle changes in tension that allowed a woven surface to follow and hold its form.
Her training in lacquer art sharpened her sensitivity to surface, layering, rhythm, and finish. Bamboo weaving deepened her understanding of structure, tension, direction, and the way a natural material responds to the form beneath it.
Over time, these two disciplines shaped an approach of her own—one that brings sensitivity to surface and finish into the structure of bamboo weaving, and applies that understanding to tea ware, drinking vessels, and other contemporary forms.
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Teaching Through Making
Invited back to the school she once attended, Liu guides students through bamboo weaving, demonstrating each step and working alongside them.
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A Practice Shared
Liu communicates her experience through sign language, extending the practice beyond the workbench.
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Across Cultures
Liu and members of the studio shared bamboo weaving with international visitors at Chengdu’s World Games Village Cultural Bazaar.
THE STUDIO
A Studio Built on Craft
Founded by Liu Luolin in March 2024, Hualin Banghu Culture and Art Studio is a working bamboo-weaving studio dedicated to making, teaching, and the continued practice of the craft.
Today, the studio brings together more than 20 members. Its work is organized around the full bamboo-weaving process, from material preparation and woven structure to shaping, edge finishing, and final inspection.
Under Liu’s craft direction, the team works with a shared understanding of material, structure, and finish. Careful preparation, controlled tension, consistent weaving, clean transitions, and considered edges are treated as essential parts of a finished object. Natural variation remains visible, while details that affect structure, touch, or the intended standard are carefully addressed.
Alongside its making practice, the studio carries bamboo-weaving knowledge forward through continued teaching and shared work. It also explores new forms and applications while remaining attentive to the material logic and discipline of the craft.
This combination of practiced knowledge, clear working standards, and close attention to finish forms the foundation of the studio’s work.
WITH THE YUNXI
A Working Collaboration
For THE YUNXI’s Bamboo over Porcelain series, Liu Luolin works directly on the bamboo weaving alongside her studio team. She also contributes to product development, craft direction, and the cultural interpretation of the work.
THE YUNXI defines the product intention—how the object enters daily use, its overall form and proportions, and the relationship it should create between porcelain and bamboo. Liu and Hualin Banghu Culture and Art Studio bring the specialist knowledge required to realize that intention through the craft.
Their understanding of bamboo preparation, woven structure, tension, coverage, transitions, edges, and finish helps determine how the weave can follow the porcelain form while remaining coherent in structure and comfortable in the hand.
Development moves between design and material. Decisions about form and use are considered alongside the behavior of bamboo, while Liu’s practical judgment helps refine the weave, surface rhythm, and standard of finish. Her cultural knowledge also helps ensure that the craft is presented with accuracy and respect for its context.
The collaboration brings together THE YUNXI’s vision for contemporary daily objects with the studio’s practiced knowledge of bamboo weaving. Through this exchange, design and craft are developed as parts of the same finished form.
BAMBOO OVER PORCELAIN
Made for Daily Life
The Bamboo over Porcelain Daily Cup brings this collaboration into an object made for coffee, tea, and everyday use.
Porcelain forms the vessel, interior, and drinking rim, providing a smooth surface where the cup meets the drink and the lips. Around the selected exterior, handwoven bamboo introduces warmth, texture, and a distinct point of contact with the hand.
The woven bamboo also creates a thermal buffer over the covered area, helping make hot drinks more comfortable to hold. Its grain, tone, and handwoven rhythm remain visible, giving each cup subtle variations of its own.
These differences are part of the material and the making process, while the structure, fit, edges, and finish are held to a shared working standard.
The result is a cup in which craft is not only seen, but experienced through use—each time it is held, filled, and returned to throughout the day.