Woven in the villages of the Lancang valley
In the dry season of 2024, Michael Zhan followed the Lancang River into the folds of the Hengduan mountains, visiting small-scale weaving cooperatives that supply the pu’er trade. His brief was to find a softer, more forgiving alternative to the linen wrap-set — a cloth that could be folded and refolded daily, yet still breathe. The search led him to a family workshop in Jingmai, where cotton has been hand-loomed for generations using ‘Xianshuang’ long-staple cotton grown organically on terraced hillsides. The weavers spin the yarn by hand, then work on traditional wooden looms, producing a fabric that is lighter and smoother than linen but just as durable.
Michael selected a natural unbleached finish, the cloth pre-washed in spring water to remove any residual starch and give it a broken-in feel right out of the package. Each 35 cm square is cut and hemmed by hand, with a simple double-fold edge that won’t fray. The set of six allows you to wrap a whole tong of cakes, or rotate cloths as they air out between uses. It’s a quiet piece of tea-keeping — respectful of the tradition of wrapping cakes in breathable fabric, yet entirely modern in its utility. The cooperative also benefits: the project provides steady work for sixteen women during the agricultural off‑season, a detail that Michael insists should be part of the story of every cloth sold.