I soon found I was pregnant after the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020
We were under great pressure to pay the rent in the city
So we closed our store in the hutong and moved to the suburb outside the sixth ring road in Beijing
We went to the same college and both majored in craft art
Work was a major part of our life when we were living in the city
Now we live next to a village
And Chaobai River is on the opposite side of the road
My daughter really likes listening to the birds singing at the riverside
And she can watch ants moving for ever
Our home looks like an American-style two-story house from the outside
But if you walk in, you will find no traces of American style interior at all
At the entrance there’s a big urn made in the Zibo kiln from the Yuan dynasty
And it was mended with cramps in the Qing dynasty
The tiger-patterned cloth on the wall is a bag wrapper made in the Qing dynasty
We hanged it there at the Spring Festival because this year is the Year of Tiger
My husband has collected all the objects one by one
We focus on the objects from the Li dynasty
The Chaoxian ethnic style is natural and relaxing
We’ve also collected some European objects
We like the combination of western and eastern elements
I use both old and new objects on the table
If the container looks attractive, the food in it will become alluring immediately
I like using the lacquer bowls made by Akito Akagi to have rice or drink soup
Because they’re light and have good thermal insulation
It feels like the food is much cared by the bowl
The tea room is a space for me to stay alone
I hadn’t found a silver teapot that I really liked
Until my husband asked an old master to make one for me
It has a traditional shape and I like it very much
If an old object looks modern and nouveau
It can walk into our life more easily
My daughter likes playing in the outside
So my husband built a glass room in the backyard
We open all the windows in summer and the room is well-ventilated
My daughter can stay there for a long time
She reads picture books and observes trees
Most of the space in the basement is occupied by various objects
And a really important corner there is our workbench for lacquer ware
Actually for the first years after our graduation
We were determined to be lacquer artists
But later we found the money we earned through making lacquer ware was not enough
To realize our dream in Beijing
I and my husband loved travelling when we were at college and we collected lots of objects
You would see thousands of objects when you go to a fair
But you can only found one or two that you like
Collecting is as satisfying as creating
We opened the antique store in 2013
The objects we sold might be old and broken in other people’s eyes, but they were beautiful to us
We closed the store in the hutong soon after the COVID-19 outbreak
And we renovated the garage into a store
My husband told me lots of bug shots started from a garage
“Kodougu” originated in Japan
A dozen years ago
Japanese young people started to run antique stores
And hold exhibitions to sold old objects
Unlike traditional antique selling, they tended to choose according to their own preference
It is more about expressing themselves
Although the objects are from different countries and ages
You don’t feel strange to see them put together
If I had the chance to meet the creators of the objects
We would definitely become good friends
Many collected objects are broken
They need to be mended with lacquer or cramps
Or I just leave them like that
It has a unique beauty
We have lived here for around 3 years
I want our home to be natural and vibrant
I don’t like to be guided by existing values and trends
If I’m surrounded by the objects that I have collected with my heart
I will always feel relaxed
And I will never be tired