'to summer,' a pioneering Eastern art fragrance brand with a new modern Chinese perspective, has moved south to Guangzhou Dongshankou, paying tribute to and inheriting the spirit of Lingnan overseas Chinese, and creating the 'to summer Kui Yuan,' a space where Eastern and Western cultures blend and coexist, bringing new life to the 'old land' of Dongshankou.
As the brand's first store in Guangzhou, to summer's Lingnan residence redefines the concept of 'home,' which is not only a comfortable living space but also a modern aesthetic space.
In 2018, to summer embarked on its journey in Beijing.
Over six years, from the Siheyuan at No. 23 Guozijian Street in Beijing, to the old Western-style house at No. 111 Hunan Road in Shanghai, and then to the former site of the Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House on Chitang Street in Chengdu — to summer has chosen to delve into these old buildings that have long guarded the cities, re-examining and renovating them from a contemporary perspective, allowing Eastern and contemporary living spaces to grow out of the cultural soil of each city.
If the Xiguan houses represent the prosperous and traditional urban life of old Guangzhou, then the Dongshan Western-style buildings, as the starting point of the overseas Chinese's integrated Chinese and Western lifestyle, have gathered the modern living aesthetics of Lingnan overseas Chinese elites.
'to summer' has delved into the essence of the Lingnan region, transforming one of the five major overseas Chinese gardens of Dongshan Western-style buildings, 'Kui Yuan,' into a space that carries a modern lifestyle.
In 1922, the overseas Chinese family of Ma Zhuowen built Kui Yuan in Dongshan, personally planting the courtyard with fan palms — these trees, which originally belonged to the southern soil, were the identity that the overseas Chinese who finally returned to their homeland found and planted here, and 'Kui Yuan' thus became the well-known nickname of this Western-style building.
The fertile red soil of Guangzhou, after being fired by advanced factory technology, was transformed into red bricks, which were used to build the foundation of this courtyard; the elegant Western Ionic capitals grew with local rice ears and vegetable patterns; the floral tiles transported from Italy were covered on the ground in the traditional Chinese paving way, resisting the humidity of Lingnan — more than a hundred years ago, Kui Yuan had already grown a modern appearance.
The Western-style building surrounded by red bricks housed the integrated Chinese and Western overseas Chinese life.
The modernity of Kui Yuan was not only a visual collision of East and West but also a new expression of thinking.
Today, to summer has moved into this ancient garden residence, 'restoring the old as it was,' completely preserving the originally modern appearance of Kui Yuan, and replanting the local and modern root system of fan palms.
It also allows the 'old land to be reborn,' using a new design language to continue the modern spirit buried in the soil of Dongshan, paying tribute to the Lingnan cultural soil, and decomposing the fan leaves, which are deeply meaningful to the Ma Zhuowen family and the old Guangzhou people, into the wall paint, allowing the natural and warm texture of fan palms to cover the store space; and using the traditional Lingnan fan weaving and rattan weaving techniques as important design elements to carry and convey the fragrance.
At the same time, it initiates a new self-service shopping experience with hand-woven shopping baskets.
to summer has continued the flexible and modern room layout of the building itself, creating raw material rooms, archives, and Changwuting, which delve into content spaces.
The raw material room displays Chinese fragrances such as Guilin osmanthus, Jingmai Pu'er, and Sichuan cedar, along with nearly a hundred precious essential oils, tracing the initial intention of creating and blending fragrances from the East.
'to summer' has always focused on using fragrance as a carrier to tell stories that grow from the Eastern soil, sparing no cost and time, and committed to the extraction and research and development of Eastern local plant ingredients.
In 2021, it launched the 'Eastern Spice Return to Source Plan' in Jingmai and achieved a breakthrough in the extraction of Eastern Pu'er tea fragrance, and created the 'High Mountain Alpine Botanics' series of bath and body products.
'to summer Kui Yuan' specially opens the high mountain series hand bath ritual, members can book through the official mini-program, follow the fragrance guide, and start a hand forest bath, deeply inhaling the breath of the high mountains.
Changwuting is a new life aesthetic space constructed by to summer, inspired by the ancient book 'Changwuzhi.'
Guests can experience tea tasting, selecting flower notes, seal carving, customizing letter cases, and wrapping cloth, etc., to reproduce the romantic and poetic life aesthetic of the ancients.
The deep archives carry the historical memory of the overseas Chinese represented by Kui Yuan and also record the 7-year Eastern modern fragrance creation process of to summer.
Standing here, with records and books, one can imagine the modern sound of Dongshan overseas Chinese a hundred years ago and feel the humanistic spirit and urban style of Guangzhou.
Entering 'to summer Kui Yuan,' listen to the dialogue between the past and the present, the East and the West, to summer and Guangzhou city, let a vanished story, a generation's culture and wit, continue at this moment.
Touch the historical memory of the integration of Chinese and Western cultures of Dongshan overseas Chinese, and smell the Eastern modern fragrance journey of to summer.
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