From New Hire to Team Organizer
One Guest, Four Visits, and a Story That Kept Growing
Sometimes, the smallest memories stay with us the longest.
Guest Journey
🥟 First Visit
Company Xiao Long Bao Team Building
✍️ Returned with Family
Chinese Calligraphy Workshop
✍️ Returned with Friends
Chinese Calligraphy Workshop
🥟 Returned as the Organizer
Corporate Dumpling Team Building
Some guest stories begin with a single visit.
This one became a journey.
When Anna first arrived in China from Italy, everything was new—her city, her colleagues, and the culture around her.
One of her coworkers invited her to join a company team-building activity at Yin Studio, where everyone learned how to make Xiao Long Bao together.
At the time, she was simply one of the participants.
It was her first experience making Chinese soup dumplings, and one of her first shared memories in Shanghai.
We didn't know then that it would be the beginning of something much longer.
Where the journey began-Xiaolongbao Making team building
Months later, she returned.
This time, she wasn't with colleagues.
Her family had come to visit Shanghai, and she wanted to share another side of Chinese culture with them.
She chose Chinese calligraphy.
Sharing Chinese culture-Calligraphy with the people she loves.
Not long afterwards, she came back again with friends from Italy.
Every time someone she cared about visited Shanghai, Yin Studio became one of the places she wanted to share.
Each brushstroke tells its own story-calligraphy scrolling
One visit became two.
Two became three.
During one of those visits, she even spent some time with our tiny studio kitten, who was only about a month old then.
Anna with our studio kitten-Luo xiaobai
It's a small memory, but somehow it has stayed with us.
The story came full circle recently.
When it was finally her turn to organize a company team-building event, she already knew where she wanted to bring her team.
She chose dumpling making once again.
This time, she wasn't the participant—she was the organizer of team building(boiled dumpling making)
Only this time, she wasn't the newest employee following everyone else.
She was the organizer.
Team building organized by Anna
Watching that change felt surprisingly meaningful.
Some guests return with friends.
Some return with family.
And sometimes, they return with an entire team.
For us, there is no greater compliment than knowing someone trusts us enough to share YIN Studio with the people who matter most to them.
Culture Note
For many international professionals living in Shanghai, company team-building activities are often their first introduction to Chinese culture.
Cooking together, practicing calligraphy, or sharing tea naturally brings people closer—not because anyone is trying to be perfect, but because creating something together starts conversations.
At Yin Studio, we've welcomed everything from small private gatherings to larger corporate events.
To make every experience feel comfortable, we work with different venue options depending on the group size:
• YIN Studio – up to 10 guests
• Medium Venue – 9–25 guests
• Large Venue – 20–60 guests
Whether you're a family of four or a team of sixty, we believe every cultural experience should feel personal.
Did You Know?
Many expats living in Shanghai experience their very first Chinese cooking class through a company team-building activity.
For some, that first visit becomes the beginning of many more.
Beginner Chinese
团建 (Tuánjiàn)
Team Building
If you work in China, this is one of the first workplace words you'll probably learn.
"团建" simply means a company activity designed to help colleagues spend time together outside the office.
Today, cooking classes and traditional cultural workshops have become some of the most popular choices.
