Pinching & Chinese Tea – Pottery Workshop with Lu Xin

Careful hands, fine clay, fine tea – and a cosy place to enjoy them. 

At Die Gute Stube, you'll spend a day settling in, feeling at home and learning the pinching technique – one of the oldest hand-building methods in ceramics. No wheel, just a single piece of clay, your hands and a little patience. Through touch and pressure, a form slowly develops, and you feel how directly the clay responds to every movement of your fingers.

You'll start with a small tea cup, inspired by traditional Chinese tea ware. It should be light, beautiful and made to be used, but perfection isn't the goal. What counts is the process, not a flawless result. If time allows, you'll take the same technique a step further and shape a small bowl. Along the way you'll discover how pinching changes as the form grows larger.

A cup is only a beginning. Lu Xin brings some of her own larger pieces – bowls, jars and plates – to show where hand-building can lead. For anyone who wants to keep going, larger forms and techniques like coil building are a natural next step.

The Ritual: Chinese Tea

Shaping the cup is only half the experience – what happens in it matters just as much. Chinese tea culture is vast, with countless regional traditions, teas and ways of brewing. Lucy offers a glimpse into this world: a small teapot or gaiwan, plenty of leaves, a little water, and several short infusions. No fixed rules, just attention. You watch the colour change, breathe in the aroma, taste in small sips and notice how the same leaf reveals something new with every infusion. The tea accompanies the day, flowing naturally alongside the work with clay.

That's what this day is all about: discovering Chinese tea culture, enjoying it, trying something new and having a really good time together. Shaping, discovering, tasting, marvelling – the whole day is an invitation to slow down for something you rarely get to experience.

Your Instructor: Lu Xin

Lu Xin is a freelance artist, born in China and now living in Schwarzenberg. Art was part of her life from early childhood. She grew up in an artistic family, and her mother, Zhou Sicong, was one of the great painters of modern China. As a young woman, Lu Xin studied ceramics for four years in Beijing, at what is now the College of Art and Design at Beijing University of Technology. Other paths followed, and for many years clay stayed in the background. About five years ago she returned to it, more deeply than before. Today she works at the Töpferstube in Die Gute Stube Bersbuch, with a clear sense for reduction and for the essential.

Pinching suits this way of working: just fingers and patience, from a single lump of clay to a form that feels right in the hand.

What to Bring
Please wear clothes that can get dirty.
Tip: short fingernails make pinching much easier.

Location
Die Gute Stube
Bersbuch 343, 6866 Bersbuch

The Workshop at a Glance

Module 1: Shaping (Morning)
24 October 2026
9 am – 12 pm, 3 h
Using the pinching technique, you shape your first tea cup entirely by hand, slowly, through touch and pressure. If time allows, a small bowl follows.

Lunch Break
12 pm – 2 pm, 2 h
Vegetarian lunch: boiled potatoes with cheese and a selection of sides and toppings. Over tea, there's time to sit together while your pieces rest and dry for the afternoon. 

Module 2: Refining & Carving (Afternoon, same day)
24 October 2026
From 2 pm, approx. 3–4 h
In the afternoon, you return to your pieces and refine them: shaping the base, smoothing the surface, adding a personal touch. If the clay is ready, you can also try carving. The afternoon stays flexible, and the day may run a little longer.

Module 3: Glazing (Two weeks later, after the bisque firing)
7 November 2026
2 pm – 4:30 pm, 2.5 h
After the first firing, Simone and Lucy guide you through glazing – and the cups gain their final character.

Language
The workshop is held in English; questions in German and Chinese are welcome.

Instructors
Lucy and Simone. Simone from the Gute Stube team accompanies the whole day and leads the glazing session together with Lucy.

Workshop fee

Includes materials, tea, firing service and lunch

Standard price €200
Raiba Club Bregenzerwald members €195*
Students / Pupils / Apprentices €185**
OJB Scholarship €0***

After covering costs, Lucy donates all proceeds from the workshop to Die Gute Stube, supporting the purchase of new pottery wheel equipment.

Gift Voucher
Do you have a voucher you'd like to redeem? Please enter the voucher number in the "Comments" field when registering.

Special Rates and Offers

* The Raiffeisen Club Bregaenzerwald invites you. All members of the Raiba Club Bregenzerwald up to the age of 24 receive the reduced Raiba Club rate. Please bring your Club Card to the workshop. #happyclubmember

** Students, pupils and apprentices receive a reduced rate. Select your group when registering and bring proof of your education or training to the workshop.

*** OJB Scholarship. Offene Jugendarbeit Bregenzerwald enables young people aged 12–18 from the Bregenzerwald region to take part in the ceramics workshop at Die Gute Stube in Bersbuch free of charge. Scholarship places are limited for each workshop. When registering, please add your age and your municipality in the Bregenzerwald in the "Comments" field. We'll then check whether a scholarship place is still available for you. #allesfürdiejugend #ojb 

Registration

Registration takes place via the booking tool Corsizio (see below), where you can book one or more places. Registration covers all three modules and is binding.
Each participant must provide their full name, address, phone number and email address, and select the applicable price category. Once your registration is complete, Corsizio sends a reservation confirmation by email. The total fee is invoiced after the final workshop module.

Registering Multiple Participants
You can easily register several participants. Each registration is completed in a single step using a simple form and triggers a separate confirmation email. After the first registration, a "Weitere Personen registrieren" button appears. Clicking it opens a new, pre-filled registration form that you can adjust as needed. You can repeat this as often as you like.

Cancellation Policy

Due to the short lead time, registrations are binding and cannot be cancelled free of charge. If you're unable to attend, you're welcome to send a replacement participant in your place. Please let us know their name by email to simone@ojb.at. Otherwise, the full workshop fee is due and will be invoiced to the registered participant.