The history of the Middle Kingdom is one of astounding beauty —of grand landscapes, remarkable architecture, and intricate fashion and jewelry. This mighty land in all its beauty and diversity has always been the inspiration behind the Shanghai Tang brand and its mission to bring China to the world.

Mountains are a symbol of deep thought and sophistication. Their shapes are an inspiration for traditional Chinese paintings, as the folds of the rocks and the veils of clouds hold many secrets, to be discovered through exploration.
We can find the same tranquility in the colors, cuts, and silhouettes of Shanghai Tang’s designs, which show subtlety and elegance as virtues of paramount importance.

From the earliest days of the Qing dynasty, pine trees have been planted on the ancient post roads of the Yellow River basin and the Yangtze River valley, keeping soldiers company. They symbolize unbendable loyalty to people and country, but they also stand for an independence of spirit that is at the heart of
innovative design. When creative spirits stand against convention to create something new and inspiring, they are like the pine trees, harnessing pure courage to craft something beautiful that can last endlessly through time.

The rippling rice terraces of rural China create an ethereal linear landscape - structured but with subtle movement, like a sinuous shift of silk as soft as the shapes of the rice paddy fields as they flow along the sculpted slopes.

The Chinese garden serves as a unique place of solace and reflection, expressing the harmony between man and nature. From the extravagant royal gardens in the north to the simple and surrealistic gardens south of the Yangtze River, the geometrical-focused gardens in Guangdong, and the scholar gardens in Sichuan, each is filled with cultural markers that reveal several thousand years of development.

In The Classics of Tea, by Lu Yu, the author exclaims that “It is better to be deprived of food for three days, than to be without tea for one.”
It is this unquenchable thirst for cha dao, or “the way of tea,” that has transformed swaths of China’s fertile hills into cultivated avenues of plump and fragrant tea bushes. The tender touch and patience required to develop different flavors and emotions in the cultivating, brewing, and drinking of tea provided the perfect inspiration in the creation of fabrics and garments that move in harmony with the men and women wearing them.

The Li River captures the essence of Guilin’s otherworldly landscape, of which modern poet Guo Moruo wrote, “The scenery is enchanting like a scroll painting, poetic and aesthetic; the river is like a jade ribbon, transparent and sheer.” A flash of light across the water, the stillness of mist at dawn, and the glow of sunset in the quiet pools have all been inspiration for the delicate fabrics that capture the modern Chinese aesthetic and its connection with the lyricism of the past.

Built more than fifteen hundred years ago, the Hanging Monastery overlooks a calm natural canyon. Its construction was a triumph
of ingenuity and elegance over fear and gravity. Located near Mount Heng in Shanxi Province, the fifty-meter-tall structure has witnessed the rise of Buddhism, Taoism, and the perseverance of Confucius’ disciples in pursuit of intellectual development.
Radiating tenacity, self-trust, and strong will, the temple is an icon of the Chinese spirit.

As feared as it is enticing, the Gobi Desert is a profound test of human fortitude where only the strongest can survive. Ravaged by extreme elements, the plains of the Gobi Desert are sculptural masterpieces that have inspired the Shanghai Tang atelier to craft elegant silhouettes to represent the strength and endurance of the human spirit