Welcome to Yuan!

Hello, my name is Chenwei, and I am the creator of Yuan.

I grew up in Chengdu, in the province of Sichuan, China, where tea is part of everyday life, and where my family owned a teahouse.

I spent my childhood between the cups, the kettles and the chatter of the guests, and I have been in love with tea ever since.

Now I bring that teahouse spirit to the UAE: today in our blue container at Alserkal Avenue, soon in our brick-and-mortar teahouse in Abu Dhabi, and online.

So pour yourself a cup: here is my story.

Chenwei in front of the blue Yuan Tea & Dumplings container

From Chengdu to Abu Dhabi and Dubai

I landed in the UAE in the early 2010s and started working at ArtTeas, a brand-new Asian teahouse that had just opened in the Central Market in Abu Dhabi.

That is where I discovered that tea feels at home far beyond China.

I fell for Korean, Japanese, Indian and Ceylon teas, and kept learning more and more about the endless varieties of Chinese tea.

Chenwei opening a small pink gaiwan

Chasing best teas around the world

Over the years I have travelled to tea fairs all over the world, and visited tea farmers and producers in their own gardens.

I have walked through tea plantations and sipped tea in teahouses in Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia, and all across China: Yunnan, Sichuan, Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang, to name a few.

The photos on this website come from these trips.

Curved rows of tea bushes on a Yunnan hillside
Yunnan, China
Baskets of freshly picked tea leaves
Freshly picked leaves, Sichuan, China
A stone path through tea gardens in the Wuyi Mountains
The Wuyi Mountains, Fujian, China
Neat rows of Longjing tea bushes
Longjing gardens, Zhejiang, China

Good tea deserves good teaware

In China, good tea and beautiful teaware always go together.

Along the way I have made friends with several makers of fine porcelain and pottery.

I can’t wait to share their work, and my passion for tea, with you, here in the UAE and around the world.

A white porcelain gaiwan with its lid
Porcelain gaiwans painted with ink plants and birds
Three cups of tea on a wooden table
A dark clay teapot and a small cup on a shelf
Gaiwans, cups and a glass pitcher on a bamboo tray
Dry Longjing leaves in a celadon bowl
Chenwei smiling next to a shelf of teaware
Handmade glazed tea bowls in red, turquoise and grey

And then, dumplings!

I love good food, especially the spicy cooking of my home, Sichuan.

But my real love? Dumplings. They are so delicious!

And they go perfectly with tea, in all its varieties and flavours.

That is the whole idea behind Yuan: great tea and homemade dumplings, shared at the same table with friends.

Our dumplings
Our tea
A tray of homemade dumplings in neat rows

Learning never stops

I am a “Certified Tea Sommelier” of the Tea and Herbal Association of Canada.

I also received a certificate on “Contemporary Tea“, and as “⁠Chinese Tea Culture Intangible Inheritor“, from the West Lake Longjing intangible cultural heritage workshop. There, I met so many inspiring tea-heads, and I also learned to shape Longjing leaves by hand in a hot pan. Yes, it is hot!

Come and say hello at our blue container in Alserkal Avenue: I would love to share a cup of tea with you.

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Chenwei with a bamboo basket of tea leaves at a tea pan
Hands tossing fresh Longjing leaves in a hot pan
Shaping the leaves by hand in a hot pan
Group photo of the West Lake Longjing workshop participants in a garden
The workshop group
Participants at desks during a lesson of the Longjing workshop
Lessons at the workshop