The Jinshanghua store in Jinan, created in collaboration between the QI Design team and Dong’e Ejiao, is dedicated to seamlessly blending traditional health-preserving culture with modern spatial design, thus creating a unique space for health-focused tea beverages. Inspired by the millennia-old history and culture of Dong’e Ejiao, the project uses spatial design to facilitate a cultural dialogue that transcends time and space. The store’s design draws inspiration from the aesthetics of the Song Dynasty, incorporating classic elements such as the ground-pattern brocade Tianhua Brocade, intricately carved window and door frames, and traditional Eastern tableware—elements that beautifully showcase artisanal craftsmanship and elegant charm. The overall layout features semi-curtain screens to delineate different areas, ensuring spatial independence while adding a subtle and refined aesthetic. The combination of private seating and an open-plan layout caters to the diverse needs of customers. Meanwhile, Suzhou-style floral window frames seamlessly connect the various zones, creating a delightful experience of ever-changing views with every step taken. The rustic drapery in the ordering area echoes the medicinal prescriptions of traditional Chinese medicine clinics, exuding a rich heritage of time-honored wellness wisdom. Calligraphy and poetry inscribed or hung on the walls and screens reflect the deep cultural and historical legacy. Warm-toned lighting interweaves with red and black accents, symbolizing the harmonious coexistence of yin and yang. Wooden tables and chairs paired with stone ornaments evoke the natural flow of life.

This project offers young consumers a brand-new wellness lifestyle. By combining traditional donkey-gelatin (E Jiao) with modern tea beverages, it breaks the stereotype of E Jiao as being “old-fashioned.” In today’s fast-paced modern life, it creates a serene and tranquil space, allowing users to temporarily escape the hustle and bustle and find inner peace and relaxation. Through designs infused with traditional cultural elements, young people naturally come into contact with and identify with traditional culture during the consumption process, thereby acquiring a “new Chinese” identity label.

This work transforms Song Dynasty aesthetics and wellness philosophies into a space experience with commercial value. By creating differentiated settings through “prescription-based ordering” and “garden-like spatial layouts,” it elevates ordinary beverage consumption into a high-premium cultural experience, effectively boosting the average transaction value for mid-to-high-end customers. With its visually appealing and social-friendly design, the store serves as a powerful touchpoint for brand rejuvenation, breaking away from the stereotypical image of time-honored brands. Through immersive offline experiences, the store feeds back into its private online community operations, driving sales of donkey-gelatin-derived products and establishing a self-contained business loop of “space-driven traffic generation + product monetization.” As a result, the brand has achieved dual growth in both brand equity and revenue.

The project reinterprets the millennia-old art of making Ejiao—traditional donkey-hide gelatin—with Song Dynasty aesthetics through modern spatial design language, thus achieving a “living传承” of traditional culture. Through spatial design, the nationally-recognized intangible cultural heritage technique of Ejiao production has been brought into everyday life, enabling younger generations to rediscover the charm of traditional health-preserving culture. At the same time, this initiative has provided a new growth engine for the traditional Chinese medicine brand Dong’a Ejiao, demonstrating the commercial potential of combining “New Chinese Style” with “health preservation.”

Qi Design Collaborates with Dong'e Ejiao Designed by Zhao Zhifeng, founder of Qi Design. Master space design: Hu MingzhiVisual master design: Hu Yue

The project has successfully bridged the gap between generations by integrating the traditional health supplement “Ejiao” with modern tea-drinking spaces—from conceptual design all the way to commercial and cultural implementation. As a result, young people are now eager to step in, sit down, and enjoy the beverage.