After the co-branding with the Studio Ghibli exhibition, HeyTea has expanded its collaborator roster to include its first magazine partner, the fashion, culture and lifestyle magazine Shang Cheng Shi (上城士). However, in particular for 2024 fashion, this is also a multi-sided collaboration. With HeyTea’s cultural ambassador actor Zhang Wanyi (张晚意), Shang Cheng Shi brought a photo and video shoot to HeyTea’s first-ever tea garden in Guizhou in Southwest China, founded in 2017.
Donned in a new Chinese style suit, as well as traditional Miao attire with silver accessories, Zhang explores both the HeyTea tea garden, as well as a traditional Miao Village (苗寨). On Weibo, the topic “Zhang Wanyi enters a Miao Village for the first time” (#张晚意第一次踏进苗寨#) reached number 25 on the Hot Search list, with a whopping 20 million views within 12 hours. In fact, Guizhou, especially the culture of the Miao people is particularly popular among brands. This is exemplified by the cuisine of the region, with both Haidilao and Oriental Selection hosting events in Guizhou recently.
The tea itself, of course, uses tea leaves from Heytea’s tea gardens across the Southwest. However, the packaging is inspired by another local speciality, the intangible cultural heritage of Miao silversmithing. The tea comes in paper cups with a silver sheen while the bags come with a new logo where the Heytea person wears a Miao-style silver headpiece. Customers who purchase the two-cup set can also get a co-branded Shang Cheng Shi postcard set, with photos of Zhang. A limited porcelain teacup for 39 RMB (5.38 USD) can be added to any purchase from the official WeChat Mini Program.
If the HeyTea x Shang Cheng Shi four-way collaboration between intangible cultural heritage – celebrity – fashion magazine – tea brands seems familiar, you are not mistaken. Indeed, HeyTea’s competitor CHAGEE launched a collaboration for the Chinese New Year in a similar format between the firework dragon of Jieyang, Guangdong, Elle, Gong Jun and the tea brand. However, it also had an added partner, designer Renee, creative director of the new-style chinaware brand Xi Xing Le. It seems that as the tea and coffee competition gets more heated, collaborations are getting more complex, as Luckin also brought a multi-themed collab with the film Havoc in Heaven for the Olympics earlier this month.
