The second stop on my olfactory voyage took me to Lijiang, Yunnan, which is characterized by higher altitudes, pure alpine air, and the majestic Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. I left behind the soft flora of Dali.
“Extracting Yunnan’s Authenticity” is the result of eight years of grounded craft.
PGRACE’s unwavering dedication to regional authenticity is what makes them unique. Based on the idea of “extracting Yunnan’s true essence and restoring natural scents,” the company incorporates uncommon botanical raw ingredients from all throughout Yunnan into each perfume. In order to guaranty that customers experience their fragrances in unaltered, physically grounded settings, they have purposefully concentrated on immersive offline experiences rather than growing into e-commerce, even though they run over thirty physical storefronts. They have received international recognition for their commitment to workmanship and esthetic rigor, including the MUSE Design Award and the French iF Design Award.
Conversation with Alpine Botanicals
We investigated how Lijiang’s unique ecological character could be transferred into emotive olfactory anchors in collaboration with the PGRACE creative team:
Alpine Cedar & Cold Fir: High-altitude coniferous smells quickly bring an open, grounding stillness into private places, in contrast to the heavy, dense woody notes of lower elevations. They carry a crisp, crystalline chill reminiscent of melting snow.
Resilient Highland Herbs: The local plants here provide strong, mildly bitter herbal scents that conjure raw, unadulterated memories of the ground while being subjected to harsh sunlight and sharp day-to-night temperature swings.
Using Physical Objects to Ground Memory
Our cooperative discussion connected local extraction knowledge with theoretical olfactory design. This stage increased my research on developing mobile, dual-sensory transitional products for Chinese people living abroad by investigating how rare alpine botanicals can be sustainably kept within permeable physical carriers.
In order to experience the rich, everyday warmth of metropolitan teahouses and busy streetscapes, I will next journey toward Chengdu and Chongqing while carrying the pristine botanical clarity of Lijiang.
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