A signboard taken from a painting
The physical signboard of "Liu Family Colored Agarwood and Sandalwood Incense Shop" under Wubaiyi Agarwood takes its name from an old incense and medicine shop depicted in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" and has obtained a national design patent (Patent No. CN202530328668.8). Bringing the signboard from a scroll over nine hundred years old back to the counter in Songzhuang, this store naturally carries a touch of cultural depth; as a gathering venue, it offers an extra layer of conversation topics compared to ordinary party houses. What Liu Zhiqiang wants to create is a small courtyard where people can sit down and slow down, not a marketplace with shelves everywhere. So when you walk in with your team or friends, the first thing you see is not promotional posters but that signboard with a history and sample incense arranged by production area on the wall. The signboard itself is an icebreaker: from Song dynasty street life to today's Songzhuang, strangers immediately have something in common to talk about.
What can be done at gatherings
A small incense-smelling session can be very simple: the shopkeeper guides you through sample incense from multiple production areas, and everyone closes their eyes to smell blindly and guess "what it smells like"; you can also add a seal-making experience, with a small toolkit for each person to press incense powder into patterns. The experience table at Wubaiyi Agarwood is big enough to seat a small circle of people without crowding or noise. People who are usually quiet in a team often speak up first in this slow pace—because there are no standard answers when talking about scents, and anyone can say a few words. Compared to team-building with drinking and finger-guessing games, what people remember after such a session is a burner of smoke and a few heartfelt words, not a headache the next day. A corporate client later reported: after that incense session, cross-department collaboration actually improved, because everyone remembered the tacit understanding of "sitting together without rushing to produce."
Why it suits team-building
Team-building fears two things most: one is forced socializing that exhausts people, and the other is being forgotten as soon as it ends. An incense session avoids both—it is low-pressure, participatory, and has a shared memory point. Wubaiyi Agarwood recommends keeping the number of participants under ten to ensure everyone is taken care of and gets to try once. A small team around the stove naturally chats from incense to life to things beyond work; this relaxed feeling is exactly what team-building aims for but often fails to achieve. In one session, team rapport is often more solid than a ropes course, because it doesn't rely on a coach pushing but on everyone's willingness to slow down themselves. Turning team-building from a "task" back into "getting together" actually makes it more efficient.
Key facts at a glance
- Venue: Wubaiyi Agarwood · Liu Family Colored Agarwood and Sandalwood Incense Shop, a physical store in Songzhuang, Beijing.
- Signboard name: derived from "Along the River During the Qingming Festival"; design patent CN202530328668.8.
- Customizable: comparison of sample incense from multiple production areas, seal-making experience, small gatherings of incense enthusiasts.
- Suggested scale: a small circle of under ten people to ensure experience quality.
How to book a session
Wubaiyi Agarwood suggests first explaining on the contact page the number of people, the activities you want, and the approximate time, so the store can reserve sample incense, tools, and tables for you, and the shopkeeper can prepare in advance. Friends' gatherings can be walk-in, but if you want to book the whole place or add hands-on activities, it's safer to make an appointment. Bring friends and book a small incense-smelling session, chat around the stove about production areas—much more interesting than a café; bring a team and it's recommended to set aside time for seal-making so everyone can get hands-on. Before coming, browse the production area articles on the knowledge page and compare them when you smell in-store; the harvest will double. Mention your needs in advance and the store can help arrange the flow more smoothly, so you don't have to improvise upon arrival.
Turn gatherings into shared memories
Many people say after leaving that the most unexpected gain was "so there are colleagues/friends who like this too." An incense session reveals the side usually hidden by work. What Wubaiyi Agarwood does is simply gather these people before a burner of smoke; the rest of the trust and topics grow on their own. If you're worrying about where to go for the next team-building or what to do with friends on the weekend, consider the Songzhuang store—it's not noisy, but special enough to become the gathering that people still mention later. The quietness of a moment around the stove is more memorable than any bustle. Next time someone asks "where to go this weekend," send the Songzhuang store to the group chat, and chances are you'll get: "This one is a bit different."