Return to Roots | Part 1: Sound

Return to Roots · 归根, Part 1: Sound

Live guzheng and a guided gongfu tea ceremony

Sunday, Nov 15 · 4 to 6 PM

When did you last sit still long enough to hear a whole song? Be honest.

For 2 hours, Sean plays the guzheng live, close enough to touch (please don't), while Elaine and Natalie brew gongfu tea in front of you. Small cups, short steeps, so the tea changes pour by pour as the music does.

Never heard a guzheng? It's a Chinese zither, played for more than 2,000 years. Strings run over small movable bridges; one hand plucks, the other presses, and the notes bend like someone singing.

The gongfu tea ceremony will include a guided meditation portion that facilitates our grounding and return to roots. The afternoon moves in 5 parts: Arrival, Presence, Receiving, Resonance and Return. 2 hours, no notifications.

Return to Roots is a 3-part series honoring tradition through a modern lens, built on the practices our parents and grandparents knew, and made to share across generations. Sound is first. Space and Body follow in December.

落叶归根: falling leaves return to their roots.

Bu Tea Den sits behind an unassuming entrance in DTLA: red lanterns, lounge seats, and fortune machines built from repurposed ATMs. A place to sip, linger and connect.

Good to know

• A small room. Lounge seats and floor space a few feet from the strings.

• Nothing to bring. Come a few minutes early to settle in.

• Address comes with your ticket. Side door by the loading dock.

• $35 early bird (first 10 seats) · $40 general · No refunds

Who's playing and pouring

Sean Wang plays and teaches guzheng. He trained at Xinghai Conservatory of Music under Na Fu and Professor Li Wu, and played first chair guzheng in the conservatory's Chinese Orchestra. He then held first chair for the music drama Nie Xiaoqian on a 32-city tour of China.

His awards include the Special Gold Prize at the Star of Tomorrow Hong Kong International Youth Culture & Arts Festival. He's played a recital for the Pacific Asia Museum's "Treasure Voyages of the Ming Dynasty," and he teaches students of all ages, from first-timers to future concert players.

Elaine Chan of CommuniTea hosts tea circles across LA. In her words:

"My journey is one of coming home to myself, moving from Becoming to Being. Along the way, I’ve found myself reconnecting with my roots, my Chinese heritage, and the traditions, rituals, and ancestral wisdom that have shaped my lineage. It has become a journey of exploring what it means to be Chinese and Chinese American, and finding a deeper sense of belonging through understanding where I come from.

Walking a spiritual path, I seek to bridge ancient Chinese traditions with my own spiritual practice, weaving together gongfu tea ceremony, meditation, and mindfulness. Through these practices, I create and facilitate spaces for presence, connection, and remembrance. I invite others to slow down, reconnect with themselves, and find their own way home."

Natalie Tran co-founded Bu Tea Den with Sev and leads its tea program. Most nights she pours from a simplified gongfu teapot built for gatherings. For Return to Roots, she's slowing down and brewing the traditional way, next to Elaine.

For her, this series is a way to feel closer to her Asian heritage and to the Asian community here in LA. Many of these traditions live on only when people share them, at a table, over tea. This gives her another reason to sit down and be in community, and she'd love for you to join her.