Zhesong Pipes (Li Zhesong)

Zhesong Pipes is the handmade pipe workshop that Chinese maker Li Zhesong runs single-handedly in Suzhou, in Jiangsu province. Records give the maker as born in the northern coastal city of Yantai; after completing a master's degree in architecture and urban planning, he worked for about five years as an urban designer at an architectural institution, then left this career in 2012 to move into full-time pipe making.

The workshop's output is counted among the works of the first generation of contemporary pipe makers to sign under their own name in China.

Formation of the Craft

The first source of Li Zhesong's aptitude for the work is described as habits picked up alongside his father, who was a wooden model-pattern maker. His relationship with the pipe itself began with buying and restoring secondhand (estate) pipes; the repair work gradually evolved into production from scratch. Making pipes part-time from around 2010, the maker turned the workshop into his sole occupation about two years later. By his own account, the names that shaped his direction include classic makers such as Sweden's Bo Nordh and Denmark's Jess Chonowitsch; he also notes receiving direct advice from Danish maker Tom Eltang during a visit to a pipe shop in Shanghai. Within China, the guidance of workshops around Leizhou and of master Li Bing is cited.