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IAK Villages – A Global Network of Cultural Lineages
Read widely, travel far, and make friends wherever you go.

IAK Worldmap

IAK North America

  • Los Angeles

  • San Francisco

  • New York

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IAK South America

IAK China

  • Beijing

  • Shanghai

  • Nanjing

  • Chengdu

  • Yangzhou

  • Wudang Shan

  • Zhangzhou

IAK Switzerland

  • Bad Ragaz

  • Health Retreat Center Walensee

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IAK Germany

  • Hamburg

  • Munich

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IAK France

  • Lyon

 

IAK UK

  • Oxford

  • Manchester

IAK Australia

 

IAK New Zealand

  • Auckland

IAK India

  • New Delhi

IAK Nepal

  • Kathmandu

The story of IAK Villages began at the International Cultural Salon in Shanghai in 2002, where people from different nations gathered over tea and music to exchange wisdom and share life experiences. From that moment, this spirit of intercultural friendship and shared philosophy spread across the globe, becoming today’s network of IAK Villages.

IAK Culture Villages Switzerland

The spirit of IAK is not to memorize philosophy, but to live it.

At IAK Village, ancient wisdom is not confined to books or classrooms. It is experienced through everyday life.

Here, we rediscover our relationship with ourselves, with others, and with nature—because wisdom becomes meaningful only when it is lived.

Rheintal Cottage · Ruiya Qintang

A Living Space for the Four Arts and Classical Learning

Nestled in Bad Ragaz, in the Rhine Valley of eastern Switzerland, Rheintal Cottage · Ruiya Qintang is IAK's cultural home in Switzerland and the place where many of its research projects, publications, educational initiatives, and cultural exchanges take shape.

Rather than a traditional campus or a museum, it is a living study where reading, the arts, nature, and everyday life come together. Here, the Guqin, tea, classical texts, the garden, and the changing seasons create a quiet environment for learning, allowing culture to become part of daily life.

Every academy begins with a room for learning. Every culture continues through a place we call home.

Ruiya Qintang

The name Ruiya combines two Chinese characters: Rui (瑞), symbolising auspiciousness while also alluding to Switzerland, and Ya (雅), representing the refined spirit of Chinese literati culture, where self-cultivation, friendship, and the aesthetics of everyday life are closely intertwined.

Qintang follows the tradition of the Chinese literati studio—a place for learning, gathering, playing the Guqin, and cultivating the arts. More than a space for Guqin, it is a cultural setting where the Four Arts, classical learning, and artistic practice come together.

Centered on the Four Arts—Guqin, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting—Ruiya Qintang encourages aesthetic appreciation, humanistic cultivation, and creativity through artistic practice. It is both a place for learning and a place for reading the classics, exchanging ideas, and experiencing the refined traditions of literati life, allowing traditional arts to flourish naturally in contemporary life.

A true academy extends beyond the classroom, and the true transmission of culture begins in everyday life.

Monthly Yaji (Tea Gathering)

Tea, Guqin, classical reading, and thoughtful conversation come together in our monthly Yaji. Rooted in the Chinese literati tradition, these gatherings celebrate friendship, learning, and the quiet joy of sharing culture in everyday life.

Last Sunday of each month

🔹 Open to all members
🔹 RSVP required (limited places)

IAK Culture Villages global Network

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