Firm News

Minton's spring team-building trip to Yixing

On 26 April the firm travelled to Yixing in Jiangsu for a two-day team-building trip, visiting the clay museum, the old street and the Dongpo Academy before an afternoon of games at a lakeside resort — a circle game, a hula-hoop relay and a three-way tug of war — and a hot spring in the evening. The next morning the team walked the Nanshan bamboo forest before returning to Shanghai. The trip was meant to build cooperation and give staff a break from their caseloads.

Author: Minton LawyersSource: Minton LawyersPublished: 2025-05-14

In April, when the blossom is fading but the season still lingers, Minton's lawyers set off on a spring trip to Yixing. The trip, under the theme "flowers by the old south street, ink-wash hills at Hantian", combined cultural visits, games and time outdoors, building teamwork away from the office.

The entrance of the resort building, with a red LED banner welcoming the firm's 2025 spring team-building trip

Early on the morning of 26 April the team gathered in high spirits at Gate 3 of Jin Mao Tower, lightly packed and ready for the bamboo forests and the water.

On the three-hour drive the coach was full of talk and laughter, with the new green of the branches outside the window.

A curved brick building with arches and a tiled roof under a blue sky, the clay museum in Yixing

A timber-fronted shop on the old street, with a carved wooden sign above the door and a drinks fridge outside

A stone path leading to the gateway of a traditional courtyard building, framed by trees

The first stop was the Clay Museum, the old south street at Shushan and the Dongpo Academy, which the team explored at leisure over the midday hours.

Walking the stone lanes of a street shaped by a thousand years of pottery, and stopping in the exhibition halls, the lawyers saw the care that traditional craftsmen brought to their work, and found in it something akin to what the law demands: respect for the craft, a pursuit of precision and a sense of responsibility for what is handed on.

Two low buildings with wide eaves on a wooded hillside under a wide sky

In the afternoon the team reached the Hantian resort in Yixing, set among green hills and open water. After checking in, everyone rested and recovered from the journey.

Half an hour later the games began, and the quiet hillside filled with noise.

The group poses with a red team banner in front of bamboo-covered hills

Four team members pose on the grass holding a red Minton flag marked with the team name

Four members pose on the grass holding a red Minton flag, one of them saluting

Four members hold a red Minton flag on the grass in the afternoon sun

Four members hold a red Minton flag while one kneels holding a green hula hoop

The warm-up game, "peach blossoms opening", broke the ice. Everyone joined hands in a large circle and moved to the left to the rhythm of the breeze. When the host called "peach blossoms, peach blossoms, opening in clusters", the circle answered "how many?", the host called a number, and everyone scrambled into groups of that size. Those left over, or in a group of the wrong size, came forward without embarrassment to perform or accept a forfeit drawn by lot, and the lawn rang with laughter and applause.

The teams were then drawn by lot into six groups of four or five, each with its own flag. In the hula-hoop relay, four members of each team stood in a line holding hands while a hoop travelled from one end to the other without releasing their grip. Some teams passed it smoothly, others hit snags and recovered, and the exercise showed how much a team depends on coordination.

Two sides pull a rope in a tug of war on an open lawn as colleagues watch

The three-way tug of war was the highlight. Four members from each of the six teams took part, the teams pairing up by drawing cards. Before the start everyone put on comic masks, and the serious faces of the office turned funny in an instant. At the whistle the three sides pulled together from outside the circle marked on the ground, and the cheering rose like a spring fanfare as each team tried to drag the centre towards its side.

Team members gather in the banquet hall to receive prizes, holding boxed items

After several rounds the Tiger Team won, having shown the strongest coordination and the most persistence throughout.

Afterwards everyone returned to the hotel and soaked in the hot springs, the steam rising into the evening light.

As night fell the team gathered in the hotel's Chinese restaurant for dinner, with local Yixing dishes on the table, and talked over the day's incidents and impressions.

An outdoor hot spring pool edged with stone, with rockery and trees behind

The next morning the team set off for the Nanshan bamboo forest to walk among the hills and the trees.

In the forest the bamboo whispered in the breeze, and the little tourist train ran between the stands of green while a funicular carried the team above the canopy, from where the bamboo stretched away in every direction.

A giant panda sits among rocks eating bamboo at the Nanshan bamboo park

After lunch the team rested and set off back to Shanghai, talking on the way about what the trip had shown them about working together and how it might carry over into their practice.

The trip was both a break and a way of drawing the team closer. Minton Law Firm's lawyers will bring the same energy and cooperation to their work for clients in the year ahead.