You may be wondering what the name Zhulia means.  The 'Zhu', which is pronounced as a 'Ju' sound (as in my name, Julia), means pearl in Mandarin Chinese. When the 'zhu' as in 'Pearl', and 'lia' as in 'Julia' are combined, you have Zhulia!

 To begin, I fell in love with China and the Chinese language when I was a little girl.  Living in Upstate New York, my parents often entertained Chinese speaking colleagues at our home.  I would learn simple phrases from them, and found it fascinating.  What an interesting language, I thought.  Each word spoken sounds like a song - and each word has it's own picture or character.

A year after finishing high school,  I decided to study Mandarin Chinese in Asia.  I began by living and going to school in Hong Kong. Later, after two years in Hong Kong, and after studying Chinese language and culture in the U.S., I then moved to Shanghai and graduated from University there with a major in Asian studies and a minor in Mandarin language.

After I graduated, I decided to stay and work in Shanghai.  A couple years after working in Shanghai, I ended up moving back to the U.S. to ponder other ways I could work with China and use my Chinese.  During my transition in the U.S., I began to be drawn to Pearls. Culturing Freshwater pearls began in China, and is prevalent in and around Shanghai.  Through my travels back and forth to China, I became more and more interested in designing jewelry with pearls. 

I had previously  thought of pearls as a luxury item -  similar to diamonds or other precious stones, often worn in a single, simple strand.  I then began to see pearls in a whole different light.  Not only were they unique, since they are from living creatures, but they also had a versatility I had never noticed.  One could make and wear pearls in so many creative ways:  in a multi-strand necklace,  as an addition to a already beautiful crystal or gold necklace, or as a single  enhancer . So many ways to wear what once I considered the 'conservative' pearl!

As my interest in pearls grew, so did my questions.  Where did pearls come from?  After much study, I was astonished to discover  that a living thing, a mollusk (Freshwater Pearls are grown in mussels, and Saltwater Pearls are grown in oysters), creates pearls when it finds an intruding piece inside of its shell.  It then begins to cover this 'intruder' with layers of nacre (nay-kruh).  In essence, the mollusk creates pearls by protecting itself from intruders - making it an organic gem unique from any other pearl!

 Combining creativity,  a love for China, and a real appreciation for these amazing 'living' gems,  I am able to bring you sophisticated - yet stylish, simple - yet elegant,  unique - yet timeless pieces that can be treasured for many lifetimes.

And now I invite my old friends and my new, to visit Zhulia ...  The place where the wonder of nature meets the uniqueness of personal style.