Chinese yixing teapot in China--Steeped in the art of tea
The cup runneth over for Ewen Bell as he explores the intricacies and ceremonies of the world's favourite drink, from oolong and medicinal leaves to a pot of Iron Buddha
'There's a Chinese legend about getting drunk from drinking too much tea, but I'd need a bigger cup before that happens'
WHERE but Hong Kong can you experience the joys of Mountain Jade, Golden Snow Monkey and Amber Dragon Silver Tip?
They're not tai-chi moves, they're varieties of tea.
Chinese culture and the English language have clashed for more than a century to yield a city of six million tea-drinkers and colourful names for delicate flavours.
The words ``yum cha'' literally mean ``with tea'', which is how everything in Hong Kong is served . . . including the hotel rooms.
Within minutes of checking in to my suite at the Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel, I was presented with a carefully cho-sen grade of loose-leaf tea and a tall ceramic teapot in a picnic basket. I sipped from a very small cup and enjoyed the view of ferries criss-crossing the harbour.
Then I headed over to Hong Kong Island and the Museum of Tea Wares, which features a fine display of ceramics and culture from the Tang, Song and Ming dynasties.
It's also home to the Lock Cha Tea Shop, where visitors can enjoy free classes on the art of tea, often held by the engaging owner, Mr Ip. The subtle differences between blends of green, oolong and black tea become apparent after an hour-long session of tasting and talking.
Tea offers more than just flavour, it offers health. Imbibing the heady brew of medicinal tea offered by Good Spring Company, at the corner of Stanley and Cochrane streets on Hong Kong Island, has been a popular ritual for residents since 1939.
One urn is filled with a regular chrysanthemum tea of pure flowers steeped in hot water, and the other urn has a se-cret mix of medicinal herbs that can be taken daily to promote good health.
I saw several monks ordering their takeaway herbals.
Not even monks can live on tea alone, so the Cantonese invented the ``dim sum'' breakfast. The phrase translates into ``little hearts'' of delicate dumplings that hide savoury delights within.
My favourite indulgence is not steamed or fried, but steeped in a pot of hot water at Ming Court, the flagship res-taurant at Langham Place on the Kowloon side of the harbour.
Its tea menu is almost as long as the list of dim sum. Of particular note is the Iron Buddha, fabled among the Chi-nese for being hand-picked leaf by leaf on a steep mountainside in Fujian province.
Visiting Ming Court for lunch has the added benefit of putting you right in the heart of Mongkok mayhem as the district's street markets kick into gear. In contrast to the elegant environs of Langham Place, the laneways and thor-oughfares of Mongkok transform daily into a frenzy of cheap goods and local shoppers.
About the only item you won't find in Mongkok is tea. For that, I went across the harbour to Hong Kong Island and the district of Sheung Wan, a bargain-hunters' paradise of jade, pottery and all things tea. The traditions of century-old teahouses have given way to modern tea-sellers -- instead of dim sum and a pot of hot tea, they just sell the leaves and a range of wares for brewing your own cup.
I started my tea trail at the Cat St trinket markets, a neighbourhood studded with tiny shops selling tiny teapots and even tinier teacups -- about the size of a shot glass.
There's a Chinese legend about getting drunk from drinking too much tea, but I'd need a bigger cup before that happened.
The shelves of the tea shops are decorated with ornate fine china styled with motifs of dragons, goldfish and the wise figure of Luk Yu. This eighth-century poet documented his passion for the cultivation and culture of tea, his status among centuries of Chinese connoisseurs reaching the realms of deity. An afternoon of shopping in Sheung Wan left me ready to relax and take the weight off my feet.
A short walk from the Star Ferry Terminal at Victoria Harbour is the Peninsula Hotel, where the service at after-noon tea could hardly be better if Queen Elizabeth visited daily.
The best cup of tea at the Peninsula is not the Earl Grey with cucumber sandwiches, but the one you get upstairs while waiting for a massage treatment at the Peninsula Spa.
What cup of tea wouldn't be remembered fondly when you're immersed in a world of sandstone and silk, awaiting the skilled hands of Hong Kong's best masseurs?
Questions and Answers
Pottery teapots are known for fantastic tea brewing qualities as well as the beauty of the Chinese-crafted teapots themselves. Some designs may follow traditional culture including famous historical works, while the more contemporary styles tend to have natural themes consisting of Chinese symbols, calligraphy, flowers or animals.
Pottery teapots are known for fantastic tea brewing qualities as well as the beauty of the Chinese-crafted teapots themselves. Some designs may follow traditional culture including famous historical works, while the more contemporary styles tend to have natural themes consisting of Chinese symbols, calligraphy, flowers or animals.
Along with his passion for tea, Mr Loh also has a keen interest in teapots.
or, possibly, tall and thin or shaped like a cat. Teapots are for more than holding tea Tea is one of the world's oldest beverages and, after water, its most popular.
Personally, I always rely on my own judgment in buying art. I have made my own art, in a number of mediums; I bought my first ceramic art, back in 1970.
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Ever since I was a child, it has always bothered me why certain disparities between men and women exist when it has long ago been established by the Almighty that every human being has been created equal.
In my hometown, the natives of the land and the Malays would usually engage in trading and sell goods that are considered homegrown in their respective places. This is made possible because it would only take a ferry-ride to reach their destination. Hence, the bartering of goods usually happens on the shore; and, most of the time these goods would include textiles. They were not just ordinary textiles, though. They were first class cloths interwoven by the very hands of man.
While origami is native to the Japanese, the reach of this paper craft has gone globally, even to us Americans who find the sequences of folding paper almost intoxicating. Of particular importance is how to follow the easy origami crane paper folding process; a treasured tradition that is almost considered holy in Japan.
In the event you like arts and crafts and choose to decorate your stuff at household then all you'll need is a computer, a printer and some specific waterslide decal paper. This short article explains the kind of tasks you could do and explains the way to do it. This article will explain to you concerning the four kinds of waterslide paper, their differences, how to use them and some well-known tasks.
or, possibly, tall and thin or shaped like a cat. Teapots are for more than holding tea Tea is one of the world's oldest beverages and, after water, its most popular.
Throughout the world, water is the only drink consumed more often than tea. In China, India, England, North America and elsewhere, tea has strongly influenced culture.
At the other end of the spectrum is a rare 19th-century Chinese teapot in the shape of two small barrels separated by a vertical perforated wall. This style of pot was developed in the Hsi Shing province of China.
Sales of collectable teapots are helping to fund community development.
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