China is known notoriously for its wonderful range of tea, its culture, its origins and its history are all rooted in China. Tea houses are a big hit in China; they are the equivalent of coffee houses for New Yorkers. Whereas before, tea houses were commonly used for the more prestigious events and higher class people, it is the place to be for all now. So when you Trave to Beijing, and are having your Beijing Tours, remember to visit a tea house, and be a part of the Chinese life style.
I visited a tea house on the weekend and it was such a great experience. We get taken to a private room, and our host spoke English. It was a place to taste different types of teas which China had to offer, and there was so much to learn. From the moment she started preparing the tea, there was such a rigid structure on the right way of making tea, from cleaning the tea pots and filters with boiling hot water, to the water being at the right temperature to make the tea. She used what was called a ‘peeing baby’. Whereby she poured boiling hot water onto this small ornament of a baby, and the baby peed out the water but so that it was cold. A very Interesting technique. There was also mugs, which when hot water of a certain temperature was poured in, the picture of the mug changed.
The host let us try different traditional Chinese teas and explained carefully what each was for. We tried the following:
- Lychee tea – the lose black tea leaves are full of flavour from this delightful fruit. It is said that the health benefits associated with this is half a cup of tea a day can reduce risks of heart attack by 50 %, it also helps circulate your blood around your body more as well, (It was also my favourite tea which I tried there.)
- Oolong tea – This tea was bearable to drink, there are however many health benefit to this tea as well. Such as it helps to burn fat, help with digestion, help fight against tooth decay, help reduce cholesterol and much more.
- Pu erh Tea – This tea acts like wine, the older it is the better, it would be much more enriched
with goodness, but it also escalades in price, it is commonly drunk for joint problems, and aches, as well as the benefits mentioned from oolong tea.
People gather at tea houses to chat, socialise, and enjoy tea. You can get a big group and have your own room where you can enjoy each others company. Young people often meet at tea houses for dates. These tea houses not only serve tea, but also food. In order to attract customers, in some tea houses stages were and still are built to play tom-tom, Storytelling (Pingshu) and Beijing opera, making these tea houses amusement places.
Tea houses can be found all over China, notably some of the most famous ones come from Chengdu. Local people spend hours each day to there to relax, discuss current affairs, play mahjong, card or Chinese chess, and watching Sichuan Opera. Sichuan Opera is world renowned, with the stunt “face-changing” as its unique technique.
So catch a flight with Air China and taste these wonderful teas and purchase them for a more reasonable price then ordering from the internet.
Related posts:
