Beijing Tea Street

"Tea Street" in Beijing

Imagine this - a bustling city street (quite long) filled with shop after shop of TEA!  That's "Tea Street" in Beijing and I could have spent a week just browsing each and every shop in great detail.   

When you enter a shop, you'll receive an initial welcome, complete with mild surprise that a Westerner has found her way there.  Shops vary, some have an English-speaking staff member and others don't.  It didn't matter much, as the gesture to sit and taste tea is universal.

This gracious tea shop owner served us a white tea.  Look at her gorgeous tea table!

I don't think anyone came home empty handed from this excursion.  In fact, most of us could have spent all of our discretionary funds in one place!  Good thing we had limited time.  I came home with some treasures to be unveiled later, along with some tea from this shop (below).  I will confess, the name is what pulled me in!

Fujian PinPinXiang Tea industry Co., Ltd

According to Mr. Wu, our National Guide, this company is well-known across China, with a good reputation. I was after a dark Wuyi oolong-style tea, and getting that communicated was quite a fun experience.  Many thanks to my fellow tea mate who had been studying Chinese.  Between her language skills and lots of trial and error, we found a nice Da Hong Pao and I came home with a bag full. 

Side note:  One of the things I learned on this trip is that Da Hong Pao, "Big Red Robe," technically refers to tea trees that are very old and very protected.  Even the lucky among us won't likely sample that nectar.  What we drink today (hopefully) when we have Da Hong Pao is tea made from tea plants that are derivatives of the original, several generations down the line.  It's more appropriately called "Small Red Robe."  Thanks to Dan for the lesson.  More info.

Da Hong Pao

A few more scenes from Tea Street...



New Layout

Noon update:  Oh, blogger - you are such a tease!  I LOVED the  new dynamic layouts, but I'm back to my old ways (with a wider template) because the COMMENTs didn't work.  What blogger wants to live without comments?  I hope I'm just missing something.

I'm trying Blogger's new "Dynamic" layout.  It does several things for me, the most important:  It allows me to use larger photos without much fuss.  Yay!  It also gives YOU more control.  Play around with the options shown below to see which you like best (Classic, Flipcard, Magazine, etc.)

China Tea Tour Orientation

Approximate locations of destinations in China

For today's post, I thought I'd provide a big-picture perspective of this tea tour.  I liken this experience to a master's class in tea, a month-long intensive.  The best part is that at the end I have memories and photos and treasures instead of an exam.  ;-)

This China Tea Tour is organized by Dan Robertson of World Tea Tours.  Mr. Wu, our Chinese National Guide, was also indispensable to our success. 

Approximate locations of destinations in Tibet and India

I participated in all three components of the tour:  Beijing Pre-tour, China Tour (including Tibet*) and Darjeeling, India Post-Tour.   The tour offers both breadth and depth of tea and cultural experience.  We saw (and drank and picked) many differing types of tea, and we learned in detail about several.

Some highlights of the trip include:

• Beijing cultural sights (Temple of Heaven park, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, etc.)
• Eastern Qing tombs and Great Wall
• Beijing tea house and tea street
• Pick tea with Ling Di in Huangshan
• Tram up to and then climb Yellow Mountain
• Pick/make yellow tea in Huo Shan
• Xian - Terracotta Warriors
• Kunming tea market, Pu-Erh lecture and tasting
• Dali - Bai minority people, temples, Tea Horse Road beginning, ancient tea tree, Pu-Erh factory
• Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in China
• Lhasa, Tibet - Potala Palace,  Drepung monastery, Namtso lake, tea with nomad family
• India - Glenburn Tea Estate in Darjeeling, Lochan tea in Siliguri
• And much more that I hope to share over the next weeks (months?)

* As it stands today, Tibet is part of the country of China.  I don't pretend to grasp the subtleties in the conflict surrounding, as the Tibetans would say, the Chinese occupation.  For the purpose of this blog, I will refer to Tibet as an independent entity.  My experience is that the culture, terrain and people in Tibet are unique.

The Hand that Picks

Woman's Hand, showing me the tea she's just picked

Huo Shan Village, Yellow Tea

Dear blog friends,

Wow - this re-entry thing is taking longer than I had anticipated.  I'm finally rested and sorting through all kinds of things: laundry, treasures, gifts, memories, happiness to be home, sadness that the trip is over.  And on top of that I'm integrating into my daily life, not-so-eagerly anticipating the return to work, sharing concerns of family and friends, etc. 

I don't know where to start or how to piece this trip out, and I'm not one usually prone to writer's block.  So I will begin with what is most vivid in my mind, and that is the lives of the people who work the tea fields.  The photo above is among my favorites.  Notice the dirt under her fingernail, the pretty silver band she wears, the lines in her hand, the vibrancy of the green leaf.  It's all there - the hard work, the beauty in it, the struggle, the love, the tea that sustains this community.  It was a privilege to be taken to these fields and see, for a brief moment, how these people connect with me.  They pick the teas that I drink.  That I will never, ever forget.



Home and Jet Lag

Hello!  Well, after a 24-hour delay and about 24 hours of jet lag fuzziness, I'm finally home and among the awake.  I hope to reconvene the stories tomorrow,  tho I'm not quite sure where to begin.  Cheers!

Mt Everest

Here's a photo taken from the plane today as we flew from Tibet to Katmandu, Nepal.  Mt. Everest was on our right, and I thought the plane would tip because everyone wanted a look!  The large peak on the left is Mt. Everest, tho there are lovely Himilayan Mountain chains all around.  This is just one of hundreds of breath-taking views.

Here's a closer look, taken by our tour leader Dan Robertson. 

 

We'll be landing in Delhi, India tonight and make our way to Darjeeling tomorrow.

I have so much to share with you about this trip (like climbing the steps to the Potala Palace and having yak butter tea in a Tibetan nomad's tent yesterday - real people in the remote Tibetan grasslands, anything but a tourist attraction)...but I will share much of that when I get home.  I'm focused on absorbing all that I can and sleeping when we have a few hours.  If the internet is decent in India (no idea what it will be like), I hope to get in at least one more post.  

Namaste, Stephanie

Terracotta Warriors

We visited the infamous Terracotta Warriors recently, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and dubbed the Eighth Wonder of the World.  The scale is awe-inspiring.  A farmer found them while digging for a well in his field one day in 1974.  Wow.  

The statues start out like this - in pieces and shards.  Archeologists and restorers spend countless hours working what may be the world's largest jigsaw puzzle.

I found myself studying the details of their clothing, hair, and facial expressions.  The variety seems limited and the rumor is that they're modeled after real people.

The Terracotta Warriors are funery art in the burial tomb for emperor Qin Shi Huang, the man that (forcefully) unified China and therefore the first emperor of a unified state.  (I have to say it - what an ego!)

The life-sized warriors were orignally painted, as well, but over 2,000 years in "storage" and exposure to the air upon excavation deteriorated the color.

When in China, this is a must-do if you are anywhere near Xi'An.  Note that it is extremely popular and therefore crowded, but worth it.  Also visit the teahouse. 

OMG: I picked tea!

Oh my goodness!  That's me, picking tea.  Abundant JOY (and hard work)!

We were looking for "two leaves and a bud".  This tea is used to make green tea.  

 We were in the HuangShane area, in the AnHui province.  Both are very important areas for Chinese tea.

Postcards from China: Qing Tombs, Great Wall, Teahouse

Photo 1:  Qing Tombs

We're two days into this trip, and it's already been filled with wonder, adventure and "lost in translation" moments of cross-cultural oddities.  The photo above is from the Eastern Qing Dynasty tombs.  If you're ever heard of the "Dragon Lady" empress, she's buried here.  (She wasn't much loved by the people.)  So is the emperor who unified much of China (Qian Long), tho he was Manchurian (instead of the majority Han).  Our tour leader took us to these tombs, as they are very seldom visited by Westerners. In fact, we were the only non-Chinese people I saw.  The road to get to them was quite the adventure, too...detours, animated discussions with locals regarding directions, huge piles of rock in the middle of the road, and narrow gaps the bus barely squeezed through!  This one required Dramamine.

Speaking of roads...below is a typical scene.  I had to let go of the fear-for-my-life reaction.  It's amazing how all the buses, cars, motorbikes, bicycles, people, and the occasional animal flow together smoothly.

Photo 2 Street:  Notice in the picture above the driver's green bottle of tea.  That is with him always, and he refills it throughout the day from a thermos of hot water.

Photo 3: Dragon's Head


Here's another destination that few Westerners see - it's where the Great Wall meets the sea. It's called the Dragon's Head.

Photo 4:  Confucius Teahouse

Last evening after dinner, we strolled down a back alley to this lovely Confucius Teahouse.  We were served tea Gong Fu style, with a beautiful and knowledgeable hostess guiding us through the process to see, smell, and taste the tea. 

The tour has just begun...I hope to send more in a few days.  Thank you for joining me!

 

Sunset, Sunrise and a Dream

Just a few days ago, I was in CA, having a picnic supper and looking over the Pacific ocean to watch this beautiful sunset.

This morning I watched the sun rise, from the airport terminal in Korea.

I'm here to live out a dream, one that I've been thinking about for a very long time.  I'm on a tea tour of China, Tibet and India.  We'll see many, many places - both cultural and tea-focused.  It brings me to tears just to type this, because I'm so fortunate! 

Special thanks to my DH, who has been my cheerleader and encourager for this trip, and who remains at home tending the garden with his loving and magical touch.  (I'm touring with a fellow tea fanatic.)

I hope you'll follow along with me.  Kind friends have offered to post blogs while I'm gone (I can't access blogger in China but Yahoo should be OK to forward things along).  Having said that, most of the posts will happen when I return.  We're very busy on this trip, and I'm not sure how frequent I'll be able to produce them in real time...but I'll do my best! 

I'm looking forward to sharing this adventure with you.  It's a real life dream-come-true for me!

The Leaf Room

Next to the Tao of Tea's teahouse is the Leaf Room, a place to taste and buy teas.  It's a nice compliment to the restaurant/teahouse.  It's a temptation, for sure - so come prepared to part with cash or keep a lock on the pocket book!  :-)

Tao of Tea's Original Teahouse

I recently checked off something on my "Want to Do" list...visiting the original Tao of Tea's teahouse.  This place, while well-known for its tea, is equally well-known for its delicious meals.  And not to forget, its lovely and reclaimed interior.

I had a pot of chai (made with honey - I had many sweeteners to choose from!) and a wonderful plate of dal (lentils) and rice.  Very yummy!  

I pulled out my journal and spent more than an hour nestled in here, jotting down my thoughts and enjoying my chai and meal.  It was a weekday, so there was no weekend rush, and I felt at-ease to enjoy myself and the surroundings.  I will definitely return!  There were many foods and many teas that I want to try.  Next up - a look at the Leaf Room next door.

The Lingering Days of Summer

Toes - colors picked and painted by the niece

I love this photo! 

The kids are already back in school in most places, yet it's still the heart of sweet summer here.  Warm but not too hot, long days of light.  Yet I see the signs of autumn, the changing shadow's angle, the sun sleeping in a little longer, the first leaves that brown and fall.  I've given up on lamenting summer's departure.  It's futile.  Yet I do try to enjoy what I have, to get the most out of these lingering days.  When I return from China and India in a little over a month, summer around here will have shaken hands with fall and gone off for a long vacation.

My efforts to preserve summer include freezing things from the garden (pesto, chard, squash), spending a few more hours at the pool, packing up another picnic, and sitting longer on the patio.  How do you encourage summer to linger a little longer?

My Morning Cup of Unexpected Contrasts

I'm taking an online photo class, and the instructor assigned us a scavenger hunt of shots...including our morning cup.  One of the points she's making is for us to click away because often, the best photos are the unexpected ones. 

I think the overall image above is so-so, but the contrasts are quite interesting.  Looking through the viewfinder, I did not see the reflection of the slats in the tea or the table ironwork on the saucer.  I only saw it upon reflection, after I downloaded the images.  Unexpected contrasts.  Kinda cool.  Kinda like life.

Oregon Bike Ride

My favorite photo (this is the DH)...

Riding into the rising sun on our first morning.  Notice the streamers.  ;-)

The DH and I just finished the Oregon Bike Ride.  We rode ~400 miles in a week.  Camped in a tent each night and I slept surprising well.  By the end, I had also finally made peace with the porta potties.  That takes a certain skill.  ;-)  Seriously, tho - it was an amazing week and a wonderful way to celebrate 15 years with the dear hubby.  Here are just a few of my favorite scenes from the ride.

A historically-significant grist mill, sitting pretty for the photo

The organizers put on the most amazing rest stops I've ever seen, and many of them were in lovely locations like this one. 

The foods included fruits, breads, crackers and cheese and peanut butter, and other fun treats to fuel hungry riders.  Spam with mustard was a particular hit, but I passed on that.  On many days, we rode over 70 miles and so the rest stops occurred about miles 25 and 50.

That's me helping set up the tent on a breezy afternoon.  Sunnyside Park, near Sweet Home.

We climbed this ascent!  We had cumulative elevation gains of about 4,000 feet this day.

The DH and me at Silver Falls State Park

Flower fields, grown for seed

In addition to the fields of flowers, we rode through Christmas tree farms, hazelnut groves, fruit orchards, lots of berries!  (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries), fields of kale, chard, beets, green beans, onions, garlic, leeks, spinach, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, squash, corn...and on!

Here's how it works on a ride like this:  About 5 am, you begin to hear "zip zip" from the other tents.  At about 5:30, we would add to that - and begin packing up.  Breakfast at 6:30, on the road shortly after 7.  Most days we were back in camp by 2.  Eat, shower, put up tent, eat, have some entertainment, in bed by 9.  (Many days it was 8:30 for me!)  The DH has enjoyed staying up really late since we've been home!

It was a great ride.

Forever Stamps (or, to tarry)

Forever stamps plus postcard stamps

When was the last time you allowed yourself to tarry in the post office, to take in all the stamps that are available to you?  It's a sign that I'm on sabbatical that I've recently taken the time for this pleasure.  That's something I intend to change once my time off is over.  I need to tarry more for myself, rather than running to the beat of another's drum.

When you next visit the post office next, make it an adventure.  Check out the wide variety of forever stamps!  Selections include the ones above (except the flowers on the bottom right - those are postcard stamps), plus many more!  While the liberty bells are lovely, they are getting a bit old, you know?  I'm so glad we now have many choices.

I'm super pleased with the "Go Green" series below.  I bought two books of these.  (Note:  These are books of 16.)

For me, postal stamps are a fun way to send a happy thought out with bills, business correspondence, and especially letters.  Before I open a letter, I enjoy taking in the stamp and the postmark.  They invite me to tarry.

"Green" forever stamps - Use the green one in the middle, too!

Fifteen

Wedding picture from fifteen years ago

With the addition of recent artwork by the DH

Thank goodness we still have a sense of humor!

Happy Anniversary to my DH!

Review: Brew Dr Kombuchas

Brew Doctor's Superberry Kombucha

Portland is a hotbed for kombucha, and I've been sampling my way through local brews.  My favorite is the Brew Dr line, by Townshend Tea.  The tea above, Superberry, is a gorgeous rose color.  This one, while very good, is on the sweet side.  I tend to prefer a "dry" version, so to speak.  I'm working my way through the entire line and enjoying it!

For your first time trying kombucha, go in with an open mind.  The flavors and experiences vary greatly, but most are tart with a hint of vinegar and a very light fermentation (fizz).

Kombuchas are touted to have many medicinal values.  I've not seen enough scientific evidence to make a claim, but I do try to ensure I'm getting a raw version. 

The Brew Dr kombuchas are lightly bubbly and refreshing, a great summer drink.

Have you tried this brand?  What did you think?  What about other kombuchas?

Details: Ladybug Teaparty

My mom, sister and niece visited for a week recently, and of course I held a tea party!  I wanted to celebrate my mom's birthday and introduce my family to some of my friends.  Plus, the niece is at an age where this kind of thing is really special.  She picked the theme, by the way.  ;-)

I had so much fun dreaming up and creating ladybug-themed items for this tea party! It's a perfect theme for the little entomologists in your life, with plenty of room for helping hands.

I knew I had to decorate the red teapot, above.  This was a great activity for me to do with the niece.  I used Crayola's window markers.  (Key learning:  Don't put dots where you or hot liquid will touch.  I.E., The handle and down the spout.)

I wanted to use my grandmother's Haviland china (blue and white), but I also wanted to play with a strong red and black contrast.  I think it worked out very well.  The DH (dear hubby) grew the gladiola. 

The food was also very fun to design.  My niece loves, loves cucumbers and we'd already given my favorite cucumber sandwich recipe a test run earlier in the week (thumbs up), so that was a sure winner for the menu.  The recipe is super-simple:  Thinly slice and blot cucumbers (peel if you must, but I often don't).  Chop fresh rosemary and blend into softened butter.  Spread butter on two slices of bread.  Add a layer of cucumbers.  Make the sandwich, cut crusts and slice into shapes.  Keeps well overnight if tightly bound in plastic wrap.

I wanted to use things from the garden when possible.  The rosemary is ours, and we have plenty of basil.  I also wanted at least one sandwich that would appeal to the grownups.  I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with this one.

Toasted baguette, basil (for the leaf), fresh mozzarella (herbed) and half a grape tomato for the ladybug.  The almost-four niece didn't eat these, but she sure did think they were cute.  Here's another variation on this theme that my friend Marmalady sent to me.

Next up, one that was popular with all ages: strawberry cream cheese ladybugs.

I saw the idea for this one on the Internet, but I simplified it a bit.  I used cinnamon-raisin bread, cut into rounds.  Mom and I smeared the rounds with strawberry cream cheese and added the half slice of strawberry for the head.  We scored the cream cheese to give the appearance of wings.  These are quite tasty and super-easy to make.  A fun one to do with little helpers.

The scones - well, I'll admit it: they were a flop!  At least I thought so.  The niece seemed to enjoy their taste (she asked for two after I had  her taste one out of the oven).  I think I overworked the dough.  So no pictures...but here is the IDEA that I think will work in the future.  Cut the scone dough into rounds, then make a little notch out of one end (to simulate wings).  Also cut smaller rounds for the head (quite small), then cut that in half so there is a flat component.  My idea was to attach the heads to the bodies, for a 3-D effect, but they didn't stay attached.  I'll try attaching with butter or icing or something next time.  Any ideas?  When I get these to work out, I'll share pictures.  ;-)

For dessert, I created these fun ladybug cookies.  I used chocolate chip cookies, then iced them around the edges with red.  The chips provide the ladybug dots, and the red pulls in the color theme.  Fun!

For beverages, I served English Breakfast tea and this Ladybug Punch.  It's my variation of a Barefoot Contessa recipe.  Add 4 - 6 red zinger tea bags to 4 cups of boiling water.  Remove from heat and let steep at least 10 minutes.  Cool.  Add to that 2 - 4 cups of white grape juice (to taste).  Little helpers love to add chopped fruit to this mixture and to stir, stir, stir!  Serve well-chilled.

If you have a children's tea in the future, keep this theme in mind!  It's very flexible and lends itself to lots of creative and fun foods.