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As an Irishman, I love my cup of tea. So after dinner this evening we went into a beautiful tea house near the Shishahai lake in Beijing. I never thought tea could be served in such a beautiful way.
First of all we were ushered into a wooden cubicle with four chairs and an ornate low table. The menu (itself a work of art) was impressive in both variety of teas and price (not at all cheap by Beijing standards). We chose a black tea called "zheng shan xiao zhong" at RMB380 (about 45 euros) for a box. But the price is not just for a pot of tea, it includes the undivided attention of a waitress as long as we chose to stay. She first of all explained all the utensils and vessels used in the ceremony. Then she made the tea (I won't describe the method -- suffice it to say that it was elaborate), served it in very small cups and slid away. She reappeared periodically and unobtrusively to see if our cups needed to be refilled. We stayed for about an hour drinking quietly in the pleasant atmosphere of the lakeside establishment. Since we used only a small amount from the box we took the rest away with us.
The whole affair was very civilised indeed!
First of all we were ushered into a wooden cubicle with four chairs and an ornate low table. The menu (itself a work of art) was impressive in both variety of teas and price (not at all cheap by Beijing standards). We chose a black tea called "zheng shan xiao zhong" at RMB380 (about 45 euros) for a box. But the price is not just for a pot of tea, it includes the undivided attention of a waitress as long as we chose to stay. She first of all explained all the utensils and vessels used in the ceremony. Then she made the tea (I won't describe the method -- suffice it to say that it was elaborate), served it in very small cups and slid away. She reappeared periodically and unobtrusively to see if our cups needed to be refilled. We stayed for about an hour drinking quietly in the pleasant atmosphere of the lakeside establishment. Since we used only a small amount from the box we took the rest away with us.
The whole affair was very civilised indeed!
