Cha Adventures. The Opening Episode:
Mid-Autumn Festival, 04 October 1998
by Raymond McDowell

By October of 1998, I had lived in Hong Kong for seven years, but I was never able to come to terms with the culture, history and language of the place until I took up the study of tea. I first began the journey during the Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration. It started when my new wife and I discovered a little tea shop near our home in Kennedy Town. We had just had breakfast at our favorite noodle shop and stopped on our way back home.

The magician who ran the place, for surely he had some special magic, sat down with us and discussed the qualities(both fanciful and factual) that makes for memorable teas. He spoke calmly, in both English and Cantonese, and his calmness transported us from the rush of Hong Kong life into a different realm. The realm of tea.

I told him I wanted some green tea. I told him why. I was hoping to find an appropriate insertion point to study and understand the world I had chosen to live in. I told him that I had recently developed an interest in tea and that my wife's tea-sophisticate brother, Steven, had suggested Long Tsing tea as my first venture into my instruction. Steven had suggested that I could likely learn how to properly brew, drink and serve it relatively easily.

The cha si-fu (tea master) smiled and nodded, then went to one of his tea jars and extracted a small portion thereof. He sprinkled it into a little bowl, then poured water over it from a kettle he kept nearby.

"This is a medium grade Long Tsing tea," he said. "Easily affordable, but a good starting point for anyone wishing to learn how to appreciate tea and tea-making. You should use water from the tap, but first let the water run a minute before filling the kettle. The kettle should be heated just to the boiling point, no more. The water should be gently poured over the tea and the tea should be brewed for no more than 30 seconds. You should then pour the tea into a kettle specifically reserved for Long Tsing tea. This is to preserve the flavor and fragrance of the tea."

He demonstrated what he meant by pouring the tea from the bowl into a tea strainer over a tiny porcelain kettle. He then poured the tea from the kettle into three small tea cups and served them to my wife, me and himself.

"Smell first," he said. "The fragrance of green tea is more delicate than black, hence the tendency to add flower blossoms to the mixture. Good green tea should smell fresh and clean."

As we sipped, the cha si-fu continued his lesson.

"The first serving of the tea is not the best, but you must drink it to fully enjoy the entire experience. And remember, the health you get from the tea is only partially based on the tea ingredients. It is also a tool for contemplation and conversation. A tea such as this is more suitable for small gatherings rather than Mah Jong parties."

By this time, we had finished the first serving of tea and the cha si-fu repeated the procedure, using the same tea leaves as before.

"This second serving should be be better than the first. The third is the best. For most healthful benefits, you should finish each serving within a half hour from the time you brew it."

I asked him to repeat his instructions and detail what I needed to serve tea properly, both at home and abroad.

He did so in a kindly fashion. I asked him about the quality of the Gunpowder and Famous Brand Green teas I had already bought at the supermarket.

"Those are good teas for day to day guzzling," he said. "However, they are probably best suited for sprinkling in a bowl and placing that bowl in the refrigerator to absorb bad odors."

"Oops," I murmured.

My wife flashed me an "I told you so" look.

I then proceeded to buy tea and tea utensils for my training and for my upcoming journey. For home, I bought a three cup brewing bowl, two cups, a pewter tea strainer and a tea kettle, all with a blue bamboo motif.

When my wife and I left the tea shop, our day had been transformed. We now had time on our side. When we got home, I brewed some tea. It was a special moment carved out of a hectic existence, and one that allowed me to begin a new phase of life. One in which I was to learn how to attain peace of mind from gentle discipline and ritual.

All for the price of a cup of tea.

You can email Raymond at bbgpted@asiaonline.net