China Travelogue

First you must understand that this is no ordinary tea! This is “Da Hoong Pau” tea, the most expensive tea in the world, and I was being taught by a self-proclaimed connoisseur of teas. Its leaves are harvested from one of four 300-year-old trees that grow on the side of the Wee Ee mountain in the South of China. There are miraculous myths of healing the sick associated with this tea. To give you an idea of just how expensive it is, one box of 250 g of tea leaves sells for more than USD $125. And the family I was with was by no means wealthy – this was, for them, simply an important priority.

A proper tea set is brought out, complete with a draining tray, two large pots, four tiny tea cups, and 4 very tiny crucibles for… well, I can’t explain what they’re for. But the process is like this:

1. First you must fill all the containers with hot water and give them a gentle rinse. This warms up the containers properly and gets rid of any residual dust. All of the washed utensils must be carefully handled with a special pair of tiny tongs.

2. You must smell the rich aroma of the tea leaves as they move from the box to an empty tea pot.

3. Fill the tea pot with hot water. It only needs to steep for about a minute – not long.

4. Pour tea into each of the four tiny crucibles.

5. Immediately place a tiny tea cup upside-down on top of the crucible, and quickly turn them both over so the tea is now in the teacup.

6. Take the now-empty crucible, roll it between your hands and take in the tea’s lingering aroma that is still emanating from the crucible. (The crucible is still hot, of course, making this a nice activity during wintertime.)

7. Drink your cup of tea using no more than 3 sips, making as loud a “slurping” sound as you can to signify to all in the room that you are enjoying your tea very much.