International students of ZCMU organized a Chinese Tea cultural experience activity.
Experiencer
By Oscar Onayi Mandizadza
April 20th is a significant day in the history of the Chinese language and culture. It is believed that on this special day, Cang Jie invented the Chinese characters, and hence it was marked, the International Chinese Language Day in honour of him. It also marks the beginning of the Grain Rain period (Gu Yu in Chinese), the 6th of the 24 Solar terms.
In recognition of this special day, on that day, the School of International Education of the Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (ZCMU) organized a Chinese Tea culture experience activity at the China Tea Museum in Hangzhou. This year's celebration, which was attended by a delegation of 31 teachers and students from 17 different countries, was themed with "Chinese Language: Facilitating Dialogues across Civilizations".
Upon arrival, Mr Zhou Bin from the China Tea Museum gave a historic picture tour of tea, from its discovery by the legendary figure Shennong about 5,000 years ago, to the Tea-Horse exchange in the Tang dynasty and the tea mixing competition in the Song dynasty which he nicknamed the Tea Olympics. He taught us a famous Chinese Tea poem by Lu Tong (卢仝), The Seven Bowls of Tea, in which each bowl represented a particular emotional response, reflecting the philosophical cultural phenomenon of tea.
Next was tea picking. The beautiful scenery of the Spring Tea garden was so captivating. We picked some tea leaves, which we later then fried under the guidance of the tea master. Everyone was given a chance to try the tea frying process.
Did you know that in the Chinese culture, tea mixing is more than just pouring hot water into a cup with tea bags or coffee granules? It's an art, it's a skill. Many elements must come together to create the perfect tea-mixture: special etiquette, and proper utensils.
We headed to the West Lake Longjing Tea exhibition center. It was time for the Tea Olympics! Everyone was ready for the tea mixing competition. We sat on stools in an upright position with our hands resting on the table as the soft background music created the atmosphere. We poured hot water in a special tea bowl, rinsed using a bamboo whisk, and discarded the water. We then added black tea powder using a bamboo scoop and poured hot water up to the one-third mark of the bowl, and then stirred swiftly using the whisk. We added more hot water and continued stirring, making sure the bamboo whisk was not touching the bottom of the bowl. The tea was to form a thick white froth, on top of which we added an artistic design using a bamboo scoop. It was ready for tasting! The best tea was selected, and a small gift was awarded to the winner.