Tea Time

When was the last time you had tea?

Drinking tea is a very relaxed activity. Either alone or friends over, tea party is always great form of relaxing and loosening up the atmosphere. Our mind at such a session would be calm.

Most of the time, the activity of drinking tea is a relaxed and comfortable thing. When drinking alone, one could also become very meticulous, taking great care towards the implementation of the techniques of tea-making, and would perform each procedure with a scrupulous  concern for detail. Whenever a good brew of tea is made, taste the tea with great mindfulness, like appreciating a fine work of art. This way, the body and the mind could be at a very calm and placid state. How good and bad a brew would be depend on how fine or unpeaceful our heart is.

If one person drinks tea during a very relaxed period of a day, the serene states of  mind would occur without a problem. But it is challenging  to achieve such a state when drinking tea at a busy or rushed hour. A pleasant time could also be achieved with a few tea-loving friend. So much to share about tea, its taste, teapots and tea story.

With presence of tea, the atmosphere would be more informal and calm. Even though sometimes some people would be discontent or would get angry but these feelings would neutralize themselves over a brew of tea or a cup of tea in hands.  During a process of tea making and the heart would  be at peace. This is because one has to use a very pure heart when handing tea-brewing  techniques, if not; the true flavours of the tea would be compromised. If one is even more carelss the pot or the cups could be damaged- this would only shatter the mood of any tea session.

Tea is a great medium of communications, mainly because the atmosphere that it delivers through tea time sessions creates a conducive environment for interaction among people.

At last, the most importantly is open your heart.

Tea Culture

Whether it is served Chinese, English or Hong Kong style, a hot cup of tea is an important complement to many Hong Kong dishes.

Chinese tea-drinking has a long history. Tea-drinkers express gratitude to those who refill their cups by tapping the table with three fingers of the same hand. The history of this gesture can be traced back to a Qing Dynasty emperor who used to travel incognito. Once, when he visited South China, he patronised a teahouse with his companions.

To ensure that his identity was not discovered, the emperor took his turn pouring tea for his companions. They were so shocked and awed by the honour that they wanted to bow down to him for the great honour. However, in order not to create a commotion, he allowed them to tap their three middle fingers on the table; this represented bowing down.

Since then, it has become a culture among tea drinkers.