Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Tea is child's play

This Sunday, at the Taipei Story House, my children brewed tea for Teaparker's monthly public tea lecture! I had told him that they started to prepare tea like me and he suggested that they perform at this historical site, built by tea merchant Chen Chao-Jun in 1914. This Chinese tea merchant found his inspiration in the English Tudor revival style. In this house, he entertained his foreign customers, who came mostly from Southeast Asia to purchase scented Baozhong tea.

This mix of cultures and nationalities is well exemplified by my French-Taiwanese children! And it's further reflected in the diverse Cha Xi they created for the Big Arbor Dian Hong they brewed.
My daughter chose a pink Cha Bu (her favorite color) and qingbai porcelain from Yingge, a teaboat by David Louveau, Chinese Cha Tuo (saucers) and a waste water bowl she made in Shuili county (with the help of a potter)! 
My son is using the 'ivory' porcelain on a Sashiko quilt - made by his French grandmother, the wave patterns remind him of the sea he likes so much, he said -, 2 old Qing plates, a waste water bowl he also made in Shuili (central Taiwan). Porcelain is a good fit for red tea! And both used a Japanese silver kettle: it's lighter for them to hold (vs a tetsubin).

Note: To avoid them getting burned, we didn't use fire in the Nilu, but simply poured boiling water in the silver kettle. Don't let your children handle boiling water unattended!

Tea culture knows no boundaries.
Young and not so young enjoy a sweet cup of tea!

13 comments:

Jakub Tomek said...

Sounds beautiful... made me smile happily. It seems like it was a very harmonic event!
Jakub

TeaMasters said...

Thank you for your comment, Jakub.
I was a little anxious at first, but everything happened quite smoothly without mishap.

Kim Christian said...

These pictures made me smile, too.
Great to see that the next generation
will be trained so early and they
really have fun doing it.
You know: "Der Apfel faellt nicht weit vom Stamm" :)

TeaMasters said...

Danke Kim. Kids love to imitate adults. We teach through our example. And there's no higher satisfaction as to see oneself in his children. It's even better than tea!

VanessaV said...

Fabuleux!! Autant les gestes, l'esprit que leur chance d'utiliser un matériel approprié, choisi par eux....
sans parler de la qualité des thés dégustés.
Ils ont de la chance d'être "invités" au cours comme cela une fois sur deux!

Steph said...

Oh, how lovely are your children. I bet you are so proud of them!

Steve said...

That's awesome! I'm sure it brought big smiles to you!!

Ségolène said...

Ils sont trop mignons et très appliqués... Quel talent! Papa saura-t-il faire aussi bien?! lol!
Bon, je n'ai pas tout cet équipement mais, moi aussi, j'aime bien jouer à la dinette! ;O)
Ségolène

Mab said...

Comme c'est prometteur de voir de jeunes enfants perpétuer une tradition ancestrale! Ils sont superbes et leur gestuelle est tellement raffinée... Quel bonheur cela doit être pour un père de transmettre cet esprit à ses propres enfants!
Félicitations.
Marie-Aline

Claire M said...

J'adore!!! Mes 2 loulous sont toujours aussi concentrés quand ils prennent le thé. Ils adorent les gaiwan. Ma fille a un faible pour celui que je t'ai acheté il y a quelque temps déjà!!! Quel joie ce billet!!! Merci

Anonymous said...

Que tes enfants sont appliqués !
L'apprentissage de la "maitrise" n'a pas d'âge !

TeaMasters said...

Thanks!
Merci pour tous vos commentaires. C'est vrai que c'est super touchant pour moi de voir qu'ils ont eu envie de faire du thé sans forcer du tout. C'est clair aussi que c'est un des rares moment où ils sont concentrés. Et pour un parent dans un petit appartement, c'est un vrai plaisir!

Marilyn Miller said...

How special to see them making tea. I am sure you must have been very proud of them.