Celebration Chaxi for my son's university admittance

Spring 2003 competition Dong Ding Oolong

In Taiwan, the university entrance exam is one of the most important milestones in your professional life. Using exams to select the elite for the Chinese government dates back to the Sui dynasty (581-618). A lot of people would apply, but few succeeded. Even the famous Tang poet Du Fu was rejected and complained in many poems about the lack of recognition of his skills, and his poverty.

So, education is very competitive and all parents and pupils' dream is the No. 1 university in Taiwan: NTU, the National Taiwan University! As I have announced yesterday on Facebook, my son got accepted at NTU, in the chemistry department, his dream field!

This is an amazing achievement and we couldn't be happier. Immediately, I thought of a fitting Chaxi to celebrate his performance. The tea of this Chaxi is a top 10 winner of the 2003 Dong Ding Oolong competition. I had been gifted this tea when my son was born and kept some preciously in a qinghua porcelain jar. The fact that this tea got high marks in a competition is a perfect fit.

Then, I wanted to brew this tea in a fitting teapot with a lot of symbolism. In Chinese culture, everything is symbols, and it starts with the language! So, I selected this Yixing Duanni Tiliang teapot with a shipiao shape. On the right hand side, we can see a poem, one of the highest art form of a civilization. It's a symbol for beauty and culture, what my son will continue to learn at the university when he'll study chemistry.

The chrysanthemum on the jar is a festive flower in Chinese culture. It looks like a firework! And the Chabu has a main blue theme, a symbol for the sky, the horizon and a bright future. The powerful dragons flying are the elite students and almost nothing can stop their ascent!   

With good tea and teapot we can obtain the finest results. We are turning a raw material into a delicious and refined beverage! It brings joy and peace of mind. And, on the other side of the teapot are some old Chinese coins. They symbolize the fortune I wish for my son. May he turn his knowledge and research into something useful and valuable for mankind!

My son liked the taste of the aged Oolong, but when I tried to explain all these symbols in this Chaxi to him, he said: "I can bullshit better than that!" Well oh well, he is a teenager, after all! And if he wants to learn about science, it's good to question what he's taught!