In a warm Autumn afternoon of Beijing, Li “Jory” Qiao, User Experience Design Manager of China Office of Zynga, an American online games company, sits at home, telling about his tea story and the story on tea, while performing tea ceremony on a table. The sun casts some rays into the room, on the edge of the table, through the window.

Two years ago, a friend of Qiao invited him to a tea house to appreciate tea art and taste varieties of tea. That is how Qiao started his “love affair” with tea. Pu’er, one of the tea classifications Qiao tasted that time, remains one of his favorite flavor. 

But tea is only one indispensable part of tea ceremony. Tea wares are also important. Qiao started collecting tea wares ever since, some he bought by himself and some given by friends. His favorite cup looks like a deeper saucer with two vividly swimming fish painted on the bottom. He chanced upon it among cups of the same design with other paintings such as dragon and flowers. Qiao brings the cup with him when he drinks tea together with friends in a tea house every Sunday afternoon. Qiao says whatever tea utensil he bought does not necessarily to be expensive. It feels that there is kind of connection between a certain tea ware and its owner, a feeling similar to “love on the first sight”. 

Qiao says when together with other tea lovers, almost all at the age of early forties, tea is their one and only topic. They would appreciate every step of tea rituals. Before tea making, they would smell the tea leaves and appreciate their shapes. While drinking tea, they would focus on the flavor, aroma and color of the tea brew. Finally, they would evaluate tea quality according to the shape of the brewed tea leaves, a step that is considered as the last tribute to tea. 

Qiao enjoys brewing tea at home as well. He prefers a leisurely weekend afternoon since he hardly arrives at home before 9 PM during weekdays. He says tea ceremony requires wholehearted focus and inner peace, from waiting for the tea leaves steeped in the kettle, to pouring tea brew to cup(s), to smelling its fragrance, to sipping the tea, to repeating the brewing. Qiao recalls how he broke the cover of the tea kettle, his most precious utensil, a gift from his wife. He was distracted with work hassle while brewing tea. “The cover slipped from my hand, falling on the table and broke into pieces,” he said. 

Qiao uses “comfortable” to describe how he feels about tea ceremony and tea drinking. He quotes a few lines of a Tang poem to describe his feelings of tea drinking. The poem depicts how tea drinking enables a person to let go of loneliness, and depression.

Qiao says it is also enjoyable and interesting to arrange and match kettles and cups of different colors, shapes, paintings and materials, with add-ons such as fresh/dried flower and tea pets. Every step of tea ceremony and every detail of the utensils used is worth appreciating. Those details give leeway to each tea lover to develop his/her own way of appreciation. It may seem complicated for others, but for Qiao, it is just part of daily life.

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Interview with Yu Wang, Qiao’s wife. Wang talks on Qiao’s habit of tea drinking. (Voice over by Machelle Ramos)

listen to ‘Interview with Yu Wang’ on Audioboo
Interview with Xiao Fu, Qiao’s friend and also a tea lover. Fu is the friend who invited Qiao to a tea house for the first time, two years ago. Fu talks on tea infusion. (Voice over by Le Wang)

listen to ‘Interview with Xiao Fu’ on Audioboo

In the video below, Qiao steeped Wuyiyancha, a variety of oolong tea, with a flavor of orchid. (voice over by Jie "Jade" Xian)

Tea Wares, Qiao's Collection

A whole set of tea wares (photo credit: Li “Jory” Qiao)        

A typical kettle for brewing tea

Container for dried tea leaves of one brew 

Aside from kettle, tureens (a bowl with a cover and a saucer) are also used to brew tea.

Qiao’s most “luxurious” set of tea cups with delicate design and paintings

Tea brew dispenser with special design of bottleneck for easy handhold

A set of four porcelain tea cups with paintings of (from left to right) chrysanthemum, bamboo, orchid and plum blossom, four plants typically depicted in Chinese painting art.

Black container for waste water and tea brew residue to keep tea set/table clean, with a mini vase as decoration

Add-ons of a tea set, container for tools used to clip and clean tea wares, and to scoop tea leaves, etc., with a piggy-shaped “tea pet”. ( “Tea pets”, made of pottery or porcelain, are animals or human figures. A tea pet can be nourished with tea brew--just to pour hot tea onto the tea pet when steeping. As time goes by, the texture of the tea pet becomes smooth and it gives out the aroma of tea as well. Source of intro on tea pet: http://www.flickr.com/photos/asianfiercetiger/6611697779/ )

A decoration of tea set/table with Qiao’s beloved saucer-cup (the decoration can also be fresh flowers)

Part of Qiao’s tea ware showcase (photo credit: Li “Jory” Qiao)

Epilogue 

I have always been fascinated with tea. It is a combination of history, culture and philosophy for me. I want to know more about tea. It’s better to start the inquiry with an ordinary Chinese who loves tea, I think.

Qiao and I have been friends since middle school. But I barely know his story with tea.

That afternoon, Qiao invites me to enjoy three classifications of tea, namely, oolong, black tea and Pu’er. He says it’s better to start from the variety with the slightest flavor to the strongest if one wants to appreciate varieties of tea at one time. He suggests using different sets of tea wares for different classifications of tea, so as to ensure the genuine taste of each variety.

He teaches me step-by-step how to appreciate the shape and aroma of dried and brewed tea leaves, the taste and color of each brew as well as the design and craftsmanship of various tea wares. He tries to guide me to distinguish the oolong tea which has an orchid flavor, the black tea with a mixed flavor of bacon and longan, and the Pu’er tea of which the flavor is hard to describe.

During the whole afternoon, Qiao is trying to relate to me as much he knows about tea as possible. As a host, he tries as well to entertain a guest like me to enjoy tea.

However, in the afternoon, what I focus on is the angle and light of video shots while what Qiao emphasizes is the time of brewing, and the taste as a result. Sometimes, I ask him to hold on for a few seconds for certain shots, but most of the time he would refuse. He insists that the few second delay would ruin the taste of the tea. In front of a “tea master”, as a “student”, I know I have to respect him.

Qiao keeps saying that tea brewing is an ordinary practice, but what I feel is that he is paying tribute to the process. Qiao’s exercise and appreciation of tea ceremony reminds me of the philosophy of “being” , with focus only on what one is experiencing.

In addition, like Fu says, one may divide the tea ceremony as different steps, but the process is holistic. It is a culture and philosophy of harmony between the inward and outward of a person.

Qiao invites me to enjoy two varieties of black tea next time. I accept his hospitality. It needs more time to know how the legacy of tea culture embraced by an ordinary Chinese in modern China.

P.S. If any of you have any questions about tea, just let me know, and I would love to explore the answer, together with you; if you have any tea story to share, you are most welcome. :)