tea tours
Photo by wjpbennett. I recently watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations in which Tony visited China. It was a great episode with one glaring and (in my opinion) huge exception: no tea! How can you have a show focused on food in China without mentioning or even showing tea? I love you Tony, but I think you broke my heart a little bit with that episode. I was reminded about this, somehow, when I checked out the Tea in London Tour website (mentioned by Steph here). It looks like a fantastic tour, though in all honesty the English tea experience is quite contrary to my reasons for drinking tea. English tea time has too much pomp and circumstance. One of my main reasons for loving tea is that it reminds me to simplify, to cut out the extra, unnecessary stuff. In my mind, the English tea party celebrates that extra stuff, with its saucers and table cloths and doilies and scones. Not that I can’t acknowledge those things are great, they’re just not my style. And so, I thought, wouldn’t it be awesome to go on a “Tea in China Tour”? I haven’t done any research to see if such a tour even exists, and with a baby on the way, I doubt I could arrange one for any time soon, but it’s a lovely thought. I would go to all the places Anthony Bourdain should have visited!
Posted by Rachel at Monday ~ October 08, 2007 |
Category: Tea Stories, Tea
“Comments”
Nigel
09/10/07 -
7:35 am
In my experience 99% of tea in England is drunk without any doilies or scones - no extra stuff - usually in mugs and often as a quick break while working.
Nigel at Teacraft
Ateavablog
09/10/07 -
6:15 pm
Totally agree Rachel, Tony Bourdain is awesome, but I find this to be the norm. Try watching the Chinese Globe Trekker episodes, and you’ll come away thinking tea doesn’t even exist in China!
Love the blog, BTW;)
–Ateavablog
Steph W
10/10/07 -
9:13 am
Hi, R! Thank you for visiting my blog. I’ve bookmarked yours and will enjoy returning! Thank you for the reference, as well!
Rachel
11/10/07 -
1:19 pm
Nigel - Thanks for setting me straight! Still, though, doesn’t it make more sense to do a tea tour in a country that actually produces tea?
ATEAVABLOG - Thank you for your comment! You’re right about the norm; I suppose I just expected more from Tony. 
Dennis Pang
12/02/08 -
4:39 pm
I want you to know that we are aggregating your blog entries on the Twinings site. You’ll notice your site is on the blog roll and your posts can be found on the top tea blogs page. We would appreciate a link to the Twinings Tea blog on your blog roll or links section too. While we may not be posting all the blog entries from your site, we attempt to post all your entries pertaining to tea drinking.
Ryan
15/02/08 -
10:57 pm
With the proper money being spent you can get tours of tea fields in both India and China. They are great times and really helps you learn about these great teas we all have come to love.
Sandra
22/03/08 -
8:55 am
I was luck enough to visit a well-known Chinese tea plantation last November - here’s my story:
Dragon Well Tea (Longjing Tea)
I was lucky enough to go to China in November 2007 and one of the many places I visited was the famous Dragon Well Tea Plantation. As someone who has had a tea website for a few years, I was excited!!
The plantation itself is stunning in appearance and is surrounded by breathtaking views in a truly beautiful part of China. We stayed at Hangzhou, which was described by Marco Polo as ‘the most beautiful and magnificent city in the world’. Hangzhou is on the famous West Lake where we took a boat cruise and then drove up into the surrounding mountains to the Dragon Well Tea Plantation where you can smell the enticing aroma of the tea long before you arrive. Here the climate is mild and has plenty of rainfall in all seasons - a perfect setting place for great teas. This is one of the birthplaces of green tea and is known as having the highest quality Dragon Well tea.
I must confess, I’d never seen tea growing before. In China the tea bushes are kept small so it’s easier work for the pickers and the tea is delicate and full of flavor and aroma. We walked through the tea bushes to the entrance where several people were turning the harvested leaves by hand in woven baskets. This set the theme right away that Dragon Well is all about quality and not about rushing any part of the tea process. There is a pond in the center of the buildings with a huge teapot in the middle. Here you can sit down with your tea and enjoy the views of the tea plantation as well as look at the teapot! The building we went in was for tea tasting. Here a nice Chinese lady told us that the tea was harvested in different months. When picking tea, the different harvesting months bring a different quality of the tea. The best tea, we were told, was the emperor’s cut which only the emperor was allowed to consume. Happily, that is no longer the case but this tea was very expensive. We also were able to taste teas picked in different months. April was great but I settled on May.
After the tea is picked (by hand, of course) at Dragon Well, it is pan dried which sounds simple but requires skill as the temperature must be maintained that will have the best results for the size, tenderness and volume of the tea leaves. Here the tea is graded into six levels. The tea leaves here are broad and flat due to the drying process. This gives the tea it’s special flavor and Dragon Well is one of the best of Chinese green teas. It is said that the tea is famous for its ‘four wonders’ - the emerald green color, its aromatic flavor, sweet taste and beautiful apearance. It has a high nutritional value and people in China drink it to improve their health as well as enjoy it’s flavor and aroma. When it is properly brewed (and of course ours was!), it is a light green colour and has a delicate herby flavor that is also somewhat tangy. The boiling water is left to cool to the correct temperature (around 75 degrees celsius) as this will not destroy the natural chlorophyl in the tea. Please do not buy Dargon well tea bags as they are probably of inferior quality as the plantation is all about how the leaves are picked and when and I didn’t see one teabag in use…
When the tea tasting was over and most of us had purchased some Dragon Well loose tea, we went on to look around and also visit the store. Here I bought two shoulder cushions which were filled with the fragrant tea. They were very reasonable and I used them on the plane on the way home to help me sleep.
On the way down towards the lake, you could see that quite a few of the houses in the Dragon Well village are open as small tea shops where you can sit outside in the garden and enjoy the spectacular views with your cup of Dragon Well tea. Our guide told us that it was quite common for city people to come here and enjoy their tea and the scenery after the hectic pace of the city. The village certainly looked very attractive. It was a wonderful day - beautiful surroundings and a whole lot of education and drinking tea!
Oolongtea
24/03/08 -
5:10 am
Hi…friends
I think asian region is the best for tea production specially china and some of the states in India where best quality of tea is produced in the world.
Tea Escapade
15/04/08 -
4:36 pm
WHo goes to China and has no tea?!?! Love the post. Keep me posted on your China Tea Tour - sounds like a dream.
stevenn
05/05/08 -
8:38 am
Tea Studies Education
Tea Classes from beginning to advanced in English, Certifications awarded in the various areas Tea Studies, practical brewing as well as identifying, becoming a Tea Master, Tea Instructor, or Tea Enthusiast,
Thirty years of tradition this school is still ran by the same people.
Lu-Yu Tea Culture Institute
#64, Heng-Yang Rd.,Taipei, Taiwan, 10003 Tel: +886-2-2331-6636FAX： +886-2-2331-0660
for English just email
English contact - 英文 : Steven icetea8@gmail.com
Chinese contact - 中文 : 涂老師 luyutea@ms59.hinet.net
陸羽茶藝中心
( 10003，台北市衡陽路62號 )
Anjo
05/06/08 -
2:35 pm
Hello again Rachel
I soooo agree with you… how can one not want to talk about or share with the world (even if everyone does it) about this wonder when you are actually in the country of origin… what a shame.
I mean… everyone’s story has something unique to add to this healthy trend that is taking on the world by storm!
Stephen
10/09/08 -
3:07 am
Most of the tea drunk in England is black tea in a bag so no real excitment there. There are lots of tour in China and Taiwan available, if you speak manadrin.
“Comments”
In my experience 99% of tea in England is drunk without any doilies or scones - no extra stuff - usually in mugs and often as a quick break while working.
Nigel at Teacraft
Totally agree Rachel, Tony Bourdain is awesome, but I find this to be the norm. Try watching the Chinese Globe Trekker episodes, and you’ll come away thinking tea doesn’t even exist in China!
Love the blog, BTW;)
–Ateavablog
Hi, R! Thank you for visiting my blog. I’ve bookmarked yours and will enjoy returning! Thank you for the reference, as well!
Nigel - Thanks for setting me straight! Still, though, doesn’t it make more sense to do a tea tour in a country that actually produces tea?
ATEAVABLOG - Thank you for your comment! You’re right about the norm; I suppose I just expected more from Tony.
I want you to know that we are aggregating your blog entries on the Twinings site. You’ll notice your site is on the blog roll and your posts can be found on the top tea blogs page. We would appreciate a link to the Twinings Tea blog on your blog roll or links section too. While we may not be posting all the blog entries from your site, we attempt to post all your entries pertaining to tea drinking.
With the proper money being spent you can get tours of tea fields in both India and China. They are great times and really helps you learn about these great teas we all have come to love.
I was luck enough to visit a well-known Chinese tea plantation last November - here’s my story:
Dragon Well Tea (Longjing Tea)
I was lucky enough to go to China in November 2007 and one of the many places I visited was the famous Dragon Well Tea Plantation. As someone who has had a tea website for a few years, I was excited!!
The plantation itself is stunning in appearance and is surrounded by breathtaking views in a truly beautiful part of China. We stayed at Hangzhou, which was described by Marco Polo as ‘the most beautiful and magnificent city in the world’. Hangzhou is on the famous West Lake where we took a boat cruise and then drove up into the surrounding mountains to the Dragon Well Tea Plantation where you can smell the enticing aroma of the tea long before you arrive. Here the climate is mild and has plenty of rainfall in all seasons - a perfect setting place for great teas. This is one of the birthplaces of green tea and is known as having the highest quality Dragon Well tea.
I must confess, I’d never seen tea growing before. In China the tea bushes are kept small so it’s easier work for the pickers and the tea is delicate and full of flavor and aroma. We walked through the tea bushes to the entrance where several people were turning the harvested leaves by hand in woven baskets. This set the theme right away that Dragon Well is all about quality and not about rushing any part of the tea process. There is a pond in the center of the buildings with a huge teapot in the middle. Here you can sit down with your tea and enjoy the views of the tea plantation as well as look at the teapot! The building we went in was for tea tasting. Here a nice Chinese lady told us that the tea was harvested in different months. When picking tea, the different harvesting months bring a different quality of the tea. The best tea, we were told, was the emperor’s cut which only the emperor was allowed to consume. Happily, that is no longer the case but this tea was very expensive. We also were able to taste teas picked in different months. April was great but I settled on May.
After the tea is picked (by hand, of course) at Dragon Well, it is pan dried which sounds simple but requires skill as the temperature must be maintained that will have the best results for the size, tenderness and volume of the tea leaves. Here the tea is graded into six levels. The tea leaves here are broad and flat due to the drying process. This gives the tea it’s special flavor and Dragon Well is one of the best of Chinese green teas. It is said that the tea is famous for its ‘four wonders’ - the emerald green color, its aromatic flavor, sweet taste and beautiful apearance. It has a high nutritional value and people in China drink it to improve their health as well as enjoy it’s flavor and aroma. When it is properly brewed (and of course ours was!), it is a light green colour and has a delicate herby flavor that is also somewhat tangy. The boiling water is left to cool to the correct temperature (around 75 degrees celsius) as this will not destroy the natural chlorophyl in the tea. Please do not buy Dargon well tea bags as they are probably of inferior quality as the plantation is all about how the leaves are picked and when and I didn’t see one teabag in use…
When the tea tasting was over and most of us had purchased some Dragon Well loose tea, we went on to look around and also visit the store. Here I bought two shoulder cushions which were filled with the fragrant tea. They were very reasonable and I used them on the plane on the way home to help me sleep.
On the way down towards the lake, you could see that quite a few of the houses in the Dragon Well village are open as small tea shops where you can sit outside in the garden and enjoy the spectacular views with your cup of Dragon Well tea. Our guide told us that it was quite common for city people to come here and enjoy their tea and the scenery after the hectic pace of the city. The village certainly looked very attractive. It was a wonderful day - beautiful surroundings and a whole lot of education and drinking tea!
Hi…friends
I think asian region is the best for tea production specially china and some of the states in India where best quality of tea is produced in the world.
WHo goes to China and has no tea?!?! Love the post. Keep me posted on your China Tea Tour - sounds like a dream.
Tea Studies Education
Tea Classes from beginning to advanced in English, Certifications awarded in the various areas Tea Studies, practical brewing as well as identifying, becoming a Tea Master, Tea Instructor, or Tea Enthusiast,
Thirty years of tradition this school is still ran by the same people.
Lu-Yu Tea Culture Institute
#64, Heng-Yang Rd.,Taipei, Taiwan, 10003 Tel: +886-2-2331-6636FAX： +886-2-2331-0660
for English just email
English contact - 英文 : Steven icetea8@gmail.com
Chinese contact - 中文 : 涂老師 luyutea@ms59.hinet.net
陸羽茶藝中心
( 10003，台北市衡陽路62號 )
Hello again Rachel
I soooo agree with you… how can one not want to talk about or share with the world (even if everyone does it) about this wonder when you are actually in the country of origin… what a shame.
I mean… everyone’s story has something unique to add to this healthy trend that is taking on the world by storm!
Most of the tea drunk in England is black tea in a bag so no real excitment there. There are lots of tour in China and Taiwan available, if you speak manadrin.