(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-09-19 16:40

The Chinese drank their tea from tea bowls without handles, but the bowls were too hot to handle for the British ladies. This led manufacturers to design teacups with handles. Ever more elaborate teapots and teacups became collectors' items.

Among the more than 2,000 tea varieties, Darjeeling is rated top of the bill and the semi-fermented Oolong teas are considered the most expensive. Scented teas are made from green, oolong or black teas to which herbs and spices or flowers such as jasmine are added. In Britain, a debate was even held about the proper time to add milk to certain teas.

Until the 1840s, tea was only drunk at breakfast and after dinner. The Seventh Duchess of Bedford felt so hungry between lunch and dinner that she ordered tea and cakes to be served in the afternoon. The concept of afternoon tea was born... While traveling by road, rail or air, the British could never leave their cup of tea behind. Combining tea drinking with dancing, the Thé Dansant was brought into vogue. In between sipping tea, the tango and later on the Charleston, were the favored dances. Today, tea dances are still regularly held at the Savoy Hotel and the Royal Opera House in London. For those who preferred their teas in a quiet setting, tearooms began to emerge.

Afternoon tea has been a popular British tradition, never more so than during the war years, when tea was rationed. Those times are long past and now you can drink tea as much as you like, from morning till evening.

Morel's Gong Ti Restaurant
Address: 1/F, No.5 Red Block Xin Zhong Street ,Dongcheng District (Opposite to Worker's Gym. North Gate)
Tel: 010-6416 8802
Fax: 010-6416 6658

Morel's Liang Ma Restaurant
Address: 1/F, East Block No.27 Liangmaqiao Road, Chaoyang District (Besides Liang Ma Antique Market, Opposite to Ai Jia Furniture Center )
Tel: 010-6437 3939
Fax: 010-6437 3232

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