By Nancy Zhang (Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-22 09:27

Florence Samson was looking for a place that explains tea culture to foreigners. She couldn't find one, so she decided to open Song Fang Maison de The that embodies her passion for perfection.

In this ultra modern, sprawling metropolis, Frenchwoman Florence Samson has found a "neighborhood feeling." It's hidden in the winding lanes harboring pockets of vivid life, and it's something she is trying to preserve.

On a quiet corner of the former French concession, Samson has opened a very personal space of her own - Song Fang Maison de The.

In English "Maison de The" means "House of Tea" and "Song Fang" is "Samson" in Chinese. Language aside though, the meaning of this place is harder to pin down. What Song Fang houses and shelters is not just tea culture in all its forms, but a unique brand of luxury that is Samson's personal creation.

The teahouse and tea shop offers 40 types of high-quality Chinese teas, plus 20 types of French blended teas. Here you can smell the naturalness of Chinese green teas, the smoky intenseness of black teas, and the complex fragrance of French teas blended with fruit and floral flavors.

It is an experience for all the senses. Not only are the teas a feast of aromas, the house itself, with a very modern interior, is also a charming piece of old Shanghai from the 1920s or 1930s. Even the tea packaging is beautifully designed and recyclable.

But the spirit of the place - its sense of beauty and attention to detail - had their origins elsewhere. "Many times when we think of China we think of cheap things and low quality. We forget that in the 18th century the Chinese were world experts in luxury," Samson says. "The most luxurious products in Europe, like silk, porcelain and tea, came from China. I want to revive something of this culture," she says.

Perhaps this is because Samson's previous career was in the luxury industry. She first came to Shanghai eight years ago with her Shanghainese husband and worked for the luxury brand Veuve Clicquot. Previously she was Christian Dior cosmetics director for Russia.

Working with fine wines and champagne in China gave her a good basis for working with tea. Still, she spent five years researching and finding a tea master, visiting plantations in Yunnan Province, teahouses in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, and Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, and tea blenders in France.

Trained in an industry where extraordinary lengths are required for extraordinary quality, it's not surprising that Samson has applied painstaking efforts to her own business.

But Song Fang also possesses something hard to create in big, corporate brands: a personal touch. It's this that makes it luxurious, rather than a high price tag. Samson is right there at a counter, chatting with customers about tea and making suggestions.

The large two-story interior is casual/elegant - modern, warm and light, with hardwood floors, white walls and simple rattan and wood furniture. Tables, chairs and sofas are arranged in inviting groups. Old wooden bird cages hang from the ceiling and Samson's favorite retro biscuit tins adorn one wall. The upholstery is the charming red-and-pink floral print seen in rural areas, and now quite trendy in interior design. It's a place to relax and enjoy a pot of tea; the teahouse is upstairs.

The large tea tins and simple tea service are baby blue, bearing the logo - a tea farmer holding a hoe and his wife holding a basket of tea.

Samson chooses all the teas herself. When asked how to tell whether a tea is good, she replies simply, "Whatever makes you happy. It's not about expensiveness. Tea is like perfume, and each has a personality of its own."

Having been in the city for a long time, she has seen its many changes, and the pace of those changes has often made doing business difficult. Yet she has persisted because there is something about Shanghai she loves. These are the very human, what she describes as "rustic" areas, almost like villages, where you can see local people going about their daily lives.

This is also reflected in the teahouse, particularly in its echoes of the rustic. In its decor, its furnishing, and even in its logo, Song Fang pays tribute to the tea farmers who make it all possible. The preservation of the site was also a labor of love. "It's my dream to save an old house," says Samson, "because it preserves memory."

In her own way she has helped slow down, by a millisecond, the frantic pace of the city.

Song Fang Maison de The
Opening hours: 10am-8pm, closed on Mondays
Address: 227 Yongjia Rd (at Shaanxi Rd)
Tel: 021-64338283