Tea ceremony give guests a chance to taste its charm

Hundreds of people from all walks of life tasted Chinese tea, learned about tea culture and experienced intangible cultural heritage at a salon at the Chinese embassy.

The Tea for Harmony: Yaji Cultural Salon event was hosted on Sunday by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Chinese embassy.

Sipping the fragrant tea, watching the elaborate tea ceremony and getting to learn about a variety of tea leaves and tea ware, people in Washington experienced the unique charm of Chinese tea culture in an immersive way.

May 21 was established as International Tea Day in a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2019.

The composition of the Chinese character for "tea" reveals three parts: grass on top, people in the middle, and wood at the bottom. This character illustrates "people living in nature", according to an explanation by Xu Xueyuan, charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in the US, at the salon.

In her speech, Xu said that tea has thousands of years of history in China. She described tea as a gift from China to the world, a bridge for exchange and mutual learning among civilizations, an envoy of Chinese culture, and a witness to the development of US-China relations.

"At the salon today, we will have the pleasure of enjoying Da Hong Pao (Wuyi rock tea from Fujian) and revisit those beautiful episodes of win-win cooperation between our two countries," said Xu. "We sincerely hope that China and the US will join hands to bring bilateral relations back on the track of sound and steady growth for the peace and development of the world."

The government of Quanzhou, a city in China's Fujian province, was one of the organizers of the salon. Su Gengcong, vice-mayor of Quanzhou, discussed the tea industry in Quanzhou as well as the charm of the historical, cultural city.

Janice Deaver, one of the guests, told China Daily that she "enjoyed the beautiful tea ceremony and learned so many wonderful things about the tea. She (the tea presenter) showed us how to really taste it".

"My husband and I would try Chinese tea, drink it carefully, and enjoy it more than we ever had."

Yang Aihong, a tea artist at the Tea Culture Development Center, Anxi county, Quanzhou, said she was proud to display Chinese tea culture at the Chinese embassy in the US.

"I hope more people can understand Chinese tea culture through my performance. The audience's enthusiasm made me happy, and I really cherish the harmonious and connected atmosphere among us," she told China Daily.

Another guest, Benjy Renton, told China Daily that participating in the salon seems like "going back to China" for him.

"For me, 'Tea for Harmony' means we, the US and China, should respect, realize and cooperate with one another," Renton said.