Tea at a local garden

Tea break

On that warm day a few weeks ago, I visited a tea plantation on the grounds of the China National Tea Museum in Hangzhou, China.

A steaming cup of tea with loose leaves floating around in it is the traditional drink of China, although young people really like their coffee and pearl milk tea as well.

We (my young American friend and I) were not offered a sip of tea while we were there at the museum grounds (it was the holidays and they had a bare bones staff on hand). But the scenery was awesome and I found the experience very relaxing. China is a beautiful place, so I hope you'll get a glimpse of it in my photos here.

The aftermath

On Sunday morning I had some local friends over for a "party" of sorts. We ate pumpkin bread, drank green tea (coffee for me) and talked about life. Then I offered them some pork stew over rice for lunch. And when it was all over, my "coffee table" (which is in the shape and location of a village dining table) looked like this. All in all, it's a beautiful sight, because though it is really a mess, it is evidence of something good.

I hate it when that happens

On Saturday, May 26th, I stumbled upon the local culture and arts center run by the government. They were remodeling the tea room so that it could serve as the venue for upcoming opera performances that would start two days later, on Monday, May 28th.

What a wonderful idea! Listen to the {screeching in nasally tones} opera singers while sipping Chinese tea in an ancient garden setting. I would definitely be back! Why, I could even take pictures that I could share with you, my blog readers!

But I wasn't born yesterday. I had my doubts that they would actually start performing on May 28th, despite what the printed brochure they handed me said. After all, this is the Middle Kingdom. Things said in the most definite, confident and earnest of tones cannot necessarily be relied on...folks here often voice their hopes and dreams as if they were facts. Well, guess what? You can't fool me, I've been here awhile, ya know?

So I went on Friday, June 1st. Surely things would be in operation by the fifth day.

Yet as I exited the taxi and walked towards the culture center, I had a feeling in my bones that this was going to be a bust. I walked in and saw the empty room and empty chairs at the empty tea tables (photo above). The only costumes were the ones on the wall (photos above).

The guy working the tea counter shrugged his shoulders and said he had no idea when they would actually start performing. No idea.

Fooled again.