I will miss you Grandmom.

FAN – Lily, Sau Tai, 81, passed away peacefully at home in Chappaqua on January 27. A devout Christian, her faith had provided her strength and courage to endure with grace a long illness due to cancer. She had survived two major wars in China, and devoted her entire life for her much extended family, friends and churches with unwavering faith, love and compassion. Over the years, she had kept an extensive network of friends both in North America, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. A true leader with trail blazing personality and a generous soul to all her friends, she will be missed by all.

Thank You.

It is my greatest joy and gratitude, that I had received these gifts for my wedding.
I started planting this "Virtual seed" back in May 2006, to share my adventure in the passage for tea.
Through time, this tea blog has became fruitful with like-minded mandarins.

Even though we have never met face to face sharing the same cup of tea, tea has drawn us together as friends.
I guess this will be the future of communication for man kind.... but I still see the age old Chinese tradition of sharing a cup of good tea, or offering each other tea as a gesture of harmony and peace. The Chinese saying of "Through tea, friends gather" will have a new meaning in our times.

I and my new family, sincerely thank you, Lawrence, Andrew and Stephane for having me in your thoughts and sharing all these wonderful gifts which we all treasured. I am certain that one day, even we are all apart now; Will gather together to share this wonderful experience that became our life long pursuit.

Yours Truthfully and Respectfully,
Timothy, Jooyoung and Toki.

Green tea from Korea. Finally!

Korean Green tea, April 06. Cost more then 100 US per 50g!
A cross between japanese green and Bi Luo Chun. Worth the experience.

Korean tea master usually add Cherry blossoms after the 3rd infus.
The tea then turns into an intense floral, almond flavor brew, best serve cool. I have to say the mouth feel and the aftertaste is more interesting then brewing it by itself. Very hard to get korean Cherry blossom though....

The Reason for My Disappearance....

My Wedding and the making of My Wedding Cake.

What is traditional Kung Fu Tea?

Beside the known meaning of Kung Fu Tea = A lot of work/practices to prepare tea.
What is the true method and practice of it? Where is the origin and steps for it? and the meaning behind the steps?
Who really understood the practice of it? Too many questions, too little answer. Anyone....

destemming....

The most labor intensive finessing of tea processing. Either in phoenix, Yiwu or Anxi, there is no substitute.

Oolong's Crab's Claw...

Vines growing on a 400+ years old tea bush. So how old is the vine?
Crab's claw is a parasitic vine.... Do you want to have a cup?

Hong Kong Dim Sum at 5:30am

Puerh+shoumei. A cooked and a White or B&W.
A very traditonal Cantonese hangout in Hong Kong.

The reason for visiting Korea....

Insadong, Seoul. The gathering of all sort of tea and pottery shops.


Kwangju, South of Seoul. Where all famous potters from Koryö and Chosön Dynasties gathered.




Underglaze Iron, Korean Celadon. Some of the most breath taking work of art. 16th C. Joseon period.

The Best Tea House, HK

Master Chan was kind enough to treat us with some 80's puerh.
I fall in love with this turn of the century pot.... Unfortunately, the tag was far out of my reach : (

Guangzhou Tea City

Searching for a good Wuyi tea vendor/roasting master.

A True Hong Kongese diet...

Nothing can compare to a True Hong Kong style "High Tea":
Panty Hose milk tea (a mix of red/black/cooked puerh and egg shell, cooked for hrs.), company with Buttered Pineapple bun, right off the oven.... Pure satisfaction!

Great Tease from a Hong Kong's Vendor....

A complete stack of 80's Guang Yun Gong Beengs, company with Hun Yins, 80's 8582s. 2 Cupboards full of 20's-80's zhu ni and other fun pots.
Also my pick of a 30's Zhu Ni pot. What do you think, did I picked a good one?

Some Great Turn of the Century Pots

Comparing Wuyi and FengHuang tea farms

Chinese saying of a "Rich Earth" comparing to "Poor Earth".
The Qi and Natural spirit in Wuyi are far Deeper/Richer then the Qi in FengHuang.

Wuyi Shui Xian Oolong Process (Fired Once).

Wuyi Rock Oolong tasting....

An eye opening tasting, at one of the bigger factory in Wuyi Shan.

From top to bottom:
1. Huang guanyin 2006 May. Fired once.
2. 200+ years old bush Shui Xian. 2004 May. Fired twice, Micro-fired 2 times
3. 28-30 years aged old bush Shui Xian. Micro-fired once.
4. 5 years aged Da Houg Pao. Micro-fired 3 times.
FYI: Correction on my previous posting May 31, 06. "Dynasty Dan Cong" Article regarding DHP.
From Wuyi's farmers point of view, Da Houg Pao is not under Shui Xian category, but a separated variety.

I never had such good Cha Qi wuyi tea experience before, specially the 5 years aged DHP (Which I did shared with people at tea gallery this Tuesday), it was like drinking a fine aged 15-20 years old puerh from Yiwu. These are combination of many factors: Clean environment, old bush harvests, experience farmer, one harvesting per year or sometimes every 2 years, right processing by hand, master firing technique, proper storing and most of all patience from the master. Wuyi Rock oolong is a "Crafted" tea, unlike puerh which could be aged by nature.

Charcoal firing room on the right and finish Tie Luo Han at the end.

Wuyi Mountain dawn

500+ years old shui Xian single bush

A time capsule and Qi gathering spot. 1500+meters on the slope of Wu Dong.

Feng Huang Mountain Range

View from the top of Wu Dong Mountain (1720m), Chaozhou. Guang Dong Province. Heaven Pond on the far right and the peak of phoenix (the head) in the middle.


The Famous Song King Tea Bush 728+ years old. Growing under the rock engraved in Red "Song Zhong".