Tea Ceremony

On Thursday I attended a tea ceremony demonstration and lesson. It was for the diplomatic spouses, as you can see from the sign in the first picture. One of our own, Keiko from Japan, did the demonstration. Though she is Japanese, she is very well educated in Chinese tea culture.

It's a very long process, the hot water is first used to heat the pot, then it's used to heat the cups then it is used to brew a first brew, which is discarded, then the second brewing is drunk, in three sips from the little cups. We saw three different ceremonies and viewed how some tea is preserved. Here, Keiko is pouring the water to heat the cups.