Tea leads to Taiwan Tour

Sun Moon Lake

Tea Terrace

A recent comprehensive travel writing about Taiwan by Simon Tisdall of the Guardian opens his narrative with an afternoon visit to a hillside redwood tea house sitting in a "garden of heavenly peace".  The visual description is followed by pages of seasoned journalist's objective reporting.  As a long time resident during my student days as well as a frequent visitor of the island, there are still so many places mentioned in the article that I have missed.

Frequent comments of my friends are similar in tune: that Taiwan is a never-ending surprise in the discovery of its unique culture, scenery, culinary delight, and esp. for me--tea houses !

Tender Fresh Green Tea

fresh hand-picked green tea (2 leaves and a bud)

precious cup of "Dragon Well" green tea in the making

A comprehensive knowledge base for Chinese tea is the Chinese Tea Museum in Hongzhou.  The city is renown for the scenic West Lake and exquisite "Dragon Well" green tea ( "Lung Jing" in Chinese pronunciation) thanks to many literary references by esteemed poets.   The area's gentle terrain and quality water also play a part for the popularity of this green tea favored by many Chinese.

Generosity, Hospitality, Serenity, Tenacity....

Chinese Cedar tree with tenacity (30 years of slow growth)

Serenity of Lotus

I have a beautiful 4.5 x 7" devotional booklet "Woman of God...Moments of Grace" which is a gift from my church for Mother's day.  The subtly patterned purple book cover has a watercolor painting of English bone china filled with pink peonies.  The 25 subjects are titled with a word ending in "tea" pronunciation.  Thoughtful inspirational message is accompanied by beautiful painting of tea sets.  What a fun exercise to add more words to the inexhaustible list--Modes-tea, Brevi-tea, Creativi-tea,........

Now is the performance season for roses

Quite a few gardeners told me that due to the past snowy winter, their garden plants are extra healthy (less bugs) with bountiful blooms (abundant moisture) this spring.  My garden is also showcasing a delightful rose bush:  Crown Princess Margaret.  Not only its multi-layered petals are a joy to behold, the flower also sends out intense rosy fragrances similar to my first perfume "Joy" from the House of Jean Patou . Funny how things all come together eventually, if given ample time, patience and care.