Tea Mountain - Jan. 28, 2009

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Love the way Chao Zhou tea is served. Tea is served in what seems like porcelain shot glasses and poured from a ceramic cup with no spout. The object is to get as few bubbles as possible in each shot glass as you continuously pour. One never stops pouring until all of the shot glasses are filled. The amount of spillage is a minor matter.

The locals always seem to find any reason to kick back and have tea - whether it's pre or post hiking, pre or post meal, pre or post shower, pre or post discussion, in between snacks, in between card games, upon waking, or just before sleeping.

It's fragrant and warming. I hear it helps with digestion. So, one can eat all one wants to eat. The tea will help you digest the food away.....haha, yeah right! Nothing is gonna help me digest all this glutinous gluttony except a treadmill or an elliptical.

I got to see where the tea grows. The higher the elevation, the better. The climate is more arid, temperate and conducive for Chao Zhou teas. According to our mountain guide, 2008's spring harvest was the best. We got to compare each season's harvest. Check out Ivy's photo here.

Luya, bless him, connected with a family that lives on what I will call "tea mountain" cuz I dunno the real name. The owners stir-fried our pre-hike meal out of the biggest household wok I've ever seen. Used lots of branches to get the cooking flames hot enough. Got to stoke the fire a little. Feelin' rustic.

Potent brown rice wine that's been fermented inside bamboo was served with our pre-hike meal. Ray-Ray and Jack loved the fatty pork. Ray-Ray can't stop talking about how crispy the fat was. I guess it beats Canadian bacon, eh, Ray-Ray (he's Canadian)? I loved the rice wine and was tempted have more were it not for the hike ahead. Oh well.

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