Gui Hua Cha

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No one can tell me that I am not getting enough fiber in my Zhong Guo diet. I am nursing a steaming cup of Gui Hua Cha...which is the tea this beautiful city is famous for - Osmanthus Tea. I just inhaled a twig...although as it forced its way down my esophagus it felt more like an enormous branch.

I am still feeling my way around the art of tea-making. I have endless ingredients, although when it comes to making the perfect cup of tea, I am still a bit hopeless. I have jasmine flowers and osmanthus flowers, green tea leaves, those brown balls...whatever they are called, dried mandarin slices, jasmine-infused green tea leaves...osmanthus-infused green tea leaves. The list is endless. Well, that's not quite true. It ends with the osmanthus-infused green tea leaves. So far the only tea I have managed to make perfectly is the milk tea, which comes in meted-out packets.

A word of advice to you future CCEP-ers (or anyone planning on coming to China); a small pinch of dried tea leaves goes a long way. If you are content with staying inside on a chilly, blustery day - you can steep and re-steep the same tea leaves. Each successive cup will be a little less harsh, but that's a good thing in my mind.

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