A Tea Addict's Journal

I drank a dahongpao today, to help me recover from the many maochas I’ve had recently.  It certainly makes you feel different when drinking it.  I brewed it strong today, using a full 80% of dry leaves in the gaiwan.  The first infusion was a little sour, but the sourness went away by the second.  The rock aftertaste was strong, and the remaining infusions sweet.  A very welcomed change from young raw maochas.

Although, I might have to live with drinking some Qimen Hongcha the next few days, and perhaps a few cups of green teas here and there.  That’s because I’m going to go to Changshu in Jiangsu province, about an hour and half away from Shanghai by car.  As some of you have already discovered, if you ask me where I’m from I might give you different answers on different days.  If you insist on where I’m really from, however, I will tell you my family’s from Changshu.  It’s the place where my family has resided for the past 800 years.  It was only my grandfather’s generation when people dispersed a little more, and he himself left the place when he was young.  Before that, my family has spent 25 generations staying there.  So that is, in many ways, my hometown.  I’m there primarily to visit family tombs and to do some research, and perhaps, to visit a tea farm if I get the chance.

I might not get access to Xanga in the next few days, or even internet.  I will, however, try to take lots of pictures.  If you don’t hear from me for a few days, don’t worry, there was no earthquake :).