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Were you expecting to see the classic tea ceremony? Well, we did attended one
of those in Beijing several days earlier. But, let's call this "very early"
tea time; the real first "touching" of the tea. Yes, what you see above
are rows and rows of tea trees.
Tea has been grown in China for as far back as human history has been recorded. It
has been produced there on a commercial scale since about the 8th century and was
introduced to Europe by the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century. We all
have our favorite teas: black, green, oolong and others. The British, Chinese, and
Japanese have elaborate ceremonies surrounding its consumption. The Indians create
an outstanding taste when they "cook" it with other spices. However, B
likes to point out that it is the Southerners who truly civilized tea by serving
it "over ice."
Below, Nancy and L examine the new growth that is the commercial product of the tea
trees while Gretchen captures the moment and attempts to keep dry on this rainy and
very overcast day. |
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Both of these photos were taken with an Olympus APS camera with
400 speed film.
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