AT the wood-panelled Lock Cha
tea-house in Hong Kong Park, on the Island side in Admiralty, teamaster
Terrance Cheng is explaining the intricacies of myriad types of classic
cha, from health-giving green and flowery jasmine to the delicate
phoenix oolong.
Our little group forms an arc around Teamaster Cheng at a long
wooden table; his utensils have been set out with surgical precision and
he explains slowly and lovingly the procedure for proper teamaking. I
am pleased to see that rinsing and warming the pot -- he refers to the
process as "seasoning" -- before adding the tea leaves are crucial
steps.
I grew up with a mother who insisted on the ceremony of
tea-taking and would have quite liked to put on gloves and a hat if she
had neighbourhood ladies in for afternoon tea in the front parlour
(savagely dusted, reserved for "best" and if the Queen should happen to
pop by).
Lock Cha, sometimes spelled as Lok Cha, was founded by Ip
Wing-chi, a tea trader and connoisseur who retails pure,
single-harvest, estate tea from a handful of China's provinces in green,
red, greenish oolong, white, the increasingly rare yellow and
twice-fermented black varieties. He also runs a larger tea shop on
Queen's Road in Central, and prettily wrapped packets of leaves are sold
at both outlets.
Teamaster Cheng explains that green tea contains a high amount of
antioxidants and says that connoisseurs prefer theirs served in a glass
"to better see and appreciate the delicate shape of the leaves".
He
makes our pot of green tea with water of a lower temperature (just off
the boil, I would say) than the phoenix oolong that follows.
The
consensus among our group of novices is that the latter is more
delicious, with distinct floral notes. Teamaster Cheng further advises
that the longer the tea is steeped, the richer it becomes; I get the
sense one could "grow" a pot all day, replenishing the leaves to form
almost a kind of stock.
Our afternoon session is one of many free
activities on offer as part of the Hong Kong Tourism Board's Cultural
Kaleidoscope program, which gives visitors insights into various Chinese
traditions, such as tai chi, feng shui and even making festival
mooncakes.
With its calligraphy scrolls hung like vertical banners
and ornamented room dividers, Lock Cha tea-house is a fragrant
sanctuary that seems far removed from the purposeful metropolis on its
doorstep. Also in Hong Kong Park is the uniquely specialised Museum of
Tea Ware, housed in the 1840s-built Flagstaff House, the oldest
surviving colonial building in this one-time British territory.
In
a series of tall-ceilinged rooms with french doors is displayed a
600-strong collection of all the utensils and paraphernalia of oriental
tea, including precious ceramics from the storied Ming dynasty and
humble but pretty little Yixing purplish clay teapots that would have
been passed down through generations of rural families.
Some of
the more decorative pots have melon-stalk or animal-shaped lids or are
designed like fish, with pouting lips for spouts. It's a curious
collection and entry is free; you may never feel the same about teabags
again.
Susan Kurosawa was a guest of the Hong Kong Tourism Board.
Source
Spring Forest Healing Fest
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