Duration: 2 days. Time: August. Per capita cost: 1000 yuan. With whom: Parent-child. Activity: Cultural, weekend trip.
The author visited these places: Shanghai. Published on 2020-08-28 01:02.
“Mom, where does tea come from?” “A leaf falls into the water and changes the taste of the water. Since then, there is tea.” Perhaps it is an obsession with traditional Chinese culture. In my list of trips with my child, I always hope to incorporate more Chinese cultural elements. Therefore, when invited by a friend to taste tea, I readily accepted. China is the hometown of tea. Naturally, I hope to plant a small seed in his heart from an early age and wait for it to slowly germinate and overflow with the fragrance of tea leaves. Thus, a journey to pursue traditional Chinese tea ceremony culture begins.
This is a two-day journey. Rather than hoping that the child will understand tea in these two days, I hope that he will understand etiquette more. Tea ceremony etiquette is in the same line as Chinese etiquette. For me, I also hope that my child can exercise his concentration through learning tea art and in the process of using his hands and brain, and at the same time increase his cultural accomplishment.
In the morning, starting from downtown Shanghai, after about an hour’s drive, we arrived at Taihui Life and Culture Park. As a native of Shanghai, I was unfamiliar with this place. But after coming here, I was amazed. This is definitely a hidden gem in the city. I regret not discovering this paradise earlier. As soon as the car drove into the park, it was attracted by the antique cultural atmosphere of the entire cultural park. King Kong Museum, Mingyue Tea Fairy, ancient architecture, Colored Glaze World, etc. Here, traditional Chinese culture is gathered. From art exhibitions to tea culture to ancient architecture, incorporating tea, zen, and art makes this garden more like a place for cultivating the mind in culture and art.
We drove directly to the hotel. Tai Hotel is also part of Taihui Life and Culture Park. The children’s tea ceremony class is also here, so it is very convenient. Entering the hotel lobby, the modern Chinese style design is simple and elegant. The fragrance of tea can be smelled in the entire air. Tea culture elements can be seen everywhere in the room. From small tea fragrances and tea soaps to large tea ware decorations, the elegance and delicacy of traditional Chinese culture are brought to the fullest.
At the front desk, we received the teaching aids for the entire course. Surprisingly, a set of tea ceremony clothes was found inside. That is prepared for the children. Changing the baby’s clothes in the room officially starts the two-day and one-night children’s tea ceremony tour.
Tea Ceremony Culture – Etiquette Chapter.
It is not yet time for class, but the children have arrived one after another. Wearing small tea ceremony clothes, they have already sneaked into the classroom and started playing. For them, this is not only a course but also a place to make friends. Children are really simple. After chasing each other for two laps, they become familiar. The class starts on time at 10 o’clock. The teacher starts to call them to line up outside the classroom. The students line up in four columns from short to tall. Wearing tea ceremony clothes and carrying their small schoolbags, it is quite ceremonial. But it is not so easy to enter the classroom. Courtesy comes first in everything. For China, a country of etiquette, etiquette in tea activities is also a very important part. Therefore, ‘tea ceremony etiquette’ becomes their first lesson.
The bow, as its name suggests, is a formal gesture expressing respect towards others. It is the first etiquette the children learn, mimicking their teacher’s movements. Although their bows are not yet uniform, they are learning the proper form. Once the children have a basic understanding of the bow, the door to ‘Children’s Tea Etiquette’ officially opens for them. Teachers lead the children by the hand, queuing up to take their seats in the classroom. Parents are allowed to listen in from an adjacent area. Our children range from under two years old to sixteen, with multiple teachers who, influenced by tea culture, speak softly and act with gentle grace, taking care of each child with tenderness. Many children are visiting for the first time, but there are also those who have come two or three times before. Their parents have planted a small seed of tea culture in them since childhood, and now that it has begun to sprout, they return for a deeper learning experience. The newcomers are full of curiosity about this place, their eyes brimming with uncontrollable joy. The teachers say that students who perform well in each segment will receive paper slips, and three slips can be exchanged for a carefully prepared tea bag from the teachers. The reward system is always effective with children, and they become more energized.
Upon first encountering the fragrance of tea, she, dressed in a simple outfit with her hair cascading down to her waist, walks lightly to the podium.The children exclaim “Wow,” recognizing her as the “Tea Fairy.” Regulars of the children’s etiquette class are the first to spot her. She smiles gently, her every movement filled with composure and elegance. True to her name, the Tea Fairy is as gentle as if descending from heaven when she lifts the pot, but once she puts it down, she seems to return to earth, more like a mother, mingling with the children. The children stand by the table and bow to the Tea Fairy as they have just learned.
This section is about tea recognition. The children take out their book from their backpacks, “Tea Fairy | The Joy of Drinking Tea,” a book written by the Tea Fairy herself. The content is simple and easy to understand, accompanied by lovely illustrations. The children seem to be reading a picture book. Starting with a single leaf, the Tea Fairy leads the children into the colorful world behind tea. Some may wonder if children can understand the tea culture that even adults only know a little about. Before coming, I was also concerned, but when I saw the children answering the Tea Fairy’s questions fluently, I realized the potential of children is truly endless. From the more than 700 types of tea fragrances to the five flavors of tea, and then to the types of tea, they quickly mastered it all in a short time.
To make the knowledge from the book more intuitive, the Tea Fairy brought six types of tea: green, white, yellow, oolong, black, and dark teas, allowing the children to come up and identify them. At the same time, she personally brewed green, yellow, and black teas for the children to taste. It is unclear whether the tea moistened her or she warmed the tea, but the tea brewed by the Tea Fairy always has a pleasant aroma. The fragrance of the tea leaves remains on the lid of the bowl, and the Tea Fairy lets the scent flow from the tip of the children’s noses. The children, smelling the tea for the first time, can’t help but exclaim, “It’s really fragrant.” Observing the color of the tea, such interactive segments show great interest among the children. Except for my two-year-old baby, who is already a bit restless, but fortunately, lunchtime is almost here.
At noon, everyone dines in the hotel’s restaurant where the dishes are meticulously designed for children, with a balanced mix of meat and vegetables, perfectly suited to their taste. The influence of the environment on a child is truly powerful. With their older siblings around, my baby, who never wanted to eat by himself, surprisingly picked up the spoon and ate happily, bite by bite. After lunch, we return to our rooms for a brief nap, enjoying a good rest before resuming the afternoon’s lessons.
At this moment, the Tea Fairy is seated at the tea table, planting a small seed of tea culture in each child’s book. “Learning to brew tea is like picking it up solemnly five hundred times to master the graceful and elegant way to put it down just once,” a phrase the Tea Fairy shares with the children. If the morning was filled with theoretical lessons, the afternoon is dedicated to practical sessions. The children, now with a basic understanding of tea, start to have their own name tags and a new identity, that of little tea fairies. Each child receives a set of tea utensils, which becomes their treasure, carefully carried back to their seats.
The Tea Fairy teacher explains and demonstrates the basic process and etiquette of tea brewing on the podium. She slowly transfers the tea leaves into the bowl, pours water, lifts the pot, steeps, and pours the soup… Her movements are smooth and continuous, each gesture revealing the gentle Eastern temperament. Listening from the side, I suddenly realize that these seemingly simple steps of tea art actually have profound nuances, with the amount of tea leaves, water temperature, and steeping time all affecting the taste of the tea soup.
When the children treasure their tea sets, parents are also asked to assist their children on site. The first thing to learn is the arrangement of tea utensils. During practice, the teacher prepares cold water for the children, so there’s no need to worry about burns for beginners. The Tea Fairy selects the Phoenix Dancong ‘Yashi Xiang’ for the children, a strange-sounding name that is as precious as cat屎 coffee in the coffee world. It’s a bit heart-wrenching to see the good tea being handled by the children in this way. But the Tea Fairy says that it’s important for children to experience the aroma of the tea with their taste buds and to remember the fragrance of their first sip of tea in their hearts. This way, they can have a standard to judge the quality of tea in future tastings. Phoenix Dancong is known for its aroma, and even when brewed cold, it can emit a fragrant scent, making it the most suitable choice.
As the children focus on the world of tea art, the whole world becomes quiet, their temperaments gentle, their minds calm, and their focused expressions truly resemble little tea fairies.Although they still look a bit naive, the teachers will personally go to each child to correct and guide their tea brewing process and gestures. My son Kai, who also learns earnestly, does not forget to smell the tea fragrance after brewing and then takes a small sip, exclaiming in a childish voice, “Fragrant!” Brewing tea is not an easy task, as the Tea Fairy teacher shared with the children, “Brewing tea is like picking it up solemnly five hundred times to master the graceful and elegant way to put it down just once.” To achieve a calm and elegant demeanor, practice is the only choice. For a child, repeating a movement can cause slight soreness, so the mid-session break becomes a good regulator. Every day, the children look forward to what fresh snacks there will be, and after eating, they have time to play together, filling the rest area with laughter.
The evening time belongs to parents and children. How long has it been since you put down your work and quietly accompanied your child? At this moment, let time secretly stop in front of you. Every child is like a little elf with unique skills. When they go on stage, they are all natural and graceful. From poetry recitation to singing and dancing, they can perform several programs in a row. My 2-year-old baby was thought to be too young, so I didn’t sign him up to perform on stage. As a result, he was not happy and had to ask the teacher for a microphone and rush to show his talent on stage. These children put on a performance. The parents offstage were all smiling from ear to ear. This is a performance dedicated to their parents and also to their own childhood.
The second day’s course moved to the King Kong Museum. This is one of the biggest highlights in the entire park. Different from ordinary museums, this is the largest private museum in Shanghai. The entire museum is composed of ten exhibition halls, including the Modern and Contemporary Masters Hall, Oil Painting Hall, Ancient Stone Carving Hall, Stationery and Antique Hall, and Glass Art Museum. The museum has no less than 40,000 rare collections such as calligraphy, paintings, and sculptures. And the children’s course this morning starts in the Mingyue Tea Museum, one of the ten exhibition halls. Entering the Mingyue Tea Museum, the national style is strong. It is like opening a historical book of Chinese tea. From natural civilization, technical civilization to deductive development, it is presented in the most intuitive way in front of the children. From tea sets, tea ware, and tea leaves, children have a new understanding of tea culture. It turns out that there are so many particularities in tea art. Passing through the tea deductive civilization exhibition area, one arrives at the awakening exhibition area. Here, the natural civilization of Chinese tea is displayed. Ancient tree tea samples from more than a hundred tea mountains are gathered. Each cup of tea crosses mountains and reaches the hands of tea lovers. Rather than just a cup of tea, it is more like a carrier of the natural civilization of the Chinese tea environment. The children sit on the ground, meditate surrounded by tea culture, smell the fragrance of tea, and feel the life of tea. Under the leadership of the teacher, they read aloud China’s most famous tea study work, ‘The Classic of Tea’. For children, it is a bit awkward and obscure. But at this moment, the children can all calm down and read aloud with the teacher. Even if they cannot fully understand the meaning, under the rendering of such a cultural atmosphere, a brand of tea culture has already been left in their hearts. And for us who are listening on the side, it may be another kind of profound awakening. This is not only a tea ceremony culture class for children, but also allows parents to put down the worldly hustle and bustle and quietly feel the wisdom of tea art and Zen.
After the reading aloud, the young students return to the classroom and continue to practice the tea-making class in tea ceremony culture with the tea fairy teacher to prepare for the afternoon’s graduation report performance. The children have already remembered the process in their hearts, but to truly achieve elegance and propriety still requires multiple practices. Yesterday, the children were still making tea with cold water. Today, the difficulty has increased. Older children can choose to make tea with warm water or hot water. Only the appropriate water temperature can release the aroma of tea. In order to make good tea, the children are all eager to try. My little Kaikai is also rarely so focused. Making tea and serving tea are quite imposing.
When the mother sipped the tea offered by her child, her heart was filled with immense satisfaction. At two in the afternoon, the graduation performance of this youth tea ceremony training commenced, with young students taking turns to demonstrate their tea-serving skills on stage.Embarking on a journey to cultivate an appreciation for tea culture in young minds, the Two-Day Tea Ceremony Journey for Kids offers an immersive experience designed to instill a sense of respect and understanding for this ancient tradition. Through a series of engaging activities and lessons, children will have the opportunity to learn about the history, preparation, and significance of tea, as well as the etiquette involved in its enjoyment. This unique program aims to inspire a love for tea and its cultural heritage in the hearts of the younger generation.
Day One:
Upon arrival, children are welcomed with a brief introduction to the world of tea, setting the stage for the day’s activities. They will be guided through the process of tea picking, learning about the different types of tea leaves and their characteristics. This hands-on experience allows the children to connect with nature and understand the origins of the tea they consume.
In the afternoon, a tea master will lead a workshop on the art of tea preparation. Children will learn about the various tools used in tea ceremonies and the techniques required to brew the perfect cup. This session emphasizes the importance of patience, focus, and precision, skills that are valuable in all aspects of life.
Day Two:
The second day begins with a morning tea ceremony, where children will have the chance to practice what they have learned. Under the guidance of an experienced tea master, they will perform a traditional tea ceremony, complete with the ceremonial serving and drinking of tea. This experience is designed to instill a sense of respect for the process and an appreciation for the art of tea.
Transformed into little tea fairies, they showcased the knowledge and techniques they had acquired over the past two days. Divided into groups, the children reported their progress, sitting gracefully in front of tea sets, emulating the elegant posture of tea fairies. From the initial bow to the cleaning of utensils and the brewing process, each step was performed with utmost concentration, reflecting the cultivation of a tea master’s calm composure. The tea fairies sat quietly in the audience, appreciating the students’ every move, occasionally reminding them to maintain proper posture and offering advice and encouragement. Each child presented two cups of tea, one to the tea fairy and another to their parents. When the children offered the tea at eye level, saying softly, ‘Please enjoy your tea,’ the pride and joy in the parents’ hearts were indescribable. The most touching moment was when the classroom lights dimmed and a video of each child’s journey over the two days played on the large screen. One by one, the children shared their experiences. Although their expressions were still naive, it was the parents’ heartfelt confessions that truly summarized the highlights of these two days. We may not spend much time with our children due to work, or we may underestimate their capabilities by always holding them close. One mother said that at home, she never dared to let her child touch hot water for fear of burns, but today, as she lifted the teapot and brewed cup after cup of fragrant tea, the potential of children is always limitless. Each parent witnessed their child’s transformation and growth during these two days. I brought my two-year-old Kaikai here, initially hoping he would just experience the atmosphere of Chinese tea culture and develop a sense of discipline and restraint, but to my surprise, he also learned the entire tea-making process. Although his hands were still small and he couldn’t skillfully handle the lidded bowl, he had already begun to secretly imitate the movements. From running around the classroom to sitting quietly and brewing tea, the classroom’s atmosphere and the essence of tea ceremony culture had already taken root in his young heart. After the performance, each young student received a graduation certificate from the youth tea ceremony training. This was not only an affirmation for the children but also an expectation for them. Although the youth tea ceremony class was only two days long, the ‘tea’ seed planted in these children’s hearts was deeply rooted. It would grow not just into a ‘tea’ tree but also encompass more of the Chinese etiquette. The graduation performance ended, and each young student received a graduation certificate from the youth tea ceremony training. This was not only an affirmation for the children but also an expectation for them. Although the youth tea ceremony class was only two days long, the ‘tea’ seed planted in these children’s hearts was deeply rooted. It would grow not just into a ‘tea’ tree but also encompass more of the Chinese etiquette. The mobile phone next to the computer kept ringing on WeChat. Although the course had ended, the children’s passion for tea had not waned. They would take out the tea sets they brought back every day to practice, brewing a cup of tea. A small seed was germinating in their hearts.The Two-Day Tea Ceremony Journey for Kids is an educational adventure that aims to cultivate a sense of curiosity and respect for tea culture among children. This unique experience is not merely a trip; it’s a journey into the heart of tea’s rich history and cultural significance.
During the afternoon sessions, we focus on the cultural importance of tea. Through engaging storytelling and interactive discussions, children will gain insights into the historical and cultural roles tea has played in various societies. This exploration helps to broaden their understanding of the world and fosters an appreciation for the diversity of traditions and customs.
By participating in hands-on activities and learning from experts, young participants will gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the ancient tradition of tea. The journey is designed to leave a lasting impression and kindle a newfound love for tea in the hearts of the children. In conclusion, the Two-Day Tea Ceremony Journey for Kids is more than just an event; it’s a seed planted in the minds of the young, encouraging them to explore and value the world’s cultural heritage.
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