In Australia the ancient Chinese tea ceremony is being used to teach young women the finer points of dressing, deportment and manners.
An Oriental Teahouse is holding monthly seminars set around the Chinese afternoon tea, or yum cha.
Apart from maximising the taste and aroma of the tea, the traditional Chinese tea ceremony is all about respect and this is something good for young people to learn, as well as being able to dress up and have some dumplings.
“The Chinese afternoon tea really began 3000 years ago on the Silk Road – long before the English afternoon tea tradition of the 1800s,” Mr Zhou said.
Yes, that is very interesting. I remember years ago, reading about that ceremony, and being fascinated by what it has to teach.
Finding out all about tea has been really interesting especially the tea ceremonies 🙂
I could just imagine sending the blonde – all 12 years and attitude. Although she could certainly do with the lesson 😀
Lol, you know she could surprise you :):)
After 3000 years they certainly know about these things.
Clever devils aren’t they :):)
Did you see the Dawn Porter show where she became a Geisha? I’m sure that it’ll be online somewhere if you didn’t.
Anyway, she was taught the tea ceremony and it’s incredible how intricate it all is. There are even rules on how to turn the cup and how many times to grind the tea. It’s almost mechanical, also the tea is only part of it. Most of the ceremony seems to be how one carries themselves, how they sit and how they hold things as well as how they enter the room and how they leave.
I really can’t understand why they haven’t tried doing this sooner, after all learning how to be graceful is essentially learning how to move or to hold oneself. A brilliant idea 🙂
Fascinating stuff house guy, your a mind of information, I will try and find that online :):)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skYbH9inu7w&list=SL&feature=sh_e_sl&has_verified=1
Here you go, the whole episode 🙂
The series was her exploration of wives, so she studied mail order brides, polygamists etc and geisha was more about being the other woman to some degree. I’ve no idea if you’d be interested in the whole episode though, but the clip of the actual ceremony was harder to find than the Holy Grail. 🙂
😀 also thank you! How’s everything going with seeing your parents? x
Forgot, there is an 18 year old warning. However, that’s mainly because of the first half where Dawn mistakenly believes geisha is about prostition. It’s not very scandalous and quickly becomes about just being geisha. Sorry, I couldn’t find just the tea part. 🙁
Forgot to mention there were some adverts at the start of the link, so if you want just sit through them lol
I had 3 at about 23 seconds each. x
Thank you so much for all your trouble and comments, much appreciated. Today we are in the Lake District for our Anniversary and having a lovely break. We are seeing Dad on Monday and he is very excited. Feeling in control of my pain and able to enjoy myself and the best thing so far is the comfortable beds!! Have a nice weekend :):)