It is not a big surprise that tea is most common beverage in Tibet. Yes, no problem. Black tea from Chinese Yunnan province mixed with Yak butter and salt. This is the famous drink prepared in Tibetan families for ages. But we are talking about green tea manufactured in very remote place called Yigong Lake […]
It’s always more entertaining to set out for foreign lands when you’ve got a clear idea of what you’re looking for. And it’s even better when you have the extra task of solving a mystery. A well and clearly formulated question may often be the very best motivation of all for striding into unknown territory. […]
Fear unfounded, yet fulfilled I have been travelling to Asia once a year for many years now. India alone I have visited four times. In fact once back in 1995 I even secretly crossed the Nepal border during my first trek along the mountain ridge between the Sandakphu and Phalut peaks in the Darjeeling region. […]
Whilst upon my return from my first visit to China I immediately began contemplating my second trip, truth be known, I was never really that interested in going to Japan. Perhaps it was because Japanese society, thanks to its well preserved traditions and very distinctive culture influenced by years of isolation, intimidated more than enticed […]
Traveling to the Town of Rize, 1995 When flying over Turkish territory on the way to India or the Far East, memories of my visit to the Northern Turkish town of Rize always comes back to me. Rize has given its name to the local original Turkish tea. Tea cultivation was started here in the […]
“In China tea was originally prepared using tea leaves from wild trees, which would be cut down to be harvested, since uncut they could grow to fifty foot or more. Only later, in the 4th century, did tea enter cultural consciousness. The tea plant began to be cultivated and tea became a market commodity. ” […]
To find any tracks leading to tea production in a country like Laos is really difficult, let alone getting to places where tea is harvested and processed. The only lead which we had consisted of information about the company SOLIDAR MONDE S.A. from the city of Vitry on the Seine in France. They allegedly import […]
The great majority of Chinese have fears about the betrayal of “Chinese state secrets” or export of Chinese “know how” about the production of anything. Such fears, based as they are on the experience of the Chinese people both from the distant past (the export of the silkworm) and the recent past (the export of […]
Tea literature is relatively miserly with its explanations of the term “yellow” in relation to China tea (and, by the way, only in China will the reader ever encounter the term). One gets the impression that there is some unresolved problem here, some little question mark hanging in the air, and an area where the […]
Journeys through Assam and Darjeeling, 1995 and 1999. I can’t explain why, but every time I leave India I say to myself, “Never again!” Perhaps it’s because I’m always so exhausted when I return home. When I travel on my tea discovery journeys, my tea instinct almost always takes me to places that are unknown […]