Tea is the new coffee?

22 April was the first anniversary of my blog.  I missed it!  We were in Shanghai and Hong Kong from 8-18 April, I’m still dealing with laundry/putting things away, and I have had a bad headache since we got back.  I thought it was a migraine but now think it’s a virus.  I am slowly feeling more “normal”.  Whatever that is.  From time to time my pc refuses to recognise my camera when I try to upload photos and this involves reloading drivers.  Which is a palaver.  It took me nearly 2 hours yesterday and 4 installs.  But I now have about 850 photos I took in China which I can use.  I didn’t want to blog before I could use some China photos.  Yes, I am a bit of a perfectionist. I have no idea how many photos C and MissN took – not quite as many as I did.  They have better cameras (C has a digital SLR) so they get better shots.  I take more to compensate for my blurry ones or the “dreaded black spot” which appears on my shots from time to time.  Yes, C, I SHOULD have let you buy me a new camera.

Anyway, I began my blog a year ago with a post about coffee and chocolate, so it seems appropriate to celebrate this blogaversary with a new header photo.  Tea.  The new coffee.  My overseas shopping indulgence was tea. I won’t tell you how much I spent (but assure you it was much less than a camera would have cost).

We spent a lovely day in the Old Town of Shanghai on the Friday we were there.  Late morning after battling the crowds at the Yuyuan Gardens we had a 40 minute very relaxing tea tasting (ie sales talk) at a shop in Old Street (Central Fangbang Road) and bought 100g of new season green tea – our new morning drink  (other green tea tastes dusty by comparison now), 50g of fruit tea, 50g of ginseng powder,  250g of Tie Guan Yin oolong tea and 6 tea flowers.  You can see an opened tea flower in the glass in the centre of the header photo.  These are amazing – balls of tea which open to reveal a flower and they can be used up to 10 times each.

I bought myself a terracotta tea pot (for oolong tea – one uses different types of pots for different types of tea!) from the Dongtai Road Antique Market.  It’s probably not antique but I like it.  It is just big enough for one cup.    MissN got herself a gorgeous noodle bowl.

I’m sipping oolong tea as I type (just one I bought at an Asian supermarket here in Sydney).  And loving the exotic calmness it provides.  I loved tea before we went to China.  But I will remember Shanghai and our wonderful time there every time I drink Chinese tea for the rest of my life.

MissN drinking dragon well tea (tea of longing) in Tongli last Monday (but “tea in Tongli” is another post…)

Tags: anniversary, blogging, China, tea