Another “must visit” place in Shanghai is the Huxingting Tea House, the word Huxingting meaning “pavilion on the center of the lake”. This is the place which hosted foreign dignitaries including Queen Elizabeth II and President Bill Clinton. When I read the menu at the tea house, I couldn’t believe that the cheapest tea run at about US$10. I was not going to be ripped off, I thought, and wanted to get out of this place, but I was convinced that I can treat myself as a queen or president and pamper myself with a $10 cup of tea.

This cup of tea turned to be quite an interesting experience. For one thing, this cup of tea actually came with some several dishes of savoury snacks including dry bean curd, tea quail eggs, pickled olives and mochi rice cakes. In addition, the tea we ordered was a blooming flowering tea, and watching this delicate tea blooming in front of our eyes was simply amazing.

Ever since this tea experience, I never looked at tea the same way. It turned out that those tea bags we buy in North America are the worst type of tea we can buy. The best teas can be found in China and once you’ve tasted the best, it’s hard to go back to the crumby tea. If you’ve never have a blooming flowering tea, just watch how a tea bulb blossoms in real time in front of your very eyes.

Filed under: My Travels