Tea Time

Stopped by the Guilin Institute for Tea Research, where they showed us how to pick tea leaves and how the different types of tea are made. They make a variety of tea all from the same plant, but harvest the leaves at different stages or process differently to make the different kinds of tea. We went to a small room to taste some of the different teas the make there, and she showed us the proper way to make them. The steeping time she used was much less than what we normally use, all the teas tasted very good. She explained the reason for all the different rituals which was very interesting. The leaves that aren't good enough for tea they put in bags and sell for fertilizer, so if you want to enjoy good tea you don't use tea put in bags (since it is fertilizer grade tea leaves). The other ritual on these tours is that every education experience is followed by a shopping experience, which is usually a nice opportunity for souvenirs. We dropped a nice chunk of change in the tea shop getting a nice tea set and related items.

Dave