Emotions – Page 16 – Discovering Tea

Zhaji : a hamlet that has kept its soul

12 July 2011

Every time I go to China, I wonder what else will have changed in the cities and countryside that I know. The rapidity of change in the country takes your breath away, as you gaze upon a street you no longer recognise, or a forest of skyscrapers that in less than a year has grown faster than a copse of bamboo.

But off the beaten track, there are still hamlets that have kept their soul. Here, in Zhaji (Anhui province), nothing has changed for a very long time, and every evening after his meal, Mr Li walks beside the river before returning home for a last cup of the famous tea he produces.

The red panda or firefox, a creature of the Himalayas

17 May 2011

Yes, the firefox! For those who use the well-known web browser of the same name, you’ll have seen this long-tailed mammal every day, curled around the icon on your computer screen.

For the rest of you, this is what the panda looks like. It is much smaller than its Chinese cousin and, fortunately, a bit less endangered. It can be found in Darjeeling and throughout the Himalayas.

I didn’t just stumble across it while walking in the forest though. I’m not particularly keen on zoos, but I knew that one lived at the Darjeeling zoo, along with some mates, and I wanted to see it. It has beautiful fur you want to stroke, like its neighbour in the next cage, the snow leopard. I certainly wouldn’t stick my hand between the bars surrounding its other neighbour, a fearsome looking Siberian tiger whose mouth is so big I could fit my whole head inside, right up to my shoulders.

If you are in the area, do pay a visit to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute , which honours those who have climbed Everest, starting with Tenzing Norgay, of course, who was from Darjeeling.

My blog is one year old

1 April 2011

Time passes, and I forget birthdays. My blog is one year old, and I would like to celebrate with you, of course, but also with Mathias, who shares my passion for tea. We have worked together for more than ten years, and take great pleasure in tasting the rare teas we love. And sometimes we set off together into the tea mountains, like here, in China.

This first anniversary gives me an opportunity to thank you for being there, for making yourselves known from time to time through your messages. Happy tea drinking.

Peaceful Kyoto scene in homage to the tsunami victims

14 March 2011

This image of a stream gently winding its way between the ancient wooden houses of Kyoto’s old town haunts me as I think of all the victims of the terrible earthquake.

The contrast – particularly strong in Japan – between the tranquillity of nature and an earth capable of rising up and swallowing so many lives, reminds us of the fragility of our existence.

Of course, I am thinking of all my friends over there, of the people who work for Le Palais des Thés in Tokyo, of our suppliers, and particularly of those in the prefecture of Iwate, north of Sendai, which has been so badly affected.

Calcutta : a place I really love

22 February 2011

The City of Joy is also the city of tea. All the tea produced in Assam and Darjeeling is shipped from the port of Kolkata (also known as Calcutta), and the plantations in the north of India all have offices in the city. So I often come here, and go to tea tasting after tea tasting.

The city is unbelievably dilapidated. It is overpopulated, overcrowded, crumbling, stifling, humid and disgustingly dirty. It has a way of sucking the life out of you. Yet despite all this, I really love the place. I am happy in Kolkata.

A happy year

11 January 2011

Kyoto is undoubtedly a traditional city, but that does not exclude a certain sense of fun. I have chosen these happy Japanese women, who must sometimes wear less classic outfits than these, to be my ambassadresses in wishing you a wonderful year in 2011, a year in which we might allow ourselves to express our “joie de vivre” in front of a passing photographer, a year in which we might take the time to observe such delicate things as the petals of cherry blossom.

Darjeeling sunset

31 December 2010

The sun sets over Darjeeling. If you manage to find a good vantage point from the city centre, this is the view you will get. In this part of the world, the morning skies are often very clear. However, in the evening it can be difficult to spot a patch of sky that is free from cloud, as this is when they like to gather. They come from the Terai plain, or sometimes form right here, in the bottom of the valley. They have nowhere else to go, as they are surrounded by mountains.

This red sky is the old year. Soon it will be night and a new year, 2011, with new roads for us to travel together. New harvests, new delights… I’d be delighted if you’d accompany me.

“Fushimi Inari-Taisha” sanctuary, Kyoto

23 December 2010

The end-of-year festivities are often associated with the colours green and red. Green like the needles of the Christmas tree, red like Santa Claus; green and red like the leaves and berries of holly.

So I looked through my photos to see what I had in these shades, to offer you a touch of seasonal cheer, but I found nothing. But then I realised that I give you green throughout the year, with the fields of tea, so I thought a bit of red would serve to illustrate the season.

In a city like Kyoto, with more than a thousand temples, there is not one dedicated to tea. It is not very fitting for a country where so much of it is drunk. Last month, a little disappointed by this observation, I have to say, I decided to call on the Rice God instead, and set off to visit his temple. I am glad I did, because it means I can bring you an image of the wonderful red pillars of the Fushimi Inari-Taisha sanctuary. This Shinto temple has thousands of the beautiful “tori”.

I hope you like this end-of-year celebration in red. Enjoy the festivities!

The little Darjeeling train requires a large crew

10 December 2010

I warned you: the little Darjeeling train steams into my blog whenever it feels like it. Here it is at home. You will see that no fewer than four people seem to be required to run it today, and I wonder if there might be a fifth in the cab. Actually I can never be sure how large the crew is, because each time I see it, the number of people working around the locomotive varies.

One thing I am certain of, however, is where I took this photo: in Kurseong, just after coming out of the “Kurseong Tourist Lodge” where I always stop to eat a plate or two of momos before continuing on my way to Darjeeling.

Kyoto: a city where time stands still

2 November 2010

I am writing this in the city where time stands still, where thousands of temples are hidden, where the gardens are of moss or of stone, but always invite contemplation. Here, everything is silent, beautiful, refined.

Those on a journey of self-discovery can loose themselves among the narrow paved streets. Will you see reflected in the surface of the stream the geisha about to cross the bridge, her face whitened with rice powder and protected from the sun by a delicate parasol? Will you hear the clicking of her pretty wooden clogs? They echo to the beating of a heart: perhaps mine, perhaps yours. This is Kyoto.