Enjoying Tea At A Chinese Tea House

Enjoying Tea At A Chinese Tea House by Jonas Smith


It is a well-known fact that next to plain water, the most popular drink on earth is tea. In China, almost every aspect of the growing and production of traditional teas is controlled. The Chinese drink green teas and some oolongs without milk, and black teas are produced solely for export.

Tea drinking in China has long been considered as a Chinese social activity. Stories have it that tea drinking began from the Tang Dynasty, when the Buddhist monks gathered to drink their brew after meditation. The practice soon spread to the general public, while the refined scholars that time endeavored to perfect the art of tea drinking. Then, as the volume of tea production increased, the number of Chinese tea houses began to flourish, particularly in the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279).

From the Song Dynasty, the number of Chinese tea houses peaked in the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). By that period, both the style and function of the Chinese tea houses had become diversified. The tea houses started to adopt elegant setting decorated with paintings, bonsai and calligraphy. They sold only tea. There were also others that combined Chinese tea house and Chinese restaurant and offered the traditional brew. Some locally flavored snacks were also offered at these settings.

Style of a Chinese Tea House

Today's Chinese tea houses can be divided into three different styles: the traditional, modern and fusion. In the first place, the traditional tea house aim to promote the national culture while offering an urban hub for leisure and business. The modern variety is represented by the Taiwanese styled eatery. At these modern settings, the main attraction is a sweetened low-graded green or red tea, which is added with small sticky taro balls. Lastly, the fusion type, as the name implies, is a combination of the two styles.

According to some resources, the Chinese tea houses, especially the traditional type, focus mainly on cultivating a taste for pleasure. The tea houses are more expensive than the Chinese coffee shops, but the cost includes a choice of tea as well as an assortment of snacks like melon seeds, biscuits, preserved plums, and candies.

The visitors at these tea houses usually sit on cushions at low tables to drink the fine quality Chinese teas. Their tea is often brewed in a tiny, Satsuma-sized teapot, and then poured into even smaller cups. Reports noted that the teapot may be infused three or four times.

In the Chinese tea house, the drinking of tea is generally about appreciating tea for its aroma, appearance, and flavor, rather than the quenching of thirsts. For the Chinese, it is a special occasion, without formal dress, at which small snacks accompany the tea.

Chinese Tea House Today

These days, most of the tea houses in China are scattered in the city. They are usually set up on bridge piers along the river, to provide a resting place for the visitors and travelers coming afar. Although not large in size, the tea houses are neat in configuration. As many have claimed, they look like pergolas to some extent.

The tea served in tea houses vary from green tea to black tea, along with local delicacies and desserts. There are some instances that one comes in the early morning and order a pot of tea, chat and enjoy the warm sunshine at the same time, until the tea house closes in twilight. At this setting, refills for the tea are given free of charge as long as the cup is left open.

About the Author

To learn about caffeine health and caffeine withdrawal symptoms, visit the Health And Nutrition website.

How to Relieve Stress - 5 Tips you must Know

How to Relieve Stress - 5 Tips you must Know by Bryan Len


Stress is simply unavoidable, especially in today's world where there is a cutthroat competition in every field you come across. In addition, the responsibilities have increased and today, we need to meet deadlines for multiple tasks. Even medical health experts believe that in order to learn how to relieve stress, you should have some therapies, medications and outings that can soothe your brain and calm down your aggression.

If you want to learn how to relieve stress, follow the steps mentioned below:-

How to relieve stress tip 1: The stress is a state of mind wherein the human brain undergoes a series of uncomfortable and unwanted episodes. The stress come from many factors and such factors are known as stressors. The best thing to relieve the stress is to identify the stressors and prevent them.

How to relieve stress tip 2: There are lots of medications available on the market that you can go for. However, many of them may require medical prescription from a qualified registered health care provider. Market also booms with lots of OTC products for relieving the stress. They may work but you should contact to your health care provider before undergoing such therapies.

How to relieve stress tip 3: Holistic exercises such as Yoga and Pranayama are considered to be very beneficial if practiced in a particular manner on a regular basis. Yogasanas such as shirshasana, sarvangasana and shavasana are specially said to work on the blood flow of the brain and soothe the neurotransmitters.

Hot to relieve stress tip 4: The god has gifted us with lots of herbs those possess natural brain soothing and calming ingredients. The herbs such as Brahmi, Ashwagandha, Mandookparni, Shankhapushpi etc have potential ingredients that help calming down the aggressive mood and also relieve stress. One can consume these herbs as a single herb supplement or can go for some formula that contains the blend of above mentioned stress relieving herbs.

How to relieve stress tip 5: Meditation plays a major role in relieving stress due to various reasons. Meditation helps in boosting the self confidence and provides the brain the power to withstand against any stressful and complex situation. In this way, an individual practicing meditation regularly is able to tackle any issue that may otherwise make a person depressed and stressed.

With proper diet (giving up too spicy and oily food), proper exercises (such as Yoga and Pranayama), meditation and some internal herbal medications may help in relieving the stress. Also, one has to be careful about the situations and triggering factors and should stay away from them. For instance, if a person knows that it is the argument that makes him or her so depressed, it is better not to argue with anyone and simply quit the place.

Backbiting, arguments, debate, controversies, over-consciousness etc are few of the most triggering factors that give rise to depression and hence, one should avoid encountering them anytime, anywhere with anyone.

About the Author

For more useful information visit Relieve Stress and Stress Reduction at http://www.herbal-supplements-for-you.com/

Spirituality Vs. Scientific Materialism

Spirituality Vs. Scientific Materialism by Manoj Gupta


Spirituality and science never share same space. Spirituality is about faith, and science is about fact. Many scientific explorers have dug deep into spirituality to find the truth inside, and they found it as a big emptiness. On the other end, there are the so-called spiritual gurus who have set out their spiritual journey to prove that what we see, hear and feel are all God, and nothing else. They have surely found their way to make money by selling their Gods through The Secret Book and the Secret DVD.

The flamboyant spiritual gurus who preach the law of nature through their secret Seven Laws are no less than plain swindlers. They amass money along with fame for bringing 'peace' to the disturbed minds. They prescribe Quantum Wellness therapy to those who are suffering from chronic diseases. They challenge medical science, saying existing scientific therapies and medical procedures do not result in holistic healing. Quantum healing Oprah is the latest buzzword in the spiritual markets worldwide.

If the claims of these fake spiritual gurus were to be believed, the world today would not have been the same. You may not have been reading these lines, probably. If we know our days are decided by destiny, as they say, there is no need for us to struggle so much to make both ends meet. There would not have any clash between classes, religions or countries on the earth. People would have easily forgotten their sorrows and sufferings and just waited for their destiny to come and show the way.

But, what we see today is just the paradox. The spiritual gurus who promise holy wellness to the world by 'shanti' and meditation have become the perpetrators of communal violence and disharmony in the society. They mislead people by opposing the law of science or law of nature. The law of nature is built on Love - the love that you see around you, that you see in the cool breeze or the raindrops. The vastness of the sky and the deepness of the sea are the true symbols of the love.

What we see around us is the only truth. We cannot have faith on something that cannot show its presence in the nature. The spiritual magicians who incarnated on the earth 'to see' the world are the ones who do not know what 'seeing' is. Time has come to get rid of these bogus leaders.

About the Author

Spirituality and science never share same space. Spirituality is about faith, and science is about fact. Many scientific explorers have dug deep into spirituality to find the truth inside, and they found it as a big emptiness.