Tea Etiquette

Hello China - Tea 

Piece on Afternoon Tea Etiquette

Tea Etiquette

7.1 Tea Etiquette

1. Hello China-tea

 Hello China你好，中国-Tea 中国茶文化

 茶 （chá）Tea

Cha（tea）is the baverage most representative of Chinese culture.

如果选一种饮料来代表中国人的气质，那一定是茶。

Proper etiquette dictates the guests are treated to Cha (tea).

以茶待客是中国人最重要的礼节之一。

Many outstanding Chinese poems were created in the company of Cha (tea).

古人在与朋友相聚时饮茶作诗，留下许多大作。

Originating in China, Cha (tea) is divided into green tea , black tea, yellow tea, dark tea and white tea according to its color.

茶起源于中国，按茶的颜色分。主要有绿茶、红茶、清茶、黄茶、黑茶和白茶六大类。

The procedures for drinking tea are delightful.

品茶是精神享受的过程

Cha, water, ware and fire are indispensable when making Cha (tea).

烹茶时茶、水、器、火缺一不可

The shape, color and fragrance of Cha (tea)are quite important.

茶叶要看其形状、色泽、香味

The water should be clear and sweet.

水要清澈甘甜

The fire should be clean without odor.

火要干净无异味

The china ware and purple clay tea sets are widely used.

茶具以瓷器和紫砂为主

People feel closer to nature by drinking Cha.

喝茶使人更亲近自然

2. Piece on Afternoon-tea Etiquette

  Good afternoon Mr.Hanson

Good afternoon

We are delighted to have you here

我们很高兴邀请你到这

Why is afternoon tea etiquette so important?

为什么下午茶这么重要

What does it matter? What is it all about? What does it matter?

它主要是什么内容呢

Well, manners for starters, they are about other people.

首先礼节是关于其他人的

It’s about respecting the views of other people.

要尊重其他人的观点

Here we have this delicious looking tea table in front of us.

现在，我们面前有一个非常精美的茶桌

First things first is on napkins.

首先是餐巾

So let’s put our napkins on our lap.

让我们把餐巾放在腿上

Just unfold it half and on the lap

就把它从中间打开让后放在腿上

It doesn’t need to go on to the full square

不需要打开成整个正方形

We’ll start with tea first to drink

我们首先从茶饮开始

If you pass me your cup, I should pour you the cup

如果你把你的杯子递给我，我就会帮你倒一杯茶

Now you see we have all sorts of different objects here

你可以看到我们有很多种不同的物体

Let me have this tea strainer

首先看看这个滤茶器

Here, now this is because the tea, in here, is made from tea leaves, so it’s loosed.

因为这个茶是用茶叶做的所以是散装的

Now there’s a belief

有这样一种说法

That people can tell what class you come from, what social class you come from

人们可以判断你来自哪个社会阶层

depending on if you put your milk in first or if you put you milk in last

通过你是先把牛奶放进去还是后把牛奶放进去

In the big old house in England, and in France, the servants, they are downstairs.

在英国的老别墅里，包括法国，佣人是待在楼下的

They would have their mugs made of pottery.

他们的杯子是用陶土制作的

  And pottery wasn’t very good withstanding very high temperatures.

陶器并不耐高温

So they boiled in water.

所以他们在水里会沸腾

So you put the milk in first, so when the hot water hit, went into the pottery mug, it would crank.

所以先放牛奶，热水倒入陶瓷杯时，杯子会软塌

  Because the water will be there to wet the collet,

因为水会把底座弄湿

  whereas upstairs with the old ladies in the higher state,

但是对于那些楼上年长的妇人

  they are using cups that is very similar to this fine bone in china. That would be able to withstand the high temperature.

他们用那些类似骨瓷的非常耐热的杯子

  So they can put the milk in afterwards. The can put the hot water in first.

所以她们可以后放牛奶先放热水

  So theory goes, if you put your milk in afterwards,

所以人们都说如果你后放牛奶

  It shows you come from a very privileged upstairs background.

就代表你拥有地位显赫的上层社会背景

  We’ll turn our attention to this lovely looking tea tray.

现在让我们再来看看这个精美的三层点心盘

  See we got three layers, and we are going to start from the bottom and work upwards.

它有三层，我们将从最底层开始

  The whole point of afternoon tea is that everything is daunting.

下午茶的特点在于一切都让人望而却步

  Everything is small and light and you can’t eat it with your fingers.

所有东西都又小又轻，你还不能用手指抓着它们吃

  It’s not supposed to be a big, haunting meal.

但这并不是让人畏缩的一餐

  When afternoon tea started, how it came about was Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford.

下午茶是从Bedford 七世公爵夫人Anna开始的

  She was just getting a little bit hungry after lunch before dinner.

她午饭后有点饿

  And she wanted just something very light.

然后她想吃点清淡的东西

  So she asked her servants to bring her bread and water.

她让她的佣人给她拿面包和水

  And eventually, it evolved into what we see today.

最后就变成了我们今天看到的下午茶

  And she invited her friends to come around for tea, and they quite like it.

后来她邀请她的朋友们来喝茶，她们非常喜欢

  So they went back to their houses and got their servants to introduce afternoon tea.

于是她们都回到自己家让佣人准备类似的东西

  And they sort of caught on.

下午茶便流行起来

  And then we are going to move on to the first of the sweet course, which is the scone.

下面我们进行到第一道甜品——司康饼

  And we’ve got these absolutely beautiful scones here, and these just looked divine.   

我们这里有一些非常好看的司康饼，看起来很完美

  So if you would like to take one.

如果您想要，请拿一块

  You don’t cut the scone, or you shouldn’t have to.

不要切司康饼，或者说你不一定需要切开它

  You should be able to break the scone.

你应该可以直接掰开它

  You see the middle, and that’s sort of where you want to break.

你可以沿着中间的部分掰开

   You see that comes away perfectly.

然后就自然分成了两半

    The scone is jam first, cream second.

司康饼先涂抹果酱，再涂抹奶酪

    I can invite you over for tea, or have a meal, for dinner, for lunch whatever.

我可以邀请你来喝茶，或者吃一顿午餐或晚餐

    It is your obligation as a guest to a few days after, ideally 24 hours after,

你的义务是在几天后，最好是24小时后

    You should be sending a thank you letter.

寄给主人一封感谢信

    A thank you letter doesn’t have to be long, hand-written of course, not on a computer

感谢信不要太长，当然要手写不能打印

    Computer-written is often for business.                                                  

打印一般作为商务用途

    But hand-written is just saying how much you enjoyed it and even you didn’t. Just tell a favor.

手写上你很享受那次的邀请，尽管你并没有很开心

    Is the art of conversation the same during tea time and during dinner?

下午茶和晚餐之间的谈话的艺术是相同的吗

    Yes. You start off talking the first course to the person on your left.

是的，第一道菜品时你和左手边的人聊天

    And then the main course person on your right.  

主菜时转向右手边

    And of course the question is who to talking to during the pudding.

下面问题来了：吃甜点的时候和谁说话呢

    Do you talk to yourself?

你要自言自语吗

    It’s a bit bizarre. I think that’s what we can let it go.

这看起来是很奇怪的规则，我认为可以不予理会

    Depending on who you are with. If you are with friends that you have known for years,

针对不同的人，如果你和认识很多年的朋友在一起

    You will be talking about things that are sometimes quite serious.

你有时可能会谈论一些很严肃的话题

     But if you are with people you don’t know,

但如果你和不认识的人在一起

     then you may be talking just about the weather

聊一聊天气或许是不错的选择

     You want to avoid, what we called, “taboo” subject, so controversial topics.

尽量避免聊到一些禁忌或者有争议的话题

     like sex, politics, health, religion, money.  

比如性、政治、健康、宗教、钱财等

     If you have tea with the member of the royal family?

如果和皇室成员喝茶呢

     Depends which member of the royal family.

这取决于皇室里什么样的成员

The old members, like the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh.

一些年长的成员比如女王或爱丁堡公爵

     The general protocol is for them to ask you the questions.

最正规的礼节是让他们问你问题

     Or they will initiate the topics, and you wait to be spoken to.

或者他们会开始一个话题，你等着他们跟你说话

     The younger members, Prince William, Prince Harry,

更年轻一点的成员比如威廉王子，哈利王子

     even to certain instance Prince Charles,

或者有些情况下查尔斯王子

     that’s let you more relaxed, and you can ask them questions

气氛会轻松一些，你也可以问他们问题

     “How is the wedding preparation going” would be a good one for Prince William.  

比如可以问威廉王子：“你的婚礼筹备进展如何了？”

3. Tea Etiquette in China and the U.K.

Hello everyone, at the beginning of the class I would like to know what kind of drinks you prefer in hot summer. Mineral water? Juice? Coffee? Or tea? As you know, both China and the U.K. have a long and profound tea culture. But how much do you know about tea etiquette in these two countries? Today we’ re going to learn about them from four aspects.

1.History of Tea

  Tea is believed to be discovered by the Chinese Emperor Shennong in 2737 B.C. . In Tang Dynasty (618 AD - 906 AD), the character “Cha” was created by Lu Yu who wrote the first monograph on tea in the world. And tea became China’ s national drink. In 1610 , the Portuguese and Dutch traders first imported tea to Europe. In 1650, tea was introduced to the U.K. . Nowadays, tea has been one of the three most popular global non-alcoholic drinks. More than 160 countries and nearly 3 billion people drink it throughout the whole world. Although so many people drink tea, not all of them know about its history.

“Mrs. Yi, I believe I know the tea etiquette in China, but I don’t know much about it in foreign countries.”

“Are you sure? Let’ s take a look.”

2.Tea Etiquette in China

  Generally when the host pours tea, the rule of “full cup wine and half cup of tea” should be observed. The custom dictates that a host will only fill a teacup to seven-tenths of its capacity. The other three- tenths is said to be filled with friendship and affection. While the host pours tea, the water should not be too hot or it will scald the guest. The host must use both hands to hold the teacup while serving tea. The guest, at the same time, slightly moves his body forward and takes the cup with two hands. If the guest is not thirsty, he’d better not drink up the tea at once. He should enjoy the aroma first, then take a sip and savor the flavor. The guest should not spit the tea out, especially in front of the host. Such behavior is viewed as an act of rudeness and provocation to the host. When there is only one-third of the brew left in the cup, the host should refill the cup to show his great hospitality. At the moment, it’s polite for the guest to touch the cup lightly and be sure to say “thank you”. Besides in Guangdong, there is a custom that the guest would tap the table with two bent fingers to express his thankfulness when the host serves tea or adds water. If the guest does not need a refill, he usually covers his teacup with his right palm, and says “No more tea, thanks.”

3.Tea Etiquette in the U.K.

    Like China, the United Kingdom is also a large consumer of tea. About 8 out of 10 English people drink it every day. As to tea culture in the U.K. , the most quintessential one is its afternoon tea. When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the U.K. in 2015, afternoon tea was one of welcoming activities hosted by the royal family.

   Oh, I heard of the news. I know what afternoon tea is. I saw it in British drama Downton Abbey. Mrs. Yi, would you tell us about the rules we should adhere to when enjoying the afternoon tea in the U.K. ?

Sure. First, put a napkin on your lap before you enjoy your afternoon tea. It keeps your clothes clean and can be used to wipe small crumbs from your face. If you need to leave the seat at teatime, loosely fold your napkin and put in on the chair. In the U.K., tea is usually served with milk, so you should pour tea first, then add milk and sugar. The third is about how to stir your tea. Stir it gently and avoid scraping the rim or bottom of cup. Usually stir from back and forth, not around in circles. After stirring, the spoon should rest on the saucer. And then you are going to enjoy your tea. Hold the teacup by its handle with your thumb and forefinger and drink. Do not allow your little finger to stick out. Keep your elbows off the table. Afternoon tea not only involves drinking good quality tea but also nibbling on some pastries like scones, small cakes and so on.

“Scone? How do we eat it?” 

First, open it. Don’ t cut it in half, or you should’ t have to. Ideally it should be pulled apart creating two equal halves. Then spread the jam and cream on each pieces, jam first, cream second. “That’ s interesting. I get it.”

4.Cultural Differences in Drinking Tea

  Tea plays a significant role in intercultural communication. However, cultural differences in tea drinking may cause misunderstanding and embarrassment. For instance, when offered a cup of tea during your visit in China, you may refuse out of politeness. It is believed that Chinese may refuse three times before accepting an offer. But westerners take “no” as “no” and will not offer anything. Besides, if you accept the tea, you usually don’ t drink it up because it is considered impolite and greedy in Chinese tradition. However, such behavior may offend Westerners because in their etiquette leaving something in the cup is not polite. If you accept it, you are expected to finish it all. Thus, it’s really necessary to know about local tea etiquette and cultural differences in order to behave appropriately and acceptably in a foreign land. Ok, that’s what we have learned today. Do you know more about tea etiquette in China and the U.K. ?

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