This post – my first for T Ching – is being written in our tea shop early in the evening of May 21, a day that a Doomsday group has predicted the world will end. If I’m going to my rapture, it will be with a great cup of tea in my hand; there are worse ways to go. Personally, I’m betting on things continuing more or less as they were yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that – navigating a seemingly random current of life’s ups and downs that sometimes has a sense of urgency, but rarely enters the realm of the catastrophic – punctuated by frequent tea breaks.
There have been times in the past when tea commanded this type of attention and frequently changed the world. Entire countries were altered to accommodate better the growing of tea. Empires rose and fell on the fates of their tea production and trade, fortunes were made and lost, cultures advanced or stagnated, and the power of tea held its own with many of the world’s religions and political dynasties. Ironically, today the historic symbolism of the importance of tea (absent the actual product) has been adopted by a political group in the United States that traces its inspiration back to historical events surrounding tea taxation and a harbor in Boston in 1773. In other countries, tea (the product) seems to be alternately coddled or kicked around, depending on shifting national growth projections and the importance of other emerging industries. Maybe tea needs to plan a comeback?
As Jin Xuan oolong tea leaves float gently in my cup, the clock ticks past 6:00 PM and the world isn’t wobbling, creaking, or splitting open and swallowing the shop. A family sitting at a table up front is trying to work out the logistics of their summer vacation, while a couple at the next table shares a pot of tea as they read from his and hers digital tablets. Tea may not have saved the world, but for many people, communing with tea has made the day a little better and will continue to do so the next day, and the day after. It’s a lot to ask for from a drink of leaves soaked in hot water, yet it has carried on as a daily ritual in some parts of the world for almost 5,000 years. A deceptively simple gift in a cup.
So at least until 2012, when the Mayans take their turn at world-ending calamity, enjoy your tea moments.
I’ve only known you as @zentaratea and am so happy to see you writing for T Ching! Guy Munsch, it turns out that you are not only an amusing Twitterer or Tweeter, but a very good writer on a larger scale! :) Keep it loose, brother! ;) …@CA_tea
Welcome.
I share your views on the end of world predictions. Nothing soothes the soul like a cup of tea. Namaste.
Thanks Diane. While the contributors roster has many familiar faces, not really sure what the balance is of T Ching readers? Industry? Tea obsessed? General tea drinker?
Michelle and Sandy would know that; I think there are alot of tea shop owners and ‘tea obsessed’ that see it linked on Twitter for sure.
We have lots of people coming from over 57 countries around the world. I would love to see more people leaving comments but we do have a special core group that really gets it. It has become a family of sorts who are, as Diane points out, “tea obsessed”. Each new guest contributor brings their unique sense of tea – hoping to inspire others to take a moment and share their distinct impressions with us.
I think it’s a pretty mixed group of people. As Michelle stated, our analytics show people coming to the site from many countries around the world. Judging from the comments, however, it would lead you to believe that most of the people, as previously stated, are in the industry or people interested in the connoisseurship of tea and tea culture. Our own, empirical findings (people we run into in our travels and locally) indicates that there are a lot more just tea curious people who also come to our site to learn or be entertained, but don’t tend to leave comments.