China is famous for its tea and when I was a child I often heard the expression “all the tea in China”. There is a Chinese proverb “Rather go without salt for three days than without tea for a single day.”
Those of you who know me know how much I love my tea. Back home in Canada I would have as much as five strong cups of Tetley every day. I’ve even been known to bring my own tea bags with me when I travel, and I considered doing that for this trip.On second thought I decided against it because I didn’t know how the authorities would view such an action. However until today I had not had one cup of tea in China, and the reason is I couldn’t find one I liked. Of course there are all kinds available in the shops and markets but I was looking for a black tea that resembled Tetley and it’s hard to come by here.
Paul and I intended to go to the Beijing zoo today especially to see the pandas which are on the endangered species list ,12 of which are housed at the Beijing zoo. However when we arrived there was quite a crowd and it was a very hot day so we decided instead to wander around the area to do some sightseeing. We came upon a Dairy Queen and went in to have ice cream sundaes. What a treat!
There were many places to buy a variety of items from clothes to shoe to food. We just had a look around for a while and then headed back to the hotel on the subway.
On the way back we decided to stop at Walmart again to pick up some pizza for dinner, and while there we found some tea sold by Lipton which looked like it might be close to the kind we were used to drinking. Since we didn’t have a kettle we bought one and a few other items we needed. (That always happens to me – go in for one thing, buy ten!).
At last we got back, boiled the kettle and I sat down to have my very first cup of tea in China. Well, it’s not exactly Tetley but it’s close enough!
Enjoying my tea and some Chinese style chocolate.
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