Once a friend who visited parts of the South China described to me the sight and sound there. According to him, the old fashions were well preserved there, and as beautiful as the distant dreams that got lost long before. The rippling river wound through the small city like a crystal necklace. The white houses with black eaves stood decades of erosion by wind and rain, still elegant and neat. People's soft accent and hasteless behaviors set one at great ease. My recent trip to Suzhou reinforced my impression by its serenity, as if it were the legendary land of Peach Blossoms (the Chinese Shangrila), away from the earthly turmoil.
Besides all the places of interest, the teahouses scattered in the city are most worthwhile to visit, if you wish to know the local conditions and social customs there. They are usually set up on bridge piers along the river, to provide a resting place for travelers coming afar. Not large in size but neat in configuration, they look like pergolas to some extent. And the tea served there vary from green tea to black tea, along with local delicacies and deserts. One may come in the early morning and order a pot of tea, chat and enjoy the warm sunshine at the same time, until it closes in twilight. Refills are also free of charge as long as the cup is left open.
The practice of tea drinking can be dated back to as early as the period of Three Kindoms (220-265 A.D). Though the teahouse appeared later in the history, the particular norms and customs accumulated and took shape over long periods of time. People pay special attention to the teapots, tea leaves and water.
Chinese believe that exquisite utensils should comply with delicate food. The same goes with teapots. The famous "zi sha hu" is made of a special pottery clay, purplish black in color and antique in design. Carved on it are some inscriptions, paintings and poems. The speciality is that it can preserve tea leaves in their original flavor and color. It is said the longer the pot is used, the more scent it gives out.
The carefully selected tea leaves and water are also indispensable. The tea leaves, picked before the solar term of Rain Water, are preferred, and then processed by hand. River water is never used, but water from spings or melted snow. When it snows in the winter, people in teahouses would shovel clean snow into huge water vats and store it for daily use. Drinking tea from this snow water can free people from heat rashes. No wonder the great poet Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty became a frequent visitor to teahouses when he was the regional chief in Hangzhou. And so many people form the habit of drinking tea day by day. It will certainly add a distinctive flavor to the scented tea, if you are seated in the traditional teahouse in such a picturesque place.
