Jan Lee, a gentle, enthusiastic young man who is an apprentice tea master, serves tea in his family's Chinese antique store on Mott Street in New York's Chinatown. Amid the ancient vases and jars, figurines, furniture, lanterns and bird cages, at a small marble and carved wood table, Jan performs the gracious and sensuous Chinese tea ceremony.
"The Chinese tea ceremony, unlike the Japanese tea ceremony, emphasizes the tea, rather than the ceremony," says Jan. What the tea tastes like, smells like, and how one tea tastes compared to the previous tea, or in successive rounds of drinking -- that is what participants of the Chinese tea ceremony are most concerned with. Jan performs the ceremony with such grace one doesn't see it as ceremony, but rather as gentle hospitality.
"In China, when you see someone on the street, before you even say 'hello,' you say 'have you had tea yet?'"
Having tea is an opportunity for quiet time with someone. Although, he adds, being of Cantonese descent, "The Cantonese are not exactly quiet!"
Jan says his teacher, Mr. Lo, is always looking for an excuse to have tea. When they first met, Mr. Lo was visiting Jan and his family. Everyone was having a particularly lovely time when Jan's mother offered tea. This prompted Mr. Lo to insist that he himself should serve tea, and he went quickly home to get his tea supplies. The whole family was amazed at Mr. Lo's wonderful tea ceremony. Jan was especially enthusiastic. Mr. Lo recognized Jan's interest and his special instincts and wanted to teach Jan how to serve tea.
On a rainy Thursday afternoon three friends and I sat at Jan's table. Jan explained, "Ceremony doesn't mean that each server will do it the same way. It is not related to religion. In Western society anything over an hour is considered a ceremony."
