Something meaningful to people is what water is to fish. Just a few weeks @ CHECK-IT made me feel the kindness and the friendship of students from Nederland. Even though my English is poor, I feel really happy studying and hanging out with them.

Two weeks ago, we went to a tea house. Tea culture has an important role on the long river of Chinese history. Thanks to Miss Lee, we had an opportunity to attend a tea lecture. Whether the ancient tea tree which has a history of 2700 years or various kinds of tea is amazing. White tea? Yellow tea? I have only heard of green tea and black tea. I must ask my mom if I am Chinese or not, haha. Truly, I learned a lot about tea culture that day.

I believe tea tradition, as an artefact of culture, is amazing for people from Nederland, although tea tastes bitter for some of them. Unlike coffee, it’s the kind of bitter that is good for our health. And I think that’s one of the reasons why most old people in China enjoy it. But I like coffee better :-).

After the lecture we tasted tea in the hall. We gathered around several tables for an explanation about the tea ceremony and enjoyed the tea. For different tea leafs, there are different procedures to make tea. Smelling the fragrance is more important than tasting the tea. A kind of tea called Qilan, full of refreshing fragrance of orchid, is impressive.

I’m very grateful that CHECK-IT organized this activity. It is not only a tea experience, but a great opportunity to learn something about culture and to get to know about each other. I’m looking forward to participating in the next activity.

Lixiao Cheng – Shawn, CHECK-IT 14