The Way Of Health

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

綠螘新醅酒，
紅泥小火爐。
晚來天欲雪，
能飲一杯無。
Green foam on fresh, unfiltered rice wine,
on a little terracotta stove.
It’s getting late, and looks like snow;
might you like to drink a glass?

白居易: 問劉十九
Inviting Liu Shijiu
- Bai Juyi (772-846) 

The Way Of Health  無著健康之道 is an organic shop in Taichung, Taiwan run by my friend Tsai Su-o 蔡素娥. In this really beautiful shop, the aesthetically pleasing "tea corner" is given the prime position. Apart from selling teas from Taiwan and China, Tsai, her staff and her family perform their tea ceremony for guests and customers. 

Each step of the tea ceremony process, from selecting the exact amount of tea to be brewed, to pouring the hot water, opening the lids of the tea pots and decanting the tea is performed with delicate precision and elegantly refined movement of the hands that is choreographed to perfection. 

Here everything is relaxed, beautiful and pleasing: the shop, the teas, the ceremony, my friend Tsai and her family. The entire experience leaves me in a zen like tranquility. Drinking the exquisite teas prepared with so much dedication and love, I am transported into another reality.

Images:

Top two images: The interior of The Way Of Health, Nnumber 81, Chiao Ma Road, Taichung, Taiwan  台灣台中市朝馬路 81 號

Bottom six images: Tea ceremony by Tsai (also called Ming Jiou 明究).

January 2013, Taichung Taiwan