Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Second stop - Dong Guan

In Chinese culture, home town is where a line of family originated, not the same concept as the west which means where one is born. Dong Guan is my home town, so I made a point to visit this town that is right next to Shen Zhen. As a little child when I last visited the city, I had very little memory of it. Each time my family returned to town was to celebrate my grandmother's birthday.

I still don't have a clear impression of the city today. A friend and I went into town to meet a few friends for tea, hopping from one shop to another. It turned out to be a huge gathering of over 15 people. Head of Dong Guan tea association spent half a day showed us the tea city (market) that he designed. Dinner at a local country style restaurant next to a pond was interesting, sauteed cow feet was monstrous! Of course wine was not to be omitted, a bottle of 1997 Zhu Ye Qing (Green Bamboo Leaf) was smooth and sweet, perfect main course for the dinner. :P

After dinner, more tea was to be drunk at a special tea shop. The owner is knowledgeable of not only tea, but various Chinese traditional arts. The right person to learn more about tea from! I will go see him again quietly in the future.

Here are some of the teas I received as gifts from here.
1999 ancient tree silver tips, very rich and sweet!
1997 Jiao Gu Lan Pu-er, only batch ever made.
25 years old Bai Mu Dan, creamy and honey sweet.
Da Hong Pao brick...

2 comments:

Alex Zorach said...

This is an interesting concept of home town; I can really relate to it on some level. Going back on my dad's side of the family, people settled in Cleveland originally, and do feel a strange affinity for that city in a lot of ways. On my mom's side, they go back to rural Arkansas, and, similarly, I also feel a strange affinity for those areas.

Imen said...

Magnetic field! It attracts the same essence in your blood. :D