Monday, January 24, 2011

Website is up!

I am relieved to let you all know www.teahabitat.com is back online. If you encounter any issues while shopping at www.teahabitat.com, please let us know. We appreciate your feedback so we can fix the problems asap!

Website outage

Teahabitat website is currently down due to tech issues. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have cause. We are working to get it back up as soon as possible.

Please email tea@teahabitat.com or call 310-921-5282 for any order inquiry and questions. Thank you!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

4th stop - Zhou Zhuang

Zhou Zhuang is a little over one hour drive from Su Zhou. A small water town like many others in the region. Water ways were main merchandise transporting route for centuries in the region. Silk, rice, china ware and tea had been shipped via canals out to sea for exports. Small towns like Zhou Zhuang was one of the dozen major economy hubs. During Ming dynasty, the wealthiest man of the country resided in Zhou Zhuang, he paid to build 1/3 of the Nan Jing city wall, hence invoked jealousy of the emperor then confiscated his wealth and exiled his family to Yunnan. The town is a major tourist spot which comes with the unnecessarily chaos. The town itself is rich in traditional feel, time has put its stamp on this earth spot. I love it only if it wasn't as touristy. High traffic season is even more intolerable.








Monday, January 03, 2011

3rd stop - Su Zhou











City of Su Zhou is probably the one stop I expected so much of and in fact exceeded my expectation.

It's a city of ancient romance, a city of modern day casual living compared to other major cities. Prague of China is what I feel about it. Prague is Paris of east Europe. Su Zhou was Paris back in the days, more like Prague today in terms of commerce in the theme of Paris.

The beautiful gardens are most notorious in Su Zhou. Many of which were built for and by government officials and merchants for the government. The word mansion is not elaborate enough for them. Landscaping combined with natural scenery, water ways, pavilions, bridges, corridors, the design concept is to capture the nature (mountain, plants, lakes and architecture) then shrink it down to a private home of only a few. It's a small world for only a few to enjoy, but today any one can visit the elaborate composition. Modern day architecture are about tall and functional, some would argue about the artistic value. Upon visiting many ancient architectures of China, it's all about details! Every detail also entails a meaning that reflects culture.

Ping Tan is a must experience in Su Zhou. Dinner and live music, best combination at an old house converted restaurant.