Qing period Chao Zhou clay pot

Sad sad sad thing that happened to my beloved teapot!  I hardly break a tea pot, but it had to be the best and most significant teapot in my hands.

A chao zhou red clay teapot from the Qing dynasty period, most prized by the CZ tea heads today, made by "E PU" studio/maker.  It's such a little treasure of mine and I broke the lid, even before I made any tea out of it.  AH!!!!!!!!!!!

80's Yixing teapot

80's Yixing teapot

80's Yixing Clay teapot - bamboo

Picture showing tapes and dust, uncleaned pot.  No damage at all. 

80's Yixing Clay teapot -Fang Zhong

Chao Zhou Stove Sets

Chao Zhou Stove Set - large red clay

Chao Zhou Stove Set - small beige clay

 Do not come with bottom plate~

1700's Antique Batavian Cups

Batavian cup #1

Batavian cup #2

Batavian cups #3

Batavian cups #4

Batavian cups #5

Batavian Cup #6

Batavian cups #7

Batavian cup #8

Brown spot on right is a removable stain, it is already been cleaned.

Batavian cups #9

 White spot on the right hand cup is a glaze bubble burst due to firing

Orange Hand Painted Antique Tea Cups

Orange tea cups with bottom center diagram #1

Orange tea cups with bottom center diagram #2

Orange tea cups plain white center  #3

Egg Shell tea bowl, gorgeous!!!

Gorgeous looking tea bowl, extremely light weight Japanese antique teaware~
150 ml

A tea sesssion begins with stone

Sunday, just want to have a quite time of tea drinking... Jiang Mu Xiang, Po Tou, Cha Wang....

There are 10 kinds of natural stones in this picture, can you pick them out? :D I am watching a Chinese TV show Dream of the Red Chamber, a novel written in the Qing Dynasty about a noble family's ups and downs, love, extravagance, betrayal, politics, class and power games, poems, traditional medicines, many forms of arts, etc., all starts with a piece of jade stone.

SuZhou 2012

Suzhou is also one of my favorite cities, my return to the city in 2012 was just as quick as in 2010, spending only one day there.  But it was a full day from morning till night.  We began with a visit to the movie studio San Guo Cheng - City of the Three Kingdoms, a huge compound of palace of the Wu Kingdom besides Lake Tai Hu where Wu's navy force used to train at. Well, it's new and artificial, not my cup of tea, but I was there.

 Horse back fighting show as in the TV show San Guo Zhi

Second stop was Shui Lu Pen Men - Water Land City Gate.  Ancient cities of China were well protected by a thick brick wall built surrounding the metro area.  SuZhou being one of the early established cities dating all the way back to 514 BC that's over 2500 years of history.  The importance of the city and the richness of culture on this land are beyond one's imagination.  It is one of the most fought for land through out Chinese history for its location and abundant of water ways for merchandise transport.  The city gate was first built in 514 BC, the current brick wall and gate were rebuilt in 1351.  It's amazing how solid and scientific these gates were built back in the days without bulldozers.  Stunning!

Han Shan Temple was the next visiting area.  Around 600 AD, a man named Han Shan was good friend to Shi De.  Han's family arranged his marriage with a girl whom was in love with his friend Shi De.  When Han found out, he decided to leave home and became a monk.  Shi De went to look for Han Shan and found a letter wishing him and his love happy marriage.  Shi De also decided to leave the girl then went to look for Han Shan at the temple.  They both became monks so the temple is named Han Shan temple.  Well it's a legend.  :P  Nevertheless, the temple has over 1500 years of history, was burn and rebuilt 5 to 7 times.  Visiting China is like taking a 5 years history course, there are way too many years of happenings to know of in order to understand it is what it is on every inch of this land today.

Ah, a night cruise along the canal in the once most prosperous street, Qi Li Tang - Seven Mile Pond neighborhood.  It's kinda like Hollywood in Venice, food, entertainment, clubs, tea houses, gardens, all is happening in the dark with lanterns lighting up banks on both sides of the canal.  Fascinating night life of the rich, the famous and the everyday people for over 1000 years.  

Juice shop menu  :P