Japanese King and
Queen enjoy Vietnamese tea ceremony
Despite
many years of researching and spreading Vietnamese tea culture to many
countries all around the world, the most impressive and emotional show was the
tea ceremony for the Emperor and Empress of Japan. On March 3rd 2017, I was
honored to brew and offer tea for General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong with the
King and Queen of Japan in a welcome tea party.
Although
it only lasted about 30 minutes, the party made me feel nervous and stressful.
I chose 2 famous Vietnamese specialty tea to prepare for my honored guests. It
is high-class Tan Cuong tea in the most famous green tea area of Thai Nguyen
Province and Tay Ho Lotus Tea that I marinated in traditional style. The scent
of Vietnamese tea conquered the King, the Queen and all the participants. All
the guests drank tea with delight and gave me endless compliment.
At
the end of the tea party, the King and Queen of Japan approached my tea table,
and said, "The tea is delicious!" The friendliness as well as warm
smiles from the King and Queen as a positive energy source spreading throughout
the room. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong cheerfully told me: "You are
exactly like your name, Hoang Anh Suong (it means Happiness)"
The
opportunity to meet the heads of two countries brought me great joy and
appreciation of what I do. Only tea can bring the Emperor from far away Japan
to a Vietnamese citizen like me so close and intimate. Tea turns out to have
that meaningful role. A small cup of tea is like a bridge connecting friendship
and peace between the two countries. Tea is also a means of expressing
hospitality and beauty in Vietnamese culture.
For
me, the tea ceremony for Japanese King and Queen is a beautiful memory and also
a pride that tea artisans consider a great honor.
Tea arts in
Vietnamese culture
From
the soil, topography, mountain air, sunshine, rain, and watering, nursing the
young leaves until harvest and drying tea leaves to get a good teapot to enjoy.
It is a long journey that every step, every beat must reach the art of tea and
then the final destination: a cup of delicious tea is absolutely fullness.
It
is no accident that in all the beverages of this human realm, tea is considered
the most sophisticated art. With the same tea hill, tea grown to the east is
always better than that of the west. As the tea tree towards the east receives
the sun rays early in the morning, the growth response is different from that
of the tea in the west. Moreover, with the same tea garden but four seasons
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter have four different flavors. The most excellent
is the tea "Xuan 1" or “Tien Minh” (before the Ancestor Day). When
the cold winter pass and the first sunshine of spring just dawn, the buds start
sprouting on the tea scrags. If we picked those buds early in dew and bring
home to dry on an iron pan, they will spread out a very unique and fresh
fragrance alike aroma of a steam sticky rice bowl and its pure and sweet taste
as a rock sugar clearing our throat. Our ancestors have a quote: "Drink a
cup of tea, travel a thousand miles". That kind of tea used to be offered
to the King in ancient times.
Along
with China, Japan, Sri Lanka and India, Vietnam is home to tea plant all over
the world. The vestiges of fossil tea trees have been found on the land of Hung
Vuong, Phu Tho. Furthermore, many researchers also believe that tea plant
appeared from the Stone Age Son Vi about ten thousand years ago. Until now,
Vietnam still has over 40,000 ancient tea plantations in Suoi Giang Commune,
Van Chan District, Yen Bai Province. It is considered "treasure" as
well as the pride of the Vietnamese about tea.
Based
on the above reason, Vietnamese are named in the list of the earliest nations
enjoying tea in the world. Vietnamese way of drinking tea is also various, from
the sophisticated style of the ancient kings to the popular styles of modern
people. Tea is also taken to the new level and considered a great art or a
religion. Tea drinkers can enjoy in silence and sometimes silence is the way to
communicate. Through enjoying tea, Vietnamese people can predict the attitude
of their partners and also reveal their personality and educational level.
Regarding
the art of tea in Vietnam, the tea of the Hanoians is a typical example. If
people of other areas like to drink tea "plain" (tea without
embalming), many families in Hanoi enjoy tea embalming with lotus, jasmine,
chrysanthemum ... Especially, lotus tea is a precious tea that only used to
offer to guests or as gifts. Lotus tea made by Ha Giang black tea, embalming
with 1,000 and 1,200 lotus flowers per kilogram of tea. It must be the lotus
planted in the West Lake and have not bloomed to reach the highest level of
scent. Special-priced lotus tea always fluctuates at VND 8-10 million/kg.
Currently, in Hanoi, only about 6 families make this kind of tea.
Minh Long's Golden Lotus tea set. Photo by Minh Long I Co., Ltd.
Tea
artisan Hoang Anh Suong was born in 1973. He is the 6th generation of Truong
Xuan tea. He vows to spend his life traveling throughout the country and to
many places of the world to spread the beauty of Vietnamese tea culture and
Vietnamese tea art. For him, it is also a way to spread happiness, nurture love
and eliminate the distance between people through a cup of tea.
By Hoang Anh
Suong/ Timeout Vietnam