Last week I had the chance to go to this tea at a super nice hotel here in Beijing. There is a girl in our branch at church who works for the Global Times, a paper in English here. She is in charge of planning events once a month to advertise different places around the city and to help foreigners learn more about Chinese culture.
There were only about 30 people at the event. They keep it exclusive. The wives of a few different ambassadors to China were there and a bunch of other important people, and then a group from church. We started out with the "desserts." I had to use quotation marks since not one of the desserts had any sugar in them. It was interesting. The story behind them is interesting because they are apparently the recipes that were used in the Imperial kitchens hundreds of years ago. We got a demonstration on how to make some of them. It is very precise work.
After the desserts we got a tour of this hotel. It's gorgeous. Now all I have to do is talk Nick into staying there for a few nights with me. Only 3000 RMB a night when they are running a special, so I doubt that will happen, but I can dream. The rooms had some gorgeous Chinese decorations. Beautiful carved wood doors on the closets and all over the room. It's hard to describe, and I couldn't get a picture, but it was amazing.
Here's some pictures. The middle one of us around a table was in the Global Times newspaper the next day. It was in the very middle of the paper. I tease Nick now and tell him his wife was featured in the centerfold. HA!
Overall I had a great time, the desserts themselves failed to impress my sweet tooth, but I always enjoy little cultural experiences like this. It also happened to be one of the first really pretty spring days we've had and I got to enjoy it outside on this beautiful patio.
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