Tea Pot and Hot Pot

There is a perception that tea is the most popular drink in China. Nothing could be further from the truth. China is famous for tea but as a daily drink, not so much. In fact while you can buy 100's of different bottled tea drinks, you cannot get a pot of hot tea in most restaurants. Mai you! (Chinese for "Don't have!") Drinking tea in China requires more than just a cup and a kettle, it is a ritual to be followed religiously. One wrong move and you have ruined the tea. To purchase tea you must find a tea market. The markets we have visited are quite large but most shopping malls will have one or two chain tea stores located on the premises. The markets can be two or three story buildings filled with dozens of small little tea shops. Each shop selling tea from a different areas of China, Taiwan and other tea growing countries. Buying tea is a lot buying wine. You spend a lot of time sampling the various teas, lots of sipping but no spitting. Some teas are made with boiling water while other teas require water heated to just below the boiling point. The contact time is very important. Water left to long in the tea leaves, blasphemy, to short and you miss the subtle flavours and bouquet of the tea. Tea can be carefully aged like wine. Finally, tea is not cheap. I have seen costs running to $250 CAD for a kilogram of tea grown at the top of mountains in Taiwan. So if you like your tea and are planning to visit China, pack some Red Rose.

Hotpot! A distinctly Chinese cuisine. The basic premise of hot pot is much like fondue. Replace the oil or cheese with boiling hot plain or spiced water. Then boil what ever you want to eat. As the story goes in China, hot point was invented by a famous general. Prior to a big battle, the general had to move his men a long distance to reach the battle field. There was no time time cook a proper meal for his men before the battle so he ordered his cooks to heat huge pots of water, cut the meat up into thin slices, boil and serve. A quick and hearty meal for his men who went on to defeat the other army. As we all know, an army travels on it's stomach. Without hard facts, I believe I can safely say there are more hotpot restaurants then their are MacDonalds in China. The beauty of hotpot is you can do it anywhere anytime. All you need is a pot, hotplate and chopsticks. Doctor J hosted us in her dorm room. We ate on the bed. Eating hotpot is not a quick meal, like fondue is can last for hours. So if you have a few hours, I recommend you give it a try. Don't burn your lips like I did.