Three Confucius Institutes in the United Kingdom and France Jointly Organize Tea Culture Exchange Activity

From November 21st to 25th, Zheng Shan Tang, a Chinese black tea enterprise, was invited to successively visit the Confucius Institute at Queen Mary University of London in the United Kingdom, the Confucius Institute at Paris Nanterre University, and the Confucius Institute at the University of Lorraine in France, bringing a feast of exchanges of Chinese black tea culture for local teachers, students and the public.

Take Tea as a Leading-in and Write down Book Aroma with Ink

During the activity, the Painting and Calligraphy Institute in Zheng Shan Tang invited 30 prominent Chinese calligraphers to write 30 calligraphic works for exhibiting. The audience was amazed and astonished by the calligraphic works such as the slender and graceful seal characters, heavy and powerful official script, refined and neat regular script, expressive and delightful cursive handwriting.

The calligraphy-experiencing scene at the Confucius Institute at the Queen Mary University of London

In the calligraphy-experiencing session, Wang Yuwei, Deputy Secretary-General of the Painting and Calligraphy Institute in Zheng Shan Tang, led the audience to experience the beauty of calligraphy stroke after stroke. Everyone was earnest and serious to feel the complicated changes of Chinese characters and experience the unique charm of Chinese calligraphy from their curves, beelines, dots and strokes.

Conduct Exchanges and Mutual Learning with Tea as Medium

The keynote speaker at the seminar on tea culture exchanges between China and foreign countries, Zhang Sailin, Vice Chairman of the Youth Association of Cross-Straits Tea Exchanges Association and Vice Chairman of Wuyishan Tea Marketing Association gave a vivid illustration of the history and the origin of black tea centering on “Chinese Tea Culture and Black Tea”. During the lecture, Zhang also actively interacted with the audience present. Some French viewers even know that Chinese tea is usually combined with Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

Tea culture lecture at the Confucius Institute at Paris Nanterre University

After the lecture, Zhang Yi, a senior tea master and senior tea-taster in China, showed the audience tea sets, taught them how to make tea, and explained how to taste them. In the session of tea-making experience, it was difficult for the audience to handle the problem of making tea with the lidded-cup but without burning their hands. Therefore, every time someone succeeded in doing it, there would be a burst of warm applause at the scene. A British student exclaimed, “Tea-making process is even harder than Chinese kungfu.” The exclamation drove everyone to laughter.

The tea-making scene at the Confucius Institute at the University of Lorraine

Through personal experience, those participants have realized that Chinese people’s tea drinking habits is actually a process peace of mind. Not only did they experience the pleasure of drinking black tea in China, but also gained a more in-depth understanding of the “frugality, peacefulness, harmony and quietness” in Chinese tea culture.

Charming Confucius Institutes and a Bridge of Friendship

The Chinese black tea culture activity has received strong support from three Confucius Institutes. In addition, Qian Bin, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at Queen Mary University of London, Yan Lu, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at Paris Nanterre University, and Yao Li, Chinese Director as well as Hong Toussaint, French Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Lorraine participated and helped to translate in the whole process, so that local teachers, students and the public could deeply understand the lecture.

Local people experiencing black tea making process

After the activity, Zhang Siyu, a teacher at the Confucius Institute at Queen Mary University of London said, “This activity was very meaningful. The lecture, taking a stand in the foreign friends’ perspective, mainly focused on the explanation of the tea culture in a simple way so that everyone could understand with ease. It also enabled everyone to make tea in person, and it was better to get a deeper impression than just drinking tea.”

Tea, as an important element of Chinese traditional culture, is not only part and parcel of Chinese people’s daily life, but also plays a pivotal role in international exchanges. It enjoys an indispensable status in the long history and culture of China. “I believe that with the continuous efforts of many overseas teachers at the Confucius Institute and domestic people specialized in tea, Chinese tea culture will certainly become well-known and loved by more foreign friends,” said Zhang Sailin, General Manager of Zheng Shan Tang.

From CRI Online; photos by: Zheng Shan Tang