Chinese Tea Culture
The Chinese people， in their drinking of tea， place much significance on the act of “savoring.” “Savoring tea” is not only a way to discern good tea from mediocre tea， but also how people take delight in their reverie and in teadrinking itself. Snatching a bit of leisure from a busy schedule， making a kettle of strong tea， securing a serene space， and serving and drinking tea by yourself can help banish fatigue and frustration， improve your thinking ability and inspire you with enthusiasm. You may also imbibe it slowly in small sips to appreciate the subtle allure of teadrinking， until your spirits soar up and up into a sublime aesthetic realm. Buildings， gardens， ornaments and tea sets are the elements that form the ambience for savoring tea. A tranquil， refreshing， comfortable and neat locale is certainly desirable for drinking tea. Chinese gardens are well known in the world and beautiful Chinese landscapes are too numerous to count. Teahouses tucked away in gardens and nestled beside the natural beauty of mountains and rivers are enchanting places of repose for people to rest and recreate themselves.
China is a country with a timehonored civilization and a land of ceremony and decorum. Whenever guests visit， it is necessary to make and serve tea to them. Before serving tea， you may ask them for their preferences as to what kind of tea they fancy and serve them the tea in the most appropriate teacups. In the course of serving tea， the host should take careful note of how much water is remaining in the cups and in the kettle. Usually， if the tea is made in a teacup， boiling water should be added after half of the cup has been consumed； and thus the cup is kept filled so that the tea retains the same bouquet and remains pleasantly warm throughout the entire course of teadrinking. Snacks， sweets and other dishes may be served at tea time to complement the fragrance of the tea and to allay one，s hunger.
中国茶文化
中国人饮茶，注重一个“品”字。“品茶”不但是鉴别茶的优劣，也带有神思遐想和领略饮茶情趣之意。在百忙之中泡上一壶浓茶，择雅静之处，自斟自饮，可以消除疲劳、涤烦益思、振奋精神，也可以细啜慢饮，达到美的享受，使精神世界升华到高尚的艺术境界。品茶的环境一般由建筑物、园林、摆设、茶具等因素组成。饮茶要求安静、清新、舒适、干净。中国园林世界闻名，山水风景更是不可胜数。利用园林或自然山水间，搭设茶室，让人们小憩，意趣盎然。
中国是文明古国，礼仪之邦，很重礼节。凡来了客人，沏茶、敬茶的礼仪是必不可少的。当有客来访，可征求意见，选用最合来客口味的茶叶和最佳茶具待客。主人在陪伴客人饮茶时，要注意客人杯、壶中的茶水残留量，一般用茶杯泡茶，如已喝去一半，就要添加开水，随喝随添，使茶水浓度基本保持前后一致，水温适宜。在饮茶时也可适当佐以茶食、糖果、菜肴等，达到调节口味和点心之功效。
Valentine，s Day
Valentine，s Day was Feb. 14， and Chinese call it “lovers， day”. I don ，t think the translation is an accurate one， since it doesn，t belong exclusively to lovers. Valentine，s Day is for expressing affection of all sorts. But it is unequivocally the romantically involved who shine the brightest， who spend the most money， whose hearts are the most engaged.
When I was a boy my mother would buy enough cheap cards with clumsy drawings of butterflies and bunnies and honeybees for me to give one to every kid in my class， about 20 or so. The cards came in bags， and each card had a few fatuous words - “Be Mine” or “I Like You” or “You，ve Got My Heart” or the utterly vapid， “Hi， Valentine！” I would scrawl my name on the cards and the name of one of my classmates on each flimsy envelope. I would insert the cards into the envelopes， and then I would lick each one shut， but they were so cheap that the envelopes rarely had enough glue. On Valentine，s Day， I would take the cards to school - everyone did. We would have a party in our classroom， with cupcakes and juice and tiny candy hearts， which also had Valentine messages printed on them - “You，re Sweet” or “Cupid” or “Love”.
Ah， love！ That，s the Valentine，s Day message： love. No one knows for certain the origin of the holiday. Several Catholic martyrs were named Valentine， but it，s difficult to separate legend from fact. One story tells of a priest named Valentine who was imprisoned and may have been stoned to death around 270 for performing marriages in defiance of the orders of the Roman Emperor Claudius II. But it，s hard today to find any religious connection.
As I got a little older， I came to hate the school ritual around Valentine，s Day. I didn，t like the feel of the dry， brittle paper of the cards and licking the envelope flaps disgusted me. Plus the first blush of liking everyone had worn off - some kids just weren，t nice， and I didn，t want them as my “special” Valentine， which was always the message on the cards.
Perhaps more significantly， my own heart was beginning to flutter in the presence of certain specific girls - I had a crush on Janice Lamb beginning at about age eleven. In fact， I remember writing her name on six or seven cards. The hard part was that Janice Lamb had a crush on Larry Jones， so she sent him extra cards， and he sent Dawn Rockwell extras， and so on around the room. Valentine，s Day became something of a torment - an introduction to the heartbreak of unrequited love (“heartbreak” = 607，000 hits on Google； “unrequited love” = 118，000 hits).
Mercifully， the silliness of these juvenile cards stopped by about age 12， but the agony and the ecstasy of course continued. In 12th grade Mrs. Skala， my literature teacher， whose family roots were in Scotland， constantly sang the praises of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. At that age， I was not fond of school or Mrs. Skala and certainly not of poetry. But I was by that time quite enamored of Linda Fowler， whom I would have done anything to impress. On Valentine，s Day that year， Mrs. Skala read aloud Burns，s poem “A Red， Red Rose.” Perhaps my infatuation with Linda Fowler made me vulnerable， and the mix of sweetness and joy and despair and hope in the poem took me by surprise.
It，s appropriate to take a look at this famous poem today， in conjunction with Valentine，s Day. Incidentally， enter the first line of the poem into Google and 21，900 hits pop up.
A Red， Red Rose
O my luve is like a red， red rose，
That，s newly sprung in June；
O my luve is like the melody，
That，s sweetly played in tune.
As fair art thou， my bonnie lass，
So deep in luve am I；
And I will luve thee still， my dear，
Till a， the seas gang dry.
Till a， the seas gang dry， my dear，
And the rocks melt wi， the sun！
O I will luve thee still， my dear，
While the sands o， life shall run.
And fare thee weel， my only luve，
And fare thee weel a while；
And I will come again， my luve，
Tho， it were ten thousand mile！
