As culture and tourism are mutually enforcing, an experience of traditional culture such as the tea culture is required to promote the fine traditional Chinese culture. Recently, the team "Song Yu Guo Ji" from the School of International Education made a trip to Moxiang Guesthouse, Jingshan Village, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, to study the excellent traditional Chinese tea culture.

Students experience dian cha and the fine traditional Chinese culture.

This trip to Jingshan Mountain aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of the tea culture. Students learned about the history of the culture of dian cha, or creating tea art in cups, as well as its origin, evolution and process. During the visit, team members tried the 13-step process of dian cha in person, and completed it step by step under the guidance of the instructor, from which they acquired more tea-related knowledge and gained a wonderful experience of the dian cha culture. Anna, a student from Russia, asked many questions about the dian cha skill. After experiencing it herself, she sighed, "Chinese culture is really interesting."

Tanya and Anna followed the instructor to whisk the tea with a tea stick and felt its subtle changes. Finally, the two students tasted their own tea and sincerely praised the Chinese dian cha skill.

As the first destination of this trip, the dian cha culture aroused the students’ high interest in the following tea culture exploration. And they started for the next destination, Jingshan Auditorium, to have a close visit to intangible heritage.

A visit to the auditorium to learn more about rural culture

The second stop was Jingshan Auditorium. Students could deeply understand the special tea culture of Jingshan Village and the rural revitalization model of "rural tourism plus innovation", and know how unique and interesting the tea culture was. Jingshan Auditorium concentrates on the history of dian cha culture in the Song dynasties by introducing tea sets, tea leaves, tea cups, tea whisks, etc., creatively presenting the brilliant culture to the visitors. The team first had a look at the cultural and creative products with tea elements, and were deeply impressed by the innovation and application of traditional cultural IP in the new era. Anna entered the shooting room and had a close interaction with these products, saying that she was willing to contribute to the promotion of Jingshan Village tea culture.

Later, the team studied twelve different tea sets used in the dian cha process, and had an insightful understanding of their clever use.

Students study the culture by visiting the workshop of an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage.

At the last stop, students visited the tea stick making workshop of Mr. Chen Jinxin, an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, and learned the complexity and difficulty of the tea stick making. The tea stick is an important tool used to whisk the tea during the dian cha process and a key to a successful dian cha. Faculties and students appreciated the main works of Mr. Chen, feeling the wisdom and perseverance of the artisan. With the explanation of the docent, students also learned about different raw materials of the tea stick and its various forms.

With a strong interest in the handicrafts such as the tea stick and tea sets in the workshop, Anna played with many exquisite tea sticks. At the same time, the admiration for the tea stick made Tanya stop at the showcase and took photos of herself with them.

This trip brought a lot of insights to the faculties and students into Chinese traditional tea culture and advanced ecological construction experience of Jingshan village. Dai Panjie, an undergraduate from the class of 2022 in the School of Foreign Languages, said, "It takes time for one to master the dian cha skill." Boasting a long-held history, the traditional Chinese tea culture is being enriched in time. During this trip, the team learned about the dian cha skill, which deepened students' understanding of the excellent Chinese traditional culture. In the future, they will continue to work hard and explore the new mode of rural revitalization and development empowered by the Song culture.