"寒夜客来茶当酒,竹炉汤沸火初红"

杜耒

By 默默富酷

December 30^th, 2018

前言

"寒夜客来茶当酒，竹炉汤沸火初红" is a poem by chinese poet 杜耒 in the 12th century. i know this because baidu (the chinese better rip-off of google) said so. the google translation is "cold night huaiya tea drink, bamboo furnace boiling fire first round".

what the.... google translate, you sucked. i can do better that that.

i think it meant "the insensitive customer came to my inn in the middle of the night on a bitter cold winter night, i served him tea which i charged as my best wine. i stared at the boiling pot and asked myself why am i cooking at this hour. and i wondered why the red hot fire didn't burn down the bamboo stove."

i think my chinese language tutor just skipped several heartbeats.

关于茶馆

彭镇观音阁老茶馆 is an old tea house some 30km west of chengdu. it used to be a guanyin temple in the middle of the ming dynasty that was converted to a tea house during the cultural revolution. it is probably one of the few old style tea houses left in sichuan region.

walk into the time portal tea house, i was transported back in time where life seemed more authentic, slower and beautiful - till i saw the 40 inch led tv in the middle of the tea house.

the interior of the tea house is basic - the walls were plastered with faded cultural revolution murals, in the middle of the teahouse lays a water tank and a stove heating several aged pots. it is in the peak of a bitterly cold winter so the resident house cat lays near the pot.

rows of ceramic tea cups lay nearby, and are filled with jasmine & green tea when orders are placed. it will be 10 rmb for a cup of tea and 50 cents rmb if you bring your own tea and just needed hot water. the price has not been subject to inflation for a while now. they accept commie cash and wechat pay via qr code.

客观

hommies start coming in at 4am in the morning for their tea fix, even though the teahouse opens at 6am. they come in here for tea, smoke (handrolls or fags), gamble, gossip and look sinister for pesky photographers like me. damn, this is the kind of retirement home i want to grow up in.

老板

the boss comes in around 5am to check the 火候 (fire quality) and open the doors (technically wooden planks) for business. you can't miss him, he spots a dr. dre headphones and speaks with a heavy sichuanese accent. he is the david guetta of the teahouse world. move aside steve aoki, he is the cooler asian for me now.

五哥

我是五哥 - "i am fifth brother". that is what his online name said when he inisted that i add him as a friend on wechat. he later sent me a whole series of photos of him doing various acrobatics with the boiling hot water. i wanted to tell him i am also agile with boiling liquid. he should have seen me jump around after spilling hot coffee on myself.

小二

小二 ("small two") is a term used in old chinese movies as a reference to the restaurant hand. i don't know his name so i gave him this reference (respectfully). he is always doing chinese gongfu moves while pouring water from kettle to thermos and waiting for patrons. he also help patrons clean ear wax for a fee. he told me that he can do face changing and fire breathing for a fee too. i told him i change my face every day at work and my boss breathe fire down my neck every quarter.

oh did i mention that this was a lens review article? i recently acquired a china made lens (click on link) and thought that it is apt to accompany me for this trip.