Category: Others Page 1 of 14

Is it possible to prepare tea with Italian espresso maker?

The answer is “YES“. Of course the question will be “which kind of tea? “

I will not use this method with premium quality green/yellow/lightly fermented oolong or golden tippy black tea. In stead, it is pretty handy for those have no suitable tea ware at home to brew fruity tea or herbal infusion.

I started to work in 1975. The disappointment from the first job interview urged me to think how to proceed from the choice of job, i.e. 1. working for big company with higher income? or 2. working with new start up to re-shape my learning in international business management knowledge and to advance my capabilities further without worrying too much about income? Without hesitation, I chose the 2. to work with a new start up. I still remember how it was then till today: at the beginning there were only 4 people in the new start up trading company, my boss, his wife (responsible for the finance), a bookkeeper and I (you can say I did almost everything in the company except baby sitting); eventually we grew the company to >30 people. I worked more than 10 hours a day (6/7) and everyday I went to work with full of sunshine energy and returned home with singing, and I started to attend different training programs to improve myself. My parents knew I was happy without understanding the reason why.

There are plenty benefits of working with a new start up operation, for example I worked more than 10 hours a day (6/7) and I have no time to think too much about how I should feel but simply focus on what and how to grow the operation I involved with my colleagues. To exchange in the reality I have plenty opportunities to deepen my knowledge and capabilities i.e. selecting qualified factories, choose products and even involved with the product design, contact international potentials and continue to follow up until a deal is made, place order to factory and follow the QC procedure, arrange shipment and prepare negotiation documents for banks… when the case is closed, then calculate the P&L for each business transacton.

It seems I was ambitious type with clear idea about my career goal, actually I was and still am not; the early almost-burn out experience really woke me up. The only thought that I have in mind then was and still is today : Do you Best and do the good things well!

Funny thing was that almost all jobs I did were all with new start up operations and I could enjoyed the prosperous growing and positive changes before I moved to Europe in 1991.

Yes, due to various reasons and situations, I have experienced many changes from 1975 to 1991 and nontheless I never have a moment of regret. The most common questions people asked are:

1. How did you do it? Because you have not only changed the job responsibility levels, but have changed jobs in various industrial types which have no link in between.

Answer: For me, I focused only one thing “Customers”. For me not only potentials were customers, I saw and treated my colleagues as my “Customers”.

2. Which job you loved the most?

Answer: I devoted 100% of my devotion, energy and appreciation to each job, for me they were equally beautiful and I appreciate every experience and time with each job. There were like my babies, how can anyone ask me to make a choice?

3. How do you plan your future? What do you see yourself 10 years later from today?

Answer: Stay alive, stay healthily alive with ease and peace in mind. Doing best every day, so can enjoy a good night sleep every night.

In life we will go through many ups and downs, when heading upwards with confidence and strength without arrogance or blinded with over-confidence; in case must moving downwards in order to climb up again, just pay caution on each step without seeing it as failing, certainly not to give up or give in but consider it as a moving forwards process to motivate self to reach the next rising hill.

Today, my hair is grey and have lost my shape for some years. So what! The journey of learning continues, old habbits to update learning never died away and my heart still feels the vibes in life. And, I have my tea

Autumn is a beautiful, romantic yet unpredictable season in a year because in Autumn we will experience a ‘long-planned’ energy mobilization and we never know what will happen later in a day. However, we will live through the energy change that drivves the dispersal of wind and clouds, the day is getting shorter, the discoloration of plants and trees while fruitfulness in the fields. The migratory birds to the warm south and fly high, great changes happen in the Nature that sweeps across the land with the change of energy in the heaven and the earth to cold.

The change of Yin – energy in heaven, earth and environment would stimulate the retaliated Yang – energy to rise in our body. People with low immunity resistance or sensitive to the change of energy might experience lots of discomfort, i.e. lungs infection, caughing, dehydration, headache in this season.

How to enhance the immunity system and tosolve the cause of headache , frankly speaking we need to hand these medical matters to more professional medical experts for their facts-based dignosis and suggestions. However,we do can consider to practice some easy and cost-free steps in actions to improve our daily health.

copyrighted Mei Lan Hsiao, Belgium Chinese Tea Culture Association, info@chinesetea.be Tel: +32494506899

今天在看小说的时候，作者写的这一段（我略微添油加醋了一点），真的是很值得我们身为父母的好好的学习。

大雁只有多飞翔，翅膀才会硬实，才能经得住千里迁徙。

老虎在成为百兽之王前，要先离开父母，独自去闯荡去捕猎，才能历练出锋利的猛爪和可以撕裂万物的利齿。

不管我们有多爱孩子，但是孩子不是我们的财产; 是我们生命的延续，但是他们有他们的世界去开创，有自己的路要走，有他们的天空需要他们展翅翱翔。

From an ancient Chinese idom we learned the utmost kindness begins with filial piety。 百善孝为先 （bǎi shàn xiào wéi xiān）

The sustainable leadereship style is in question if one does know its meaning, actually the reason is quite simple:

How can you expect someone who honestly loyal and respectful if s/he does not even show the same attitude to respect her/his own moral ‘responsibility” to her/his parents?

How can you expect someone know how to behave as a team member if s/he does not even has a brother or sister? or does not know the respect to her/his elder brothers/sisters and kindness to her/his younger brothers/sisters?

Am I still interested to find a job even at the age of 67?
Well， the answer definitely is YES。
Why not? I am still pretty healthy in body and mind, I still full of positive energy in life and I appreciate every opportunity to share knowledge and experience in life.

However, I do have clear direction in coaching and consultancy; because

The greatest satisfaction is not about what I can achieve but watching what others can achieve with ease, peace and happiness.

Mei Lan hsiao

When I help others, it gives me a chance to help myself; sharing experience and knowledge with others help me to deepen my own learning and reflections.

There is nothing more important than maintaining positive and healthy eneregy in body, mind and emotionally. Continue learning and sharing are the best remedies in the healthy lifestyle. All of these are easy to obtain, Free of Charge !

UN has declared 2022 as “International Year for Artisanal Fisheries and Argiculture”. This declaration would be a great news for many Chinsee tea farmers who devote their life and energy in preserving the artisanal quality tea in tea based on the accumulated wisdom, methods and traditions that we inheritant from our ancestors in the past thousadnds of year in China history.

Anyone who appreciate tea knows tea is a natural agricultural product but not industrial product, accumulated wisdom and traditional know how are hardly be replaced or duplicated by modern machinery processes. Appropriately manage the biochemical and micro environmental factors are critical foundation for the sustainability of tea farming.

Artisan tea basically means tea involves with skillful works and manual (or semi-manual) processed, and that is the critical quality standards for many Chinese special famous teas from China today. The tea quality classification standards in China are still stick to the ancient traditions which heavily involves with manual efforts in tea picking to production.

China has been through many changes in history but the living wisdom and cultural traditions have been accumulated without breaking up. Artisan teas are still considered as the best quality teas in China today and here are some basic principles of Chinese special famous teas:

1. Started from ecological balanced conditions in the tea growing region (in practice, it means use only natural composed fertilizer, maintain the healthy soil conditions by not over doing the fertilization, forestry coverage in the tea growing regions is in the priority for the sustainability development program in China.
2. Manually grass removal by respecting it to complete its life circle is important to protect tea trees, in the Autumn grass grow in the tea farm will play a protector role to against the cold winter and to prevent drought under the threat of global climate change. 
3. In the framework of sustainability development, the collaboration relationship with the local community to arrange the tea picking, it helps to improve family income and living conditions of the local community;
4. tea production manually by respecting the traditional methods and wisdom are playing critical role to ensure the quality 
5. Geographic indications are critical.  Today there are many countries grow and produce tea, tea trees can be migrated, production processes can be learned and copied, but not the ecological and micro-environmental conditions, i.e. air, water, latitude/altitude, sunlight, temperature differences in day vs. night, shadowing, moisture in the air….etc.
6. Artisan teas definitely should be pure in its flavors and tastes, freed from any additional flavor or other addictives.  Artisan tea is as if a natural beauty, her beauties are from within without additional ‘make up’ or ‘make over’.

In Chinese tea culture, tea is more than craftmanship of tea, it prevails how Chinese traditional moral standards based on “earthy”, ‘honesty’ and ‘respect’ are actually lived through actions despite all those political and cultural changes that happened in China in the last nearly 5000 years. Tea is more than enjoying fine and pure flavors in tea, it is about how we can enjoy a moment with tea when to implement the fundamental respects, to the Nature, to others and mostly not to forget the respect to self, without preconceived judgement and differentiation mind. When we enjoy the pure and authentic quality tea, our mind and emotion are also enlightened by its devine spirit in tranquility. Mindfulness is more than a attractive buzzword or fancy demonstration but how we truly enjoy living through a cup of tea.

What is freedom?

What does freedom mean?

What and how to practice freedom ?

If freedom only meant “I can do what I want”, then it is not freedom but lawless mind that leads to chaos.

Freedom, indeed, means to recognize and able to claim own rights, but meanwhile it also means to embrace and to recognize own obligations to follow the basic laws and order that can create calm and peaceful society; it also means one is able to take action to show how s/he willing to respects the rights of other parties.

If you quickly jumped to the decision that the other parties who do not follow your decision means they against you, then probably you are far from knowing what freedom means or even against the practice of freedom.

When follow what are covered in the media that you can easily access to, the hardest process and decision will be are you willing and able to see the truth from your heart.

The practice of freedom means to build peace but not conflicts or wars. No matter what, freedom is not excuse to deny the rights of other party/ies, certainly is not the excuse to practice racism, discrimination or bullism.

When tea and tea culture are booming worldwide, more and more people like to talk about Gongfu Cha. But what is the difference in Gongfu Cha (工夫茶）vs. Gongfu Cha (功夫茶）？These two share the same Chinese PinYin, but not all teas can be classified as GongfuCha.

A lot of people are confused by Gonfu Cha in 工夫茶 or 功夫茶. Hopefullly the following brief outlines are useful for you to distinguish few fundamental differences based on Chinese definitions:

Gongfu Cha 工夫茶

Gongfu Cha 工夫茶 started from Chaozhou,Santou and Southern part of Fujian in the Soong Dynasty, it was named as 工夫茶 because of its unique manufacturing methods. In the Wuyi Tea Song writen by Zen Master Shi ChaoQuan in the late Ming Dynasty： 如梅斯馥兰斯馨，大抵焙时候香气，鼎中笼上炉火温，心闲手敏工夫细, the poet clearly mentioned fine quality tea that has gone through complex manufacturing processes and time consuming. It is named as Gongfu Cha because the selection of tea leaves, withering, baking, rolling, fermentation and roasting, storaging and brewing require very particular attention.

In short, Gongfu Cha 工夫茶 is attractive because of its unique complex fraquence, the refinement in the delicated roasting process and most importantly the refinement in the workmanship in the manufacturing and the brewing process.

In the “Qing Dai Tong Shi” edited in 1915 by Xiao YiShan, it mentioned famous teas exported to the West were “Gongfu tea, Wuyi tea, Souchong tea & Pekoe tea”, from it we understand the Gongfu tea were meant for various fine quality black tea, i.e. MinHong Gongfu (i.e. ZhengHe Gongfu, TanYang Gongfu & BaiLing Gongfu from Fujian), Keemun Black tea and Dian Hong; Gongfu Cha is no longer to name Wuyi Rock tea.

Gongfu Cha 功夫茶

The most direct interpretation of Gongfu （Kungfu 功夫）is “martial art, skill; “Gongfu Cha 功夫茶” refers to tea making, tea brewing techniques and the way of tasting and drinking. The unique brewing from Chaozhou played a crutial role to lead the development of Gongfu Cha 功夫茶 mainly to brew traditional Oolong tea。Places known for Gongfu Cha 功夫茶 are Chaozhou, Xiamen/SanTou & Taiwan, among those regions, Gongfu Cha in Chaozhou plays the most influential role.

• 

There are many different disciplines in Gongfu Cha 功夫茶，but few characters are in common:

1. Brewing with with boiled water
2. Small tea pot with small tea cups
3. More multiple brewings are permitted
4. Complex brewing procedures allow tea lovers to appreciate its complex layers in fraquences and tastes from each brewing