Friday afternoon flew by so quickly over a pot of red tea, delicious pita bread, falafel and hummus, courtesy of my Palestinian friends who hosted us at their cozy abode. We discussed food recipes, traditional music from a string instrument called Oud, history and culture. What I particularly like are their flag colours of green, white, red and black, every colour tells a different story of its people and their collective hope for the future.
On this basis, I have designed a cha xi that I named "The colours of freedom": a green cha bu to represent the occupied territory, white porcelain cups to signify peace, Dian Hong, the best red tea in my collection is brewed in a zhuni ('zhu' stands for ruby red) pot in recognition of the sacrifices made by these people in their pursuit of liberty, and dark wood tea saucers that symbolise the lives of people coping under an oppressive occupation and the slabs of concrete walls that have been put up around them.
The little pebbles that I used for my cha xi add a nice touch from the outdoors. They represent more or less the only line of defense that children have to guard themselves against bulldozers and tanks. This cha xi paints a heavier side of reality and is a vivid reminder for us to always stand up for the right beliefs and reject political lies.
I let the water come to a quick boil and proceeded to preheat my pot and cups. The young and slender leaves rest nicely in the warm pot and already started to emit their honey-like fragrance. Wait and watch the pot do its magic.
Golden red tea fills the cups to complete the picture. Sweet and flowery notes greet my nose and lift my spirits. The clean, crisp and fruity taste of this tea refreshes me like a high mountain oolong and brightly marks the finale of today's tea session. To quote a friend "One ray of light wipes away the gloomiest jet black nights. All the darkness in this world cannot wipe away the faintest of flickers in a beam of light."
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