We see ourselves reflected in others

A new year is usually the time when we reassess where we are in life and where we are heading. In 2007/08 I was heading everywhere with little time in between to think about my experiences, what they mean and how they are changing me.

2009 will bring travels less in quantity but hopefully more in quality time. My dad always says ‘everything in moderation’ and he is right. It’s because I have been obsessively overdoing the travelling thing that my body finally said: enough.

However, more rest in between travels have been rewarding me with small epiphanies that may or may not mean anything at all. A friend was teasing me recently about how my tea collection now exceeds my red wine supplies - when it suddenly dawned on me that the two drinks have more than a few things in common.

While green tea is as ingrained in Eastern cultures as red wine is in Europe and other Western countries, they also have similar health properties and are both seen as an art form. Tea estates and wine estates are each breathtaking in their own way and the harvest of grapes as well as tea leaves undergo many processes to create different types of end products that could be matched with food or enjoyed on its own.

Similarly, while learning more about Islam here in Dubai, I realised that the salaat and the sun salutation also show similarities. Both are spiritual practices where one touches the forehead to the floor. The fluid movements massage the internal organs and encourage the body to move towards a sense of balance.

We always seem to think that cultures are so different but the fact is that as human beings we often lean towards the same things. Yet in different parts of the world we have different resources to draw from (tea trees in China as opposed to vines in Cape Town) while different groups (Buddhism and Islam) may independently adapt similar practices for wellbeing.

Is it perhaps that we are not as different as we would like to believe? Who knows; the girls who introduced me to the traditional Chinese tea ceremony in Shanghai could have been my kin if I was born into a different skin.

The more I find connections the more this world becomes an exciting and wonderfully complex place that I can’t wait to discover more.

A sip of Chinese tea and a number for love

A petite Chinese girl with porcelain skin and baby doll hair shows us into a tiny tea room. The wallpaper has a clay teapot design in shades of ochre, taupe and rusty browns. We sit down at a small table laid with tea sets and glass jars filled with tea leaves and flowers.

On the wall to my right hangs a scroll with Chinese calligraphy in honour of tea culture. On my right sits Yan Dan and Chen Zhi Hua, bright eyed and super keen to share their knowledge of tea and the history of China.

"This place in called 'The Great Xing Tea House' and it originates from the Xing dynasty," says Yan Dan and then looks to the tea master in front of us for more guidance.

Or perhaps I should rather say 'tea mistress'. She is so pretty in that red silk dress. When she starts to speak my eyes glaze over. I feel like I have been struck by magic. You see, I have this fantasy of being a pretty Chinese girl with silky black hair. One who pours tea into delicate China cups and serve them to men skilled in martial arts and sword fighting.

What's more, I wish I could speak all the languages in the world. The structure of a language can say so much about the mindset of the people. Each language presents different ways of saying things and thus broadens the possibilities of what can be expressed. Simply listening to a foreign language pleases me. Especially in a traditional setting such as this.

The fact that Yan Dan enthusiastically translates every word makes me feel eternally grateful. She explains how ingrained tea is in the local culture. She draws the symbols for tea and tasting and demonstrates how the symbol for tasting is made up of three mouths. Therefore a tasting has to be done in three sips only.

First we taste a Ginseng Oolong Tea which the tea mistress pours from one procelain cup to another. The empty cup we swirl around our eyes because "it's good for seeing".

The next tasting is quite a show. Our tea mistress pours the Jasmine Green Tea from high up into tiny cups.

"This tea is also called 'The Eye of the Phoenix' because the tea leaves and flowers are rolled into little balls that look like eyes and the Empress of the Xing dynasty favoured this tea".

We taste a couple more teas including fruit and flower teas but the Jasmine Green Tea remains my favourite.

"Strong tea such as Oolong and Dark Green Tea must be brewed in clay pots while fruit and flower teas should be prepared in glass teapots or even wine glasses in order to appreciate its visual beauty," I learn, "Porcelain pots are for milder teas."

By the time Chen Zhi Hua calls me a taxi I feel like I am stepping out of a dream and I am sad to say goodbye to these generous hosts. Not only did they give me a perfect memory but they also left me with a lucky number: 11, one and one, "for love".

Xie-xie, 'thank you'.

Visiting the ‘Paris of the Orient’

Today Shanghai is once again worthy of its 1930’s title, ‘Paris of the Orient’. At night the city lights transform the Bund area into a magical and colourful world, reflected in the Huangpu River which glides through the city.

Although it has become a cosmopolitan economic centre, Shanghai also has much to offer in terms of tradition and the celebration of art. In fact, the Shanghai Museum has won many awards and displays a proud selection of some of China’s most important cultural relics.

My own personal favourite is the hall dedicated to Chinese paintings. The whimsical brushstrokes and calligraphy tell enchanting stories of a spiritual life that honours beauty and is lived close to nature. As with Chinese calligraphy, these paintings are so delicate and it represents an era where people still had time to express their highest abilities.

Other halls exhibit Chinese ceramics, bronze and other sculptures, jade, furniture, currencies, ethnic arts and crafts as well as ancient Chinese seals. Although these distinctive seals were first used as a validation of authority it eventually became widely used as a personal signature and was fused with the art of calligraphy and painting.

What is astonishing is the depth of history that is contained inside this modern museum. It spans 5000 years worth of history from the Neolithic Age through the Ming and Qing Dynasties, while I even spotted some pottery shards from 6800 BC.

The museum shop is supposedly a great place to shop for souvenirs but as I am heading for the Yu Yuan garden and market I end up buying only with my eyes. Outside the door two young Chinese women ask me to take pictures of them.

“We’re visiting Shanghai from the north for a friend’s wedding,” says Yan Dan, “If you don’t mind, you can join us for a tea ceremony. We would like to practise our English and it would be nice for you to see this tea celebration.”

Considering my insatiable passion for Oriental tea, I cannot believe my luck. I look into Yan Dan’s eyes for a few seconds to try and gage if I can trust this stranger. Why do I always have this issue with trust?

Then I think of my mom’s words: “Who risks nothing has nothing and is nothing,” and promptly accept their invitation.

Shanghai by night

“The best places to hang out in Shanghai are…” says the trendy concierge at the Crown plaza hotel in Pudong as he shuffles through some business cards.

“Start at Barbarosa for some drinks. It’s a beautiful bar and very central. From there move on to Mundo Latino for some salsa and then try Atica – the newest and hippest club in Shanghai. If you’re still up for more after that, end your night at a Chinese club.”

He puts the last card for the Paramount Chinese club on the table and so we are ready to take on our first night in China.

However, when we meet our Chinese friend, Teo, he is not impressed with our plan.

“Don’t you trust me?” he whines as we flash him the cards we picked up at the hotel.

“Of course, what were we thinking!” we answer and decide to simply follow his lead.

I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by Asians for the night so when we arrive at the Uminosachi Japanese restaurant in Huai Hai Road, my Japanese friend Hisami orders some sake, plum wine and Japanese beer to get us started.

The plum wine is too sweet for my taste so I decide to stick to the sake. Although the beer is good too. Asian beers are not as heavy as the Western ones and therefore easier for me to stomach. I might as well try a bit of everything as you pay a standard fee to eat and drink as much as you like here. 150 yuan. That's only about 15 dollars.

We page through the elaborate menu and although I cannot understand any of the Chinese letters, there are pictures of every single dish and that makes it easy to order: simply point at the dish and smile at the waitresses.

How we manage to get through so much food I do not know… miso soup, sashimi, sushi rolls, tepanyaki, steamed rice, seafood, dumplings, tempura…

I try eel for the first time - “come on, don’t be scared” – and it's not half bad, although a bit fatty I would say.

When we finally cannot eat any more, we decide to move on to Park 97, a popular club in Shanghai. We do not manage to find a taxi, but its close enough to walk and since we have a Chinese guide in our midst we simply have to follow.

Downstairs at Park 97 the DJ is playing pop. We hang around there for a bit and my friend Ryan from Singapore orders jugs of Tiger beer from his hometown for us while we wait for the salsa band to start playing upstairs.

We dance and dance until we cannot dance anymore. Upstairs, downstairs, on the stairs... We drink some more Tiger beer. We laugh and laugh until we cannot laugh anymore. We dance some more.

Then we get a taxi home (easily this time), with the full moon beaming down on our happy but tired faces.