All the tea in China

I'm on the road again this week - this time the trip is blissfully short. Leave on Monday, to arrive in China on Tuesday night, work on Wednesday and Thursday, then back home on Friday - to arrive before I left. It's a little extra time to make up for that whole day I lost on the way out.

Not surprisingly, I like to drink tea when I'm over here. In the restaurants, it's the childish Chrysanthemum tea. Slightly sweet, very aromatic - just wonderful. It's difficult to find Genmai Cha outside of vegetarian restaurants, so I have to dip into my "personal stash" for cups of that. But, after a day at work (and before meeting colleagues for dinner), I love a cup of Lemon Ginger tea. And, in this lovely hotel, my post-work libation looks like this:



Those crazy fruits on the table are Asian pears. Their texture is very similar to an apple (and they're sized/shaped the same was as well) but, flavor-wise, they're very mild - pear-like. Sometimes I like them; sometimes I don't. Over here, I generally like them.

My other excuse for tea today is because I don't have enough time to do much on this:



It's the edging plus five repeats of the Winter Year of Lace Kit - an Estonian shawl design by Nancy Bush. I started this on the plane ride over and, really, I don't have too much to show for it. I may even need to tink back the last two rows because I'm spectacularly unhappy with one of my nupps. I think I missed a loop. It's rather fiddly to do the nupps, but they sure are pretty.

I doubt this will look any different between now and my return. Partly because of jet lag, partly because work is a 24-hour-a-day proposition over here, and partly because I fully intend to sleep all the way home on Friday.

Wish me luck.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think my husband would love to go to China, or Japan, based soley on his passion for tea. I love Asian Pears! They really are a treat when we can get them in NY.

You are a brave and hardy soul that you can do that much travelling in one week. I'm in awe, and not just because I'm afraid of flying.

Good work on the lace, it's going to be gorgeous when it's done. :)

- Tina (rowsred@gmail.com)