Writes of Passage

^{This green tea is from a friend’s farm in China.} 

Tea, the loose leaf kind, is wonderful. It’s great for a rainy day and excellent for everyday consumption. I’m certainly not a connoisseur but just enjoy it, in my faved cups, and recycled bottles, 废物利用. This blue jar by far is my most adored container.

A few type of tea:

1. Green 绿茶: on oxidation, has caffeine; such as Longjing 龙井 & 碧螺春 – top 5 of ten best Chines teas in 1959 were green teas.
2. Black 红茶 (red): oxidized; such as Earl Grey & 祁门红茶
   1. 

      ^{铁观音-Oolong/Black tea}

      Oolong 乌龙茶: semi oxidized; Fujian/Wuyi, has caffeine; such as Tieguanyin 铁观音, 金骏眉 & 武夷 肉桂

3. White 白茶: neither rolled or oxidized, young, minimally processed; high caffeine; such as Shengdao
4. Yellow 黄茶: oxidized; such as 君山银针
5. Pu’er 普洱茶: fermented, from Yunnan, high level caffeine; such as Dianhong 滇红, Tongqing Hao 同庆号 and Douji’s Yiwuzheng Mountain, 斗记普洱 易武正山  凤凰游 (2 spelling mistakes: zheing & moungain)
6. herbal tea: everything goes but tea (a few, however do contain ‘tea‘) 

Top 10 tea in China in 1959:

1. 西湖龙井, green
2. 洞庭碧螺春, green
3. 黄山毛峰, green
4. 庐山云雾茶, green
5. 六安瓜片, green
6. 君山银针, yellow
7. 信阳毛尖, green
8. 武夷岩茶, oolong
9. 安溪铁观音, oolong
10. 祁门红茶, black

LiuAn 六安 is a green tea, from the city of Liu’an in Anhui province (40 miles west of Hefei, the provincial capital). Another name is or guapian 瓜片 (melon slice). Reportedly it was one of the teas in the Dream of the Red Chamber 红楼梦 hongloumeng – one of the four classical novels. The taste is good – ha ha ha = not a connoisseur.

Taiping houkui  太平猴魁.

The shape of this tea is long and narrow, like a bookmark or a blade, which makes it easy to identify. According to Wikipedia, it grows at the foot of the Huangshan/Yellow Mountain in Anhui province, in the former prefecture Taiping.

Oh my, a huge shipment of teas for the 2018 lunar new year.

The long dark box is the designer Pu’er tea, in a small can, from xiaoguantea.com. They listed 8 designers, all male. The coffee colored cap is by Zou Bingliang (邹炳良) and the red color is by Wang Shunming (王顺明). It didn’t say how long this kind of tea can last. The darker color teacup to the left is from Zou; teacup to the right is Chunsangcha.

Chunsangcha 春桑茶 is from Jialing River 嘉陵江 in Sichuan basin, collected before Qingming 清明节. It tastes wheaty 桑茶, 叶子漂亮, 麦味道 – 憨厚

Two black teas: Dianhong 滇红 from Yunnan ^云南  and Jinjunmei 金骏眉 from Wuyi ^{武夷山特种茶}, which is, one of the most expensive one.

^{Black tea (红茶) oolong: Wuyi Rock Tea 武夷岩茶 肉桂 (cinnamon)  – Oolong} 

Teas of China 正好调时间 和北京差12小时容易换算[呲牙]. 金骏眉 武夷红茶 – 用了不到一半. 余下的,桑茶, 叶子漂亮, 麦味道 – 憨厚. 邹炳良的普洱茶. 都是好喝的. 发现茶师清一色男生 … 大概女汉子们不喝茶.

2016: Black tea honeysuckle 金银花红茶 This black tea spelled honeysucke and it’s a chart! I think ‘Honeysuckle Black Tea’ may sound better? In any case, it

1230 Old Country Rd,
Westbury, NY 11590

Replacing the Sport Authority, this wine shop is huge, yet very comfortable to shop.

345 8th St,
Oakland, CA 94607

Will return. A very topical Cantonese eatery where old gentlemen bring their birds and chitchat and eat. But I did see a mom with her 6 years old and an older diva in trendy yoga leggings. Free Chinese newspapers are on the tables. I’m lucky to have found a parking spot on the street four cars away from this restaurant. With a nice pedestrian’s help I successfully parallel parked, with a hour limit.

Foods are all good. Beef rice noodle with too much meat. Congee is delicious. I saw how they make the thin rice sheet to wrap the fried stick – youtiao and ordered one: the sheet is great but fried stick is kind of hard. Service is affable. When I tried to get hot water for my ever-presence tea bottle and couldn’t, she said “oh you don’t know” and went on to show me.

President Hoover’s legacy lives on at Stanford. The tower ($4 admission) has a clear view of the campus, the institute houses many historical collections. his included.

A boy died too young …
Motion film was invented @ Stanford

328 Lomita Dr,
Stanford, CA 94305

Cantor Arts Center/Museum in Stanford (The Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University), San Francisco has the largest collection of Rodin’s works outside of his own museum in Paris.

1200 Getty Center Dr,
Los Angeles, CA 90049

^{Bird of Paradise; O}

1200 Getty Center Dr,
Los Angeles, CA 90049

Pleasant, straightforward, bit pricy. Food and service are above average. I’m expecting a killer view but disappointed by the balcony wall – see through fiber glass (?) might serve better? They’ve out door seating but isn’t open. Oh well.

We’ve carrot cumin hummus, paella, chicken and scallops – the seafood cooked just right, juicy and tender. Fake cactus on the table. Why bother?

Parking at the museum is $15.

A perennial thing to do in San Francisco. A pretty campus, Rodin sculptures, museums, Hoover (institute and tower), and Stanford Jr …

The Quad – Main Quadrangle

the Quad from the Tower

550 Deep Valley Dr Ste 145,
Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274-3696

Friday 6:30 pm, many noisy kids. Stems are set on each table. A little odd combo. I