DAY SIX, PART THREE:

The Mei Jia Wu Tea Plantation (where we went next) was beautiful. The countryside was all rolling hills and tall trees. Also a lot of bushes.
Fact of the day: There is such a thing as a tea bush. I always thought tea was made of a lot of different things (some of it is, of course) but for green tea there is actually a tea bush.
First Bu showed us the bushes a little bit. She kept saying the only leaves used for the tea were the "tender, young shoots." She said that about a hundred times, but she was really nice, also cute, so it was okay. She wasn't as cute as Adam Weaver, though. We all missed him.
We watched a man heat up the tea in a brass bowl. A huge brass bowl. It was sitting over a fire, and he dried it out by rubbing it around with his hands really fast, so he wouldn't get burned. Bu told us that he had to do this just right so the leaves would be flat and unbroken. If they broke they wouldn't keep the flavor as well, I think.
The name of the man who told us about tea was Sunshine. No joke. He said to call him Dr. Tea, since he went to America and got a degree in Tea. In the bus we talked about how funny that sounded, and if anyone could get a degree in corn or beef stew or something. Nevertheless, Dr. Tea was very funny. The girls who worked there poured us all tea, and dipped the spouts three times. That, Dr. Tea said, was a way of saying that we were welcome. The other way of saying it was to only pour a little tea the first time so the person could smell it. Then they added more water. He said in the villages in China if a boy likes a girl he asks her over for tea, and if she says yes, that's like being engaged.
Green tea means tea that isn't fermented. Black tea is for a long time, and there's a kind in the middle, but I don't remember what it's called. It isn't a color.
Dr. Tea said that tea in bags is the equivalent of instant coffee. I didn't think tea bags were that bad!
When you drink tea with leaves, you're actually supposed to chew up the leaves and swallow them when they get in your mouth. This isn't so bad.
He talked about how you can tell different grades of tea by the smell, shape and color. If it's a light color, whole leaves and strong smell it's grade A tea. While he was passing around samples of tea he asked us about actors we liked. Someone said Halle Berry and he said "Have you seen the movie Die Another Day?" We all started laughing. Remembering Adam Weaver. Dr. Tea looked nonplussed. After we talked about movies for a little while, (he didn't like Julia Roberts because of her large mouth. I like Julia Roberts. *pouts*) he showed us how to overpack tea. While he was packing it for the people who wanted some, we sang Da Hai, Gu Xiang (Great Sea, My Homeland). He looked stunned, then started to sing along. That's one of the best things about traveling in a choir; you get to meet people you would never meet otherwise, and touch their lives in a small way. Even though saying it sounds really cheesy.
After we were done listening to Dr. Tea we went into the gift shop. There were some pretty cool things there, some having nothing to do with tea at all. There were these little statues of men who would pee when the tea was hot enough. That was interesting, to say the least.
I bought Mom the China Pillow, which was filled with mulberry leaves and tea leaves. It smells oh so nice. Amy kept wanting to smell it. She said if I ever wanted some tea I could just dip it in the bathtub. Yeah.
Ash and I roomed together that night. I started getting really loopy, and laughing at nothing. Actually, I laugh at nothing even when it isn't really late, but whatever. Ash kept saying "You really need to go to bed," but I didn't listen. I was having too much fun. We watched TV for a little while, too.
It was at this point an insidious idea was formed, though neither Ash or I knew at the time. I was laying on the couch (the Hangzhou hotel was ever better than the Beijing hotel, and that's saying something!) and mentioned that people in our choir seemed to be pairing up. Like Camp (who was obsessed with Ash for a longo tello) was always with Lea. She was always laying her head on his shoulder. It was sweet. Ash was very happy, I think. Also, Camp's brother was flirting with two girls. They both liked him, I'm pretty sure. TU, of course, has girls surrounding him at all times. Will and Suze were always joking that they were going out, but I'm pretty sure they weren't exactly joking anymore. Anyway, I was lamenting the fact that this was having no positive affect for me, when I said "It's like love is in the air for SCS!" (our choir's initials) This became an issue at a later date.