Blooming Tea

Looks like somehow I never published this post??? I wrote it in 2009 I think...


开花茶, kai hua cha (open flower tea) or Blooming Tea. I love these, they are so beautiful!

At first they look like a small dried ball of tea but when you pour hot water over them they slowly start to open into a "flower." 

There is an infinite number of blooming teas to choose from, main ingredient is generally green tea (or white tea in some cases.) The flowers used most commonly are Jasmine, marigold, yellow crysathamum, lily, globeamaranth, tropaeolum, camellia, jade iris, sweet osmanthus and carnations. They sew together different types of flowers and tea to create all kinds of designs and tastes.

New Blog (Again)

For those that missed this: I have a new blog, please visit http://soirsce.tumblr.com/

New Door County Design Studio

Me and Ping are starting Ping Design, as local Door County web design studio, Graphic Design, and Photography.  

Wu Zheng Ping is a qualified web designer and holds an Advertising and Commercial Design Degree from Shanghai University, his schooling also included radio and film advertisement directing. 

He has more than six years of graphic and web design experience in E-marketing solutions and has received training in search engine optimization. His professional background includes work in one of the leading web design companies in Shanghai, China, "Protime Consulting," which services top-500 enterprises, such as Clinique, Dior, Tommy Hilfiger, Estée Lauder, Sony and the like. He later started his own web design studio, "SGC Solutions," which serviced companies such as Shanghai Mitsubishi, China in Law, and Totole. Wu Zheng Ping's varied background in graphic design, photography and Adobe Photoshop provides the perfect foundation for web design.

Oh no...

Looks like I may not be able to post for a while... China has blocked Blogger.com. (I'm using a proxy.)

*edit*  OK, I have a new blog I can post on with out using a proxy! http://soirsce.tumblr.com/
go take a look!

Sad But True...

My brother sent me this a few days ago, haha:

(in case those words are too small to read)

"I feel like I'm wasting all my life on the internet. Lets take a walk around the world."-guy #1

"Sounds good."-guy#2

"And yet all I can think is, 'This will make for a great *blogger* entry.'"-guy #1

Hangzhou 杭州

(Photo: Xihu Lake)

I just got back from Hangzhou. Between the two of us I think we have over 3ooo photos... at least. Therefore it took me awhile to edit and re-size the choice ones! It was really fun even though we didn't get  to go to all the places we wanted to. I had really wanted to go to the art academy in Hangzhou, oh well, next time!

 

We ended up going to Xihu lake (of course,) The Bamboo Hallway, Dragonwell and Green Tea fields and the Hu Xueyan Residence (which I found online, it was an awesome place! 胡雪岩, 上城区元宝街18号) The air was much more fresh than that of Shanghai, it was also gorgeous (65-75 degrees F) and sunny every day we were there which everyone says is very rare, Hangzhou is famous for its misty lake and mountains, which inspired many ancient Chinese poets and artists.

The food was also amazing, everything was cheap, very fresh and well cooked, Hangzhou's food is famous for being made with very few added spices so the natural flavors can really come through.

In the Bamboo Hallway we ended up climbing the mountain by accident, the signs in the Bamboo Hallway were not quite accurate, The sign said the "Temple of the God of Wealth" was up ahead. We kept going up and up and up for about an hour when we then saw a couple coming down the mountain and asked them "how much farther to the temple?" (in Chinese) they said "the stairs keep going up for about 2 more hours.... we give up" we gave up too...

The Bamboo Hallway.

Little did we know this was only the first bit of stairs...

The Bamboo Hallway entrance.

Green tea fields.

A peony in the park just off of Xihu lake.

Koi in the pound at the hu xueyan residence.

One of the gardens in the hu xueyan residence.

If you still want to see more of my Hangzhou pictures you can take a look at my flickr photo account, here is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27292029@N02/sets/72157616738679172/

XinTianDi Again and Cats...

新天地 (xīn tiān dì) is a very short walk from my apartment to if I just feel like taking a break and getting some exercise I love going there, its really pretty and even more so at night. As I have mentioned before it is a restored part of old Shanghai (link,) it is clean, beautifully lit, has a very pretty park and is full of police. 

The other day we are walking through the park which is just starting to bloom with lots of cheery and magnolia blossoms, when Ping notices a cat... a very dirty but very cute white cat.

One thing I have learned about Wu Zheng Ping is that he really likes cats, especially cute fluffy white cats, which is exactly what this little kitty looked like. "Can we take him to my mom's house? He is way cuter than my cat aww" :D ... He really wanted to take it home, "If you take him home your mom is going to kill you O_o ... look at him he's fat, I'm sure he gets enough food and he is in the nicest part of the city" Oh well.... (No, we did not take it home,) I already have a bunny to deal with...

"Hey, look a cat... awww"

"mimi~ come here...

This was not a dumb cat, he knows exactly where he's going to get food (and he's adorable.) This park is full of cats. They hid in the bushes, and like to walk out over a small (closed off) bridge onto the island in the middle of the man-made-lake at the center of the park. Its actually very funny because on a sunny day you can see at least 20 cats sunbathing very comfortably knowing no human can get into the island.

"Can we take him home pleaseee? he's so cute~" oh no, dont touch it...

 "Oh look..." oh no, here comes another one! 

Future travel Plans: Hangzhou

Not much to write except that I'm doing fine. 

I wish it would warm up, its cold here and it rains a lot this time of year so the natural light is really horrible for painting or drawing, being right next to the sea will do that though...

My plans for next month is to spend some time in 杭州 (HangZhou), possibly the month after, it depends on the weather.

I've always wanted to go there! Its supposed to be one of the most beautiful places on earth, I hope it lives up to all the hype, everyone that has been there raves about it. Either way the pictures are amazing! Hangzhou is famous for many arts related things (including one of China's best art schools) and its longjin (dragon well) tea. 

View Larger Map

I will post my own pictures on the bolg later.

Mmm... was that really a good idea?

So I bought a bunny....

"Bobo" is a 30kuai mini-bunny I bought on the street in Shanghai. The guy that sold him(her) to me insisted it was a "special high price bunny" because it was very smart, I didn't believe him.... plus it was so small I could fit its whole body in the palm of my hand. It was extremely cute though...

Bobo has the magic ability to "escape" from any cage I try to put it in so I just let him(her?) run around my apartment most of the time.

This last one is the "full grown" version... those are apples in the bag for size reference.