I was introduced to the world of serenity by Moon through her skills of Chinese tea brewing, Chinese calligraphy, meditating and exploring the sacred wisdom of Heart Sutra. A world where all your senses become more refine each time you do one of these activities. Watching her prepare the tea in her tea room brings back my childhood memories when I loved watching my grandfather prepared his tea. As a child I was too nervous to ask him questions and I assumed that’s just how everybody prepares their tea. I have inherited his tea sets and I am looking forward to have Moon teach me how to use all the beautiful varieties of handmade clay teapots and cups he brought with him from Fujian, China.

This type of tea preparation is called Kung Fu Tea – which literally means ‘high skill tea’. With each brew you should infuse more effort, dedication and your own artistic flair. It is believed this way of preparing tea originated in the 18th century in Fujian but there are also others who believe that it originated in Chaosan area in Guangdong. The traditional method involves pre-heating the cups by pouring boiling water over them on a tray that drains the water. Using smaller brewing teapot with a higher tea leaf-to-water ratio than in the western style brewing. Moon took me on a journey beyond the taste and smell of the tea. The whole experience is quite spiritual as we tried to better understand the complexity behind each cup and its effects on our body. It’s all about perfecting each serve of tea, each stroke of the calligraphy, each understanding of Heart Sutra and each moment of tranquility through her meditation.

That afternoon Moon also made a batch of pumpkin mantou (buns) using her homegrown pumpkin. It is so fluffy and has a gentle sweetness that goes very well with the Pu’Erh she brews – a unique type of fermented tea that has the ability to evolve and mature over time, traditionally made in the Yunnan province of China.