Chinese and international students engage in a Song Dynasty Charm dialogue at Hangzhou tea mountains

Using tea as a medium to pass on cultural heritage, and research study and collaborative exchange to promote integration. Recently, students from Zhaohui Junior High School and their British counterparts gathered at the Yangjiapailou Community in Liuxia Subdistrict, Xihu District, to launch a Song Dynasty tea culture research study activity. Chinese and international students gathered at the tea mountains, immersing themselves in exploring the millennia-old tea tradition, savoring Eastern tea culture together, and forging friendships and cross-cultural dialogue through practical exchange.

Chinese and international students walked into the ecological tea garden, transforming into "tea farmers" to experience tea-picking labor. Wearing bamboo hats, they wandered through the layered tea bushes, learning from the tea farmers how to identify tea buds and master plucking techniques. With gentle pinches of their fingertips, they picked tender fresh tea leaves, personally experiencing the joy of tea harvesting.

At the tea-processing workshop, teachers and students observed the traditional manual tea-making process, learning intangible cultural heritage tea-making techniques such as withering, fixation, rolling, and drying. They also participated in tea production with their own hands, witnessing the entire transformation of fresh leaves into fragrant tea.

During the tea art experience session, Chinese and international students learned the "Seven Infusion Whisking Tea Method," experiencing Chinese tea art immersively through steps such as warming the cup, adding tea, pouring water, and whisking. Amidst the lingering tea fragrance, they savored the aroma of tea, exchanged views on tea cultures from different countries, and felt the unique charm of the collision and fusion between Eastern and Western civilizations.

Chinese and international students bonded over tea, chatting freely about culture, and building cross-cultural friendships through tea tasting and discussion. A representative from Liuxia Subdistrict introduced that the activity aims to deepen cultural exchanges between China and other countries, allowing overseas students to experience the charm of China's excellent traditional culture up close, and using tea culture as a bond to help Chinese students broaden their international perspectives.

Source：www.hzxcw.gov.cn