广州人的早茶文化

21　广州人的早茶文化　Morning Tea Culture in Guangzhou

Morning tea in Guangzhou involves going to teahouses to drink tea and have a light breakfast.With their pleasant interior décors，local teahouses serve as places for a social occasion，providing tea and variety of snacks.Customers get together by twos and threes，drinking tea and eating food while chatting.This custom is a traditional method for enhancing the pleasure of tea drinking，reinforcing friendships and establishing new personal，political，or business relations.

Traditionally no exquisite procedure is required when local people in Guangzhou drink tea in teahouses.Only guests will lightly tap the tabletop with their fore and middle fingers when the host pours tea for them.The finger tapping expresses their appreciation to the host.

Tea drinking service in Guangzhou's teahouses is usually classified as“early morning tea，”“afternoon tea”and“evening tea.”The morning tea usually starts at 4 o'clock in the early morning;and the evening tea runs until 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning of the next day.Some teahouses are open all night.

The morning tea generally runs from the early morning until 11 o'clock.The teahouses are often full of customers during that period.On weekends or in holidays，customers may have to wait in line outside teahouses.“The evening tea”also tends to be popular.This is especially the case during the summer，when teahouses are the first daily attraction for local people.

When people in Guangzhou are free，they enjoy brewing“gongfu tea(功夫茶)”at home.Gongfu literally means“learnt skilled”and is a philosophy applied to any time-honoured pursuit of excellence.The gongfu teapot appears as small as a fist in size，and a tiny cup only as large as a table-tennis ball in half size.Local people prefer Oolong Tea when they brew“gongfu tea.”Usually the server first puts Oolong Tea leaves in a teapot and then fills the teapot with hot boiled water.The server drains the water immediately，leaving the leaves behind.The draining is repeated one or two times for the practical purpose of washing the leaves.Then the server pours the tea to the tiny cups one after another continuously.Each cup of tea is expected to have the same flavor.After the procedure is completed，people start to savor the tea while exchanging local gossip.

Notes: 1)interior décor 室内装修 2)reinforce 加强 3)exquisite 精致的 4)attraction 吸引力 5)server 侍者，上菜者 6)drain 排出(液体) 7)savor 品味 8)gossip 闲谈