The last two months, I have had the rare luxury of not adding more frequent flyer miles to my account by staying in Seattle to diligently work on two books; Feng Shui: Truths, Myths and Misconceptions and The Essence of Chinese Tea.
To give you a little taste of what’s to come, the story below is taken from my book The Essence of Chinese Tea. Hope you enjoy it!
Half of China
In 1972, President Nixon made his first visit to China, re-establishing diplomatic recognition between the United States and China. Chairman Mao presented President Nixon with 200 grams of Wuyi Dahongpao tea as a gift. Nixon was puzzled, and privately remarked that Chairman Mao’s gift seemed rather small for such a historical event. When Premier Zhou En-Lai heard this, he privately explained to Nixon that this kind of tea came from very special tea trees that were hundreds of years old. All six trees together produced only some 400 grams of tea per year. “So you see” said Zhou En-Lai “Chairman Mao has already given you half of China.”
