On October 16th, tea ceremony course visited the Tea Garden in Mizuho, Hualien for a tea mountain tour, which included tea viewing, tea appreciation, tea making, tea tasting and other experiences. The purpose of this activity is to let the students understand the manufacturing process of black tea, first pick the tea, knead, and finally through the detailed explanation of the tea garden owner, so that the students can understand the changes and tasting methods of each stage of tea production.
Yu-Cheng Qiu, a student of the Department of International Service Industry Management who participated in the event, said in his experience: “I think the biggest realization in this class is ‘slow work and careful work’. Kneading tea leaves to be kneaded slowly, can not be greedy to rush out the taste, need to be patient waiting for the taste of tea to change slowly, because each different stage will have a different taste, just like life, need to work slowly, each stage has a different experience, not greedy, otherwise it will be more haste, less speed.”
“As a freshman, I am like the ‘tea jing’ of tea, or a piece of uncarved jade; The process of withering is like stepping step by step to the height of life through the teachings of the teacher; “Fermentation and kneading” is like our perseverance in learning and delving into the knowledge granted to us by our teachers; “Drying and refining” is like showing the abilities we have learned to everyone. Xin-Yang Hsun, a first-year student in the Department of International Service Industry Management, said.
Through this trip to the tea mountain, not only the trainees have a deeper understanding of tea making, but also use tea as a teacher, and have a deeper understanding and feeling of their own life in the process of making tea.
