By drawing patterns on the surface of a cup of tea, chabaixi, an ancient Chinese tea trick dis-played in a recent TV drama, has gone viral for its apparent similarity with modern latte art (咖啡拉花艺术). However, ten years ago, this distinctive technique was close to disappearing completely. Zhang Zhifeng, a practitioner of chabaixi, found scenes of chabaixi in the drama aroused great interest among ordinary people.
Chabaixi can create endless patterns such as bamboos and mountains or even calligraphy. There are over a dozen steps, from grinding (碾碎) tea for fine powder to pouring boiled water, stirring the mixture for thick froth, and finally drawing the patterns. It is different from making latte because people use clear water as the object to put into the cup instead of milk. But when the water touches the surface of whipped (搅打起泡沫的) tea, it turns into a white color and disappears in 20 minutes. The process before the drawing is known as the tea-making tech-nique, diancha, the quality of which is crucial to whether patterns can be successfully produced later.
"Chabaixi is one of the countless forms of tea-making techniques in China. The importance of chabaixi is that not only this technique is unique in the world, but also it gives us a window into people's lifestyle in the Song Dynasty, a period of time when leisure activities in some ways resemble what we have now, "Zhang said.
Before chabaixi was discovered by TV audiences, the technique was listed as part of China's Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2017, after it was recovered by Zhang Zhifeng, who spent nearly 30 years studying and researching the origins and making of tea, but for him it was all worth-while.
"This technique is key to the tea culture of the Song Dynasty, and it would be a shame to let it fade. This technique must be passed on to the next generations so they can understand its history," Zhang said.
