Two weeks ago,Elementary school students started their Sabbatical Week.
Students went beyond the classroom to draw on the nutrients of different fields of knowledge, to be inspired while exploring, and to combine learning and practice.
Among them, students from G1-G3 started a cultural tour of intangible cultural heritage with Lingnan characteristics at Yongqingfang in Liwan.
The G4 and G5 students went to Conghua to start a wonderful story related to "tea".Let's review the exciting moments of the event!
Since when have people been enjoying tea?
Maybe the moment when the leaf dropped into the water and made a difference...
DAY 01
Tea Culture and Tea Ceremony
The first stop for the tea exploration journey was the Litchi Culture Exposition Park, located in Conghua, Guangzhou city. There, they carried out a tea culture-themed exploration tour along the tea hill and in the tea workshops.
Mr Ma Zhonghua, one of the instructors, graduated from South China Agricultural University majoring in tea science, and has been engaged in tea research for nearly thirty years. In the class, Mr. Ma has offered a lively tea culture and tea ceremony class to the students with his rich knowledge and vivid presentation.
Tea culture, refers to the cultural characteristics formed by people in tea drinking activities in the past and present, including tea ceremony, tea virtue, tea spirit, tea couplets, tea book, tea set, tea painting, tea research, tea story, tea art, etc.
Mr Ma took the development of lychee black tea as an example, explained the tea making process to the students, and demonstrated tea etiquette on the spot. After listening to the detailed and interesting explanation from Mr Ma, the students were eager to try the ten styles of tea art and feel the unique flavor of tea.
Understand the Craftsmanship behind:
Tea Plucking and Processing
When the students were going to pluck tea, a rain showered coincidentally. The rain freshened the empty hills, which was like a scene described in the poem, and the students went up the hill to start their work.
In tea plucking, mainly the "one bud and two leaves" of the tea tree were taken. Under the guidance of the instructors, the students carried small bamboo baskets and shuttled through the tea trees, carefully distinguished the leaves, then picked the qualified ones.
After plucking, next steps of frying and kneading are quite important in tea processing. Posture of turning tea leaves, frequency of frying, purpose of frying, ways of kneading, posture of kneading, and timing of stop kneading, are all what a tea processor should know.
After the instructor’s lesson, the students practiced with their own hands and started to fry, knead and roast the tea, and finally made their own tea.
DAY 02
Know More about Craftsmanship:
Visit Intangible Cultural Heritage
On the second day, the students were led by their teachers to visit the town of Luodong, a place famous for intangible cultural heritage. Here, they listened to ancient instrumental music, felt the idyllic scenery, and appreciated the wisdom hidden in the works of ancient craftsmen. What’s more, they came to know what had been done and how should people do to inherit the intangible cultural heritage.
After that, the students paid a visit to the Black Tea Museum. In the museum, the history of black tea was told, and the story that happened on the ancient tea-horse trail was presented. During this visit, the students also got to “taste” what history brought us, just as fragrant as a cup of good tea.
DAY 03
Debriefing
Drinking tea can be as simple as drinking, but can also be as complicated as the knowledge behind. The tea culture that has been developing for more than 1000 years is concentrated in just three days of exploration tour. Thanks to the help of the instructor and teachers, the students learned the "power to clear" contained in the tea leaves, which is useful and meaningful.
After returning to campus, the students actively shared their insights and gains from the trip, and every one of them surely had learned a lot about tea making and tea tasting!
Learning from books is the first step, while putting the learning into practice is a good way to deepen your understanding. In the future learning, our students should be able to integrate theoretical knowledge and real-life experience, and learn more interesting things through practice.
