This day, 3 April, in 1949, the First Congress of Chinese Women held in Beijing officially announced the establishment of the All-China Democratic Women’s Federation, with He...
It’s not yellow. Let’s get that out of the way first.
The leaves are as green as Act One in Sonic. And the drink; well, green tea makes a pale yellow drink anyway, so there’s no room for differentiation there.
It all reminds me of that ad for Canada’s Red Rock cider; “It’s not red and there are no rocks in it”.
But, for Westerners like me, there’s perhaps always been a need for “Yellow Tea” to exist.
Fascinated by the variety of Camellia Sinensis; from oxidised to unoxidised, with additional parameters like...
瓜子 (guazi) or “Melon Seed” is the name of an online used-car selling platform.
It’s an example of how brand conventions have evolved in China beyond fruits (Apple, Blackberry) to the names of dried food commodities (Xiaomi, Sesame, etc.) It’s also an example of a shift from branded physical products to services.
Actually, the subject of this month’s Strainer is not a tech startup or a financial service. It’s not even the humble melon seed itself (a fine Autumn snack); it’s a variety of green tea that is also named 瓜片...
Well, I just don’t think it happened like that.
It relies on too many coincidences. It can’t be the true origin of tea-drinking, surely.
For the emperor, Shen Nong (神農), to have received a stray, falling leaf of camellia sinensis in his cup of boiling water relies on that tea plant being very tall, or the weather very windy. It’s the height thing.
And why do these apocryphal breakthroughs always happen to bigwigs like emperors, not to ordinary folk and earnest experimenters? Doesn’t wash with me.
But if the Emperor’s cup was the...
Especially here in Asia, it’s common to hear how smoking is good for stress. Men, particularly, face stress in their lives which needs a remedy. Tobacco, though not intrinsically healthy, at least helps to assuage that greater health threat; stress. Or so the logic goes.
Well, smoking does greatly reduce stress, if you are a nicotine addict overdue a nicotine fix. If one of the significant sources of your stress is chemical withdrawal then, yes, a cigarette will greatly alleviate that.
But if you are a never-smoker who has...
