Workshops & Ceremonies

What is a “Tea Ceremony”?

“An East Asian tea ceremony or Sadō (Japanese: 茶道), dado (Korean: 다도), or cháyì (simplified Chinese: 茶艺; traditional Chinese: 茶藝) is a ceremonially ritualized form of making tea (茶 cha) practiced in East Asia by the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. The tea ceremony (Chinese: 茶道 or 茶禮 or 茶艺), literally translated as "way of tea" in Japanese, "etiquette for tea" or "tea rite" in Korean, and "art of tea" in Chinese, is a cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of tea. The Japanese tea ceremony was influenced by the Chinese tea culture during ancient and medieval times, starting in the 9th century when tea was first introduced to Japan from China. One can also refer to the whole set of rituals, tools, gestures, etc. used in such ceremonies as tea culture. All of these tea ceremonies and rituals contain "an adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday life", as well as refinement, an inner spiritual content, humility, restraint, and simplicity "as all arts that partake the extraordinary, an artistic artificiality, abstractness, symbolism and formalism" to one degree or another.” (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian_tea_ceremony)

 

Why do you need a Tea Ceremony?

We are living in a century full of anxiety and insecurity, our hearts are full of fear and sorrow, and our bodies carry too many thoughts and anger. Even though we have new technologies coming up every day in this world, we still feel uncomfortable and stressed. So, can we change this?

 

The answer is not in the future, it is in the past, with old eastern wisdom, we might change it. To our bodies, the tea itself can bring a lot of benefits to our health. For example, it can reduce the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, lower blood sugar, prevent diabetes, prevent oral diseases, prevent Alzheimer's and improve memory. And each kind of tea has its own special benefits. By knowing the functions of each tea, we can improve our health without any medicine.

 

To our minds, the tea itself can reduce anxiety and relieve stress, more importantly, the Tea Ceremony can calm our minds through the ritual, rise our internal awareness and awaken the dimension of stillness within ourselves. It will help us to be in touch with the present and our inner realities.

 

How do we do this Ceremony?

Don’t worry, there is nothing complicated, here in Cong Fine Arts, we will guide you and explain to you each step. The 2-hour-ceremony will be divided into two parts: in the first part, we will come across the basic knowledge of tea through interesting activities and storytelling; in the second part, we will guide you through each step of the Tea Ceremony. If you have any questions or doubts during both parts, you are more than welcome to ask any time you want.

 

Who holds the Tea Ceremony?

Fei Cong, a contemporary Chinese artist, and tea lover, is also the founder and director of Cong Fine Arts. Tea is not only a cultural imprint in her blood, but also a method of living her life. 

 

Fei speaks Chinese, English, and Spanish, but please be aware that her Spanish speaking is still in progress, if she pronounces some words wrong, please do forgive her. Thank you very much!

 

How to join the Tea Ceremony?

In order to ensure the quality of the individual experience of our participants, the maximum number for each ceremony is 6 persons. Hence, we would like to ask you to pay a deposit (20€) to secure your seat and help us to organize better. If you can not make it to the ceremony, please do let us know at least one day before, and we will refund your deposit or change the date for you.