Monday November 20, 2006 | 3 comments
I had this fantasy before going to China that I’d have delicious green tea with every meal. NOT! What I soon discovered at local restaurants throughout Beijing was that the locals weren’t drinking tea with lunch or dinner. The reason why may surprise you.Imagine having Peking duck for dinner. This is a specialty in Beijing that is served in many local establishments. Now imagine the most delicious, succulent duck you’ve ever tasted, roasted in a wood fired oven. My mouth is watering just remembering it. The cost for such a delicacy is 27 rmb or $3.27. How it can cost a mere $3.27 just boggles the mind.
Next, you order some tea to accompany the feast. The cost? 24 rmb or $3.00. Now, spending $3.00 in the U.S. for a cup of tea is no big surprise. However, to spend almost as much on tea as you’re spending for your meal in China just doesn’t seem right at all.
Perhaps you might assume this type of tea to be of a significantly higher quality because of the expense. I’m afraid not. Here in the U.S., we are familiar with tea bag tea which we refer to as GPGT – general purpose green tea – available for free at Chinese restaurants. In Beijing, they serve whole leaf green tea, but I can assure you, it is essentially the equivalent of GPGT, and of similar quality – only whole leaf style.
So on your next trip to China, head for the charming tea houses, which are present in every neighborhood, for that special cup of tea. When you’re out for a meal at the local restaurant however, I recommend that you order what the Chinese drink…..Tsingtao (Chinese beer).
Michelle,
You are very right! In china this happened with me too. Matter of fact I paid higher for the tea than the food but it was worth it!!
My guess is you must had gotten the better selection off their tea menu. I was in Guangzhou for a month plus earlier this year, and the Sichuan restaurant that I frequented had a tea list. The most expensive pu’er they got was around RMB 25. It was just ok because the tea was served in a large teapot (I’m a stickler of brewing my pu’er with the gongfu method). An interesting tea I had was at a Dong Pei (North Eastern Chinese) cuisine restaurant. They served me a the traditional Dong Pei tea, which tasted very much like Genmai Cha. Perhaps it’s its vicinity to Japan and Korea (or the other way around) that cause them to share this similar tea recipe.
Re: the cost of the tea, well, tea in China is as wine in the West. Perhaps it would not be surprising if you compare it with the cost of wine here in the US. I bet you can easily find a bottle — or a glass — of wine that costs many times over your entree in any fine dining establishment here in the US. By the way, seen that ridiculous $6,000 Carl’s Jr. ad on TV? $3.99 hamburger matched with a $5,500 Chateau Petrus…another “only in America” thing.
My recco would be to buy or bring your own fine tea and just ask for a pot of hot water at the restaurant in China. They allow this and won’t charge you any “brewing” (as opposed to “corking”) fee.
No, Phyll. We were trying to be frugal so we always chose the least expensive green tea. It could be that the problem was in the quality and temperature of the water. In addition, if we couldn’t convince them to give us a separate, empty pot to pour off the tea once it had steeped to our liking, which obviously had an impact as well.
BTW, we ended up doing exactly what you are recommending and started carrying our own tea around with us, just like we do in the states. This way we were ensured a great cup of tea no matter where we were.