Travel in Chinese Lesson 86 Longjing Tea

西湖问茶

（西湖边）

同事男：怎么样，二位？这一趟西湖游下来感觉不错吧。

雪梅：是挺不错的，尤其是湖边的景色，真是秀丽怡人。

同事女：可惜呀这次行程太紧了，不能在杭州多呆几天，这么美的景色，真应该坐下来好好欣赏一下儿。

同事男：哎，谁说咱们不能坐下来好好欣赏？我带你们去一个地方，走！

（茶店内）

服务员：欢迎光临！

同事男：谢谢！你们看，就是这个地方了。我们进去边品茶边看风景，怎么样？

雪梅：好啊，正好我老公还让我买点儿好的龙井茶带回去呢。

同事女：那还等什么？咱们赶紧进去吧。

同事男：好，走！

服务员：请问你们喝点儿什么？

同事女：三杯龙景。谢谢。

服务员：请慢用。

（上茶后）

同事女：真香啊，这是我喝过的最好的龙井。雪梅，味道怎么样？

雪梅：很好喝。西湖的龙井是不是很有名？

同事女：可不是？在明代的时候，龙井茶就已经成为茶中的上品了。算起来，已经有好几百年了。

同事男：你知道吗，雪梅？中国古代的诗人有的把龙井称为“黄金芽”呢，可见龙井茶有多受人们欢迎。

雪梅：龙井是一个地名吗？

同事男：这个问题比较复杂，有说是井名，有说是寺名和村名的。

雪梅：那什么样的茶才能算是好的龙井茶呢？

同事女：我听说龙井茶按采摘的季节可以大致被分为春芽、二茶和三茶。春茶产量少，所以特别珍贵，你说是吗？

同事男：是这样的。茶叶的采摘季节固然重要，不过龙井的品质和茶叶的形状、色泽也有很大的关系。上好的龙井茶应该是色绿、香郁、味朴、形美。

雪梅：哎，你们看这茶叶都是一根根竖着，真有意思。

同事女：我看这儿的服务员还可以进行茶艺表演呢，我们也叫她们来吧。

雪梅/同事男：好！
 

Translation:

What do you think, ladies? This trip to West Lake has been pretty good, hasn’t it?

Its been wonderful. The lakeside scenery, especially, was truly stunning.

It’s unfortunate that our scheudule this time is so packed and we cannot spend more time in Hangzhou. For scenery this beautiful, one really ought to sit down to take it all in.

Colleague1: Who said we can’t sit down and take it all in? Come on, I’ll take you to a good place.

Colleague1: How do you like this place? Let’s go in and enjoy some tea while we look at the scenery.

Xuemei: Alright. As it happens, my husband asked me to buy some longjing tea to take home to him.

Colleague2: Then what are you waiting for? Let’s get in there!

Waitress: What do you want?

Colleague2: 3 cups of Longjing. Thanks.

Waitress: Here you go.

Colleague1: This is the best Longjing I’ve tasted.

Xuemei: The longjing of West Lake is pretty famous, right?

Colleague2: Of course! By the Ming Dynasty, Longjing had already become a top-grade tea. Adding it up, it already has several hundreds of years of history.

Colleague1: Some of China’s ancient poets even went so far as to call Longjing “sprouts of gold”! Obviously, longjing is an extremely popular tea.

Xuemei: Is longjing the name of a place?

Colleague1: That’s a complicated question. Some say it’s the name of a well; others say it’s the name of a temple, or even a village.

Colleague2: Okay, okay, don’t just stand there talking about it! Show us some good Longjing! I’m dying for a taste!

Xuemei: What makes for “good” Longjing tea?

Colleague2: I hear that it is ranked according to the time of year it’s picked. The ranks can be roughly classified as “spring tea,” “second tea,” and “third tea.” Much less tea is harvested in the spring, so it’s very precious.

Colleague1: The time of year that tea leaves are picked is, indeed, important. However, the quality of the longjing and the luster and color of the leaves, as well as the shape of the leaves, are all related. Good-quality longjing can be described as green in color, pleasant in fragrance, bitter in taste, and beautiful in shape.

Xuemei: Look guys, these tea leaves are all standing on end. So interesting!

Colleague2: It looks like the waitresses here can perform tea ceremonies – let’s call one over and have a look!
 

Bookmarks

1、大致 approximately, roughly

（例）这两家饭店的房价差别不大，大致相同。

There isn't a large difference in the room prices at these two hotels, it's roughly the same.

（例）从这儿去故宫，坐车大致需要一个小时左右。

From here to the Imperial Palace by bus it takes about an hour.

2、可见 you can see, it's apparent

（例）才走了十分钟的路他就走不动了，可见他平时缺乏锻炼。

He was exhausted after only walking for 10minutes. You can tell that he doesn't get enough exercise.

（例）他转身就把我告诉他的事情给忘了，可见他刚才根本没注意听。

He forgot what I told him almost immediately. You can tell he wasn't even paying attention.

3、赶紧 quickly

（例）他生病了，我们赶紧把他送到医院去吧。

He is sick. Let's send him quickly to the hospital.

（例）我们赶紧把机票订下来吧，晚了就买不到了。

Let's reserve the tickets as soon as possible. If we're late, we won't be able to get any.

Sign Posts

Chinese Tea

It can be said that tea is the most popular beverage in the world, apart from just plain water. Even the word for "tea" in many languages around the world comes from different variations of the Chinese word 茶.

Chinese tea can be classified into 5 categories. Green tea 绿茶 is perhaps the most natural, with no fermentation or processing of the leaves. 龙井, 毛峰 and 碧螺春 are the most famous varieties. Black tea, known in China as 红茶 red tea, is fermented before being baked. This is the kind of tea most commonly consumed in the West. Wulong tea is a variety half way between green and black teas, being made after partial fermentation. It is a specialty from southeast China, particularly Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan.

Compressed tea are teas that have been, of course, compressed and hardened into a certain shape. These are often called brick tea 砖茶. We will learn a bit about this later when we visit Inner Mongolia. Finally, we have scented tea 花茶. This kind of tea is made by mixing flowers or other fragrances in with the tea. Jasmine tea is perhaps the most famous.

Tea has been one of the daily necessities in China for thousands of years, and has spread to be enjoyed by peoples around the world.

Substitution and Extension

固然.....也...... to confirm the first thing, then expand on that

（例）大米白面固然好，高粱sorghum玉米corn也不错。

Rice and flour are good, but sorghum and corn are not bad either.