By Afiqah Rafael
Legend of Tea, an Ipoh-based tea company, held an exhibition as part of the inaugural Oriental Festival at Ipoh Parade shopping mall from July 16 to 21.
Among the highlights were tea tasting and sharing sessions, self-compressed puer (fermented) tea and calligraphy demonstrations.
The objective was to promote tea culture to the public. Tea preparation in Chinese culture is to demonstrate respect for the elderly, to offer a formal apology or to convey gratitude, especially during weddings.
“Tea sharing is designed to bring families together in one table, that’s why we hosted the tea sharing session,” said Legend of Tea marketing manager, Chin Min. Besides tea sharing, guests are able to compress puer tea into tea biscuits by themselves, using a traditional method.
Guests were impressed by Ong Chia Koon’s 24ft x 32ft calligraphy demonstration. It took him less than five minutes to complete a huge canvas with his sizeable brush. His artwork was based on Tang Poetry (poetry written in the time of China’s Tang dynasty).
Ong Chia Koon collaborated with Legend of Tea in producing their special edition tea line. Chia’s artwork was expressed on the tea packaging itself. When asked what is the significance of integrating tea and calligraphy, the renowned calligrapher replied, “Both tea and calligraphy are considered as art, hence they complement each other.”
The artistic collaboration was the inspiration behind this year’s theme, yi jiang yi jia, du chu xin yun, which means a combination of the ingenuity of tea-making and the uniqueness of calligraphy art.
Chin Min aspires to promote a healthier lifestyle with her company’s tea products. “A healthy life begins with tea,” she posited.
