zisha

The purple and red clay teapots from Yixing at Ten Fu in Richmond.

One of the nice things about the hotel I’m staying at is that it’s right in the middle of what they call Richmond’s Golden Village with its high concentration of Asian-themed stores and restaurants (they say something like 200 various Asian restaurants). Even better, the Aberdeen Centre is directly across the street. And I keep going back there to discover some new little shop.

Like this morning I stumbled across Ten Fu Tea & Ginseng. This is a very traditional Chinese tea shop. With some amazing teas (some costing hundreds of dollars for a little tin). But what I liked about it were the zisha teapots. These come from Yixing, China and are made from a unique purple clay (the teapots first appeared during the Sung Dynasty, 960-1279).

They have no glazes on them, inside or out, and because of the porous nature of the clay, they tend to absorb the flavor, smell, and color of the tea brewed in them. Over time they become a living repository of olfactory memories—hundreds or thousands of tea times stacked one upon the other.

For this reason, the zisha teapots, which are always small and intended for individual use, are often dedicated by the Chinese to a single flavor of tea so as not to contaminate the smell and taste of a particular teapot. In fact, back in the day, the Chinese would carry their own teapots with them wherever they went and drink directly from the  spout—no cup needed.

They really are beautiful objects. And I was tempted to buy one. Or two. And maybe I will yet.