Scott, a lover of Chinese Tea

Hello. I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Scott and I am a Chinese Tea lover. I was born in the United States. I became interested in Chinese History when I was quite young. On a trip to Chicago's Chinatown I discovered Chinese Tea for the first time. I visited a small teashop there and the owner invited me and my Mom to sit and have some tea. We sat for almost two hours trying different kinds of tea and talking about it. I've been in love with it ever since.

I have studied Chinese history for over thirty years and naturally I study Chinese Tea History as well. I moved to Guilin in the south of China over five years ago and never left. As soon as I arrived, I knew I was home. The people, culture, and of course the tea is truly wonderful. I have since married a Chinese woman and have a beautiful daughter.

The areas of tea that I specialize in are Chinese Tea Culture, history, and Tea Ceremonies. I like virtually all kinds of Chinese Tea, but my favorites are Green Tea and Oolong Tea. Living in China gives me the opportunity to not only get the best tea available, but also to travel to where the tea is produced. This has given me the opportunity to learn a great deal about tea. I was always frustrated by the lack of information in the west on Chinese Tea, but here in China, I can learn about it first hand.

I started this website with two friends. Chad and Men Chun. Chad is an American who came to Guilin on a study abroad program and he and I hit if off immediately. We both share the passion for tea and enjoy traveling and drinking tea together. Men Chun is a native Chinese and we met him in Guilin when we stopped into his shop. His shop is located by my house. He is as passionate about tea as we are and we hit if off.

We started this website for several different reasons. First and foremost we wanted to create a source of information for people interested in Chinese Tea, its culture, history, and ceremonies. We also need to make a living, so this website also features a tea shop. Part of the fascination with tea is the ceremonies and equipment that come with it. Living in China, we have the opportunity to visit the tea production areas of China. This allows us to to handpick our teas. We are not at the mercy of a middleman. Our philosophy is; if we wouldn't drink it ourselves, we wouldn't dream of selling it. We also frequent some of the finest craftsmen making teapots, and other tea tools in China today. We have known many of them for years. We searched for them, not to sell things, but for our own collections. Now we are able to offer works of art for our customers. Every item we sell is hand picked by us. We do not have items shipped to us, we go to the workshops in which they are made and hand select them. We feel it is the only way to get truly unique and well crafted works of art. You won't find any mass produced items here. There are a lot of fake tea out there and charletens trying to pass off cheap or poor quality items. You'll never have that problem with us. As I said before, if we do not absolutely love a piece, we wouldn't dream of selling it.

I know I've written a lot and if you've read this far, I thank you. Feel free to contact any one of us to inquire about tea, or just to chat. We love sharing our knowledge with others and are always looking forward to making new friends.

I love you Mom!