Yixing Pots from China Make Drinking Tea Special
Special Purple Clay Absorbs, Enhances Flavor When Used with One Tea
Jan 30, 2009
Yixing is known as the “pottery capital of China,” Clay teapots are its most famous export. The special purple clay (zi is purple in Mandarin) absorbs the flavor from the tea leaves each time tea is brewed in it. The flavor level builds up until tea is being brewed within tea. Eventually tea can be made without using tea leaves.
Pots Made from Special Absorbent Clay
Because the clay is so absorbent, the Chinese usually only brew one flavor of tea in each pot. They also may only use the same brand time after time. Otherwise, the tea flavors get mixed up, and the tea doesn’t taste like it should. Again, because the clay is so absorbent, they only wash the teapots in cold water. If soap and hot water were used, the soap would be absorbed into the clay, just as the tea is. And who likes to drink tea that tastes like soap!
The pots are usually small, designed to hold only one or two cups. Hot water is added when the pots are empty, so the tea drinker always has hot tea. (The clay retains heat really well.) The tea cups are small, holding maybe only a few sips. They seem especially tiny when compared with the traditional English tea cup and saucer. The cups also are only washed in cold water.
Pottery Made in Yixing for Thousands of Years
The Chinese have been making pottery items in Yixing County for thousands of years, but only turned to making teapots here the 14th century. They have it down to an art now. Teapots have gone from just plain deep reddish-brown pots to pots that are beige and olive green, not to mention shades in-between. Some have simple decorations and others are highly ornate. The pots also come in all shapes, such as the animals of the Chinese zodiac. This little bit of whimsy makes tea-drinking more fun.
Yixing teapots and tea sets come in all price ranges, from a few dollars to many thousands of dollars, depending on the fame of the artist who handcrafted the set. Sets made by hand are more expensive than those churned out in factories using molds. Visitors to China who pick up cheap teapots at flea markets such as Beijing’s Panjiayuan should use these for decorative purposes rather than tea-drinking because the cheapest pots may contain lead, Chinese tea drinkers say.
The China Yixing Ceramics Museum is located in Dingshan town. After touring the museum, visitors can visit nearby shops and watch teapots being made by hand. Yixing is pronounced ee-shing. Yixing County is located about a three-hour drive from Shanghai. The best place to get teapots is in Dingshan town.
 |
 |
 |
 |
