By drawing patterns on the surface of a cup of tea, chabaixi (茶百戏), an ancient Chinese tea trick displayed in a recent TV drama, has gone viral for its apparent similarity with modern coffee art. However, ten years ago, this distinctive technique was close to disappearing. Zhang Zhifeng, a practician of chabaixi, found scenes of chabaixi in the drama aroused great interest among ordinary people.

Chabaixi can create endless patterns such as bamboos and mountains or even calligraphy. There are over a dozen steps, from grinding (碾碎)tea for fine powder, to pouring boiled water, stirring the mixture for thick froth, and finally drawing the patterns. It is different from making latte because people use clear water as the object to put into the cup instead of milk. But when the water touches the surface of whipped tea, it turns into a white color and disappears in 20 minutes. The process before the drawing is known as the tea-making technique, diancha. The quality of diancha is crucial to whether patterns can be successfully produced later.

“Chabaixi is one of the countless forms of tea-making techniques in China. The importance of chabaixi is not only that this technique is unique in the world, but also it gives us a window into people’s lifestyle in the Song Dynasty, a period of time when leisure activities in some ways resemble what we have now, ”Zhang said.

Before chabaixi was discovered by TV audiences, the technique was listed as part of China’s Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2017, after it was recovered by Zhang Zhifeng. He started researching the origins of chabaixi in the 1980s and brought the technique back in 2009 after decades of trials and practice. Zhang spent nearly 30 years studying and researching the origins and making of tea, but for him it was all worthwhile.

“This technique is key to the tea culture of the Song Dynasty, and it would be a shame to let it fade. This technique must be passed on to the next generations so they can understand its history, ” Zhang said.

Do you like Chinese traditional painting and dance? They are two important parts of the traditional Chinese art. But what about when they meet each other?

This year, a dance drama titled Poetic Dance: The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting (《只此青绿》) was staged on CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala and became popular.

According to CCTV, this poetic dance program was inspired by the 900-year-old Chinese painting A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains (《千里江山图》), created by Song Dynasty painter Wang Ximeng at about 18. The painting is amazing in its sweeping size, rich coloration and the expressive details, reported by CCTV. It shows a Chinese blue-green landscape: mountains and groupings of infinite (无限的) rise and fall between cloudless sky and rippling (涟漪的) water.

When the dancers moved elegantly, audiences seemed to be looking at the moving mountains and rivers. “It brings me a pure experience of beauty. It is not only a drama but also an exhibition. Vast mountains and rivers are coming to life!” Internet user Mo Weisha wrote in a review. “More than a thousand years later, green mountains and rivers still impress people as they did long ago.” Some people even decided to watch the dance again when it was staged in the theaters later. In fact, in recent years, more and more modern shows have featured Chinese traditional culture and received warm welcome. As for the reason, it is due to people’s great love for traditional culture.

“The younger generations have grown up with a more open mind. They accept Chinese culture and are proud of it,” Yao Wei, director of Henan TV Station’s Innovation Center, told China Daily.

Why do Chinese people think getting a haircut in the first lunar month will harm their uncles?

In Chinese tradition, it is said that getting a haircut during the first lunar month would cause one’s mother’s brother to die. Although this is not true, some people still choose to avoid cutting their hair during this time. They wait until Dragon Head-Raising (龙抬头), the second day of the second lunar month, to line up outside barber shops (理发店).

Nobody knows why haircuts have anything to do with one’s uncles. One popular theory (理论) says the tradition might have started during the early years of the Qing Dynasty (清朝). At the time, as new rulers, the Manchu people forced the Han people to cut their hair in the Manchu style. Many Han people refused to do it. They decided not to cut their hair during the first lunar month, saying it was to “commemorate the former dynasty”, or in Chinese, “思旧”. Since “思旧” sounds very similar to “dead uncle”, there may have been a misunderstanding and thus the “no haircut” tradition.

Ancient Chinese people thought that the human body, including one’s skin and hair, was something that was naturally given by one’s parents and should not be changed. Therefore, they cherished their hair very much and considered cutting hair to be a great insult (侮辱) to one’s parents.

But this doesn’t mean they never took care of their hair. They would wash, comb and trim (修整) their hair regularly.