Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Some pictures
1st and 2nd pictures: He was running around the house getting into things. He likes to play with the house slippers and pull on the shoe rack. He managed to pull it over.
3rd and 4th: Wearing my stocking cap.
5th: I put him on the floor because he kept crawling around on the couch and getting close to the edge. When I put him on the floor, he just scooted back until he was under the couch. The only reason he stopped going back was that his head was too big to fit underneath.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Virtual Forbidden City
Check out http://www.beyondspaceandtime.org It is a online model of the Forbidden City in Beijing. You can take tours and talk to people and stuff. Too cool.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Turnips are singularly broad-minded.
This is the first paragraph of the last chapter of "Heretics" by G.K. Chesterton. It states nicely the fact that progress should be seen in coming to more conclusions about life, not in becoming more confused and "open."
"Whether the human mind can advance or not, is a question too little discussed, for nothing can be more dangerous than to found our social philosophy on any theory which is debatable but has not been debated. But if we assume, for the sake of argument, that there has been in the past, or will be in the future, such a thing as a growth or improvement of the human mind itself, there still remains a very sharp objection to be raised against the modern version of that improvement. The vice of the modern notion of mental progress is that it is always something concerned with the breaking of bonds, the effacing of boundaries, the casting away of dogmas. But if there be such a thing as mental growth, it must mean the growth into more and more definite convictions, into more and more dogmas. The human brain is a machine for coming to conclusions; if it cannot come to conclusions it is rusty. When we hear of a man too clever to believe, we are hearing of something having almost the character of a contradiction in terms. It is like hearing of a nail that was too good to hold down a carpet; or a bolt that was too strong to keep a door shut. Man can hardly be defined, after the fashion of Carlyle, as an animal who makes tools; ants and beavers and many other animals make tools, in the sense that they make an apparatus. Man can be defined as an animal that makes dogmas. As he piles doctrine on doctrine and conclusion on conclusion in the formation of some tremendous scheme of philosophy and religion, he is, in the only legitimate sense of which the expression is capable, becoming more and more human. When he drops one doctrine after another in a refined skepticism, when he declines to tie himself to a system, when he says that he has outgrown definitions, when he says that he disbelieves in finality, when, in his own imagination, he sits as God, holding no form of creed but contemplating all, then he is by that very process sinking slowly backwards into the vagueness of the vagrant animals and the unconsciousness of the grass. Trees have no dogmas. Turnips are singularly broad-minded."
"Whether the human mind can advance or not, is a question too little discussed, for nothing can be more dangerous than to found our social philosophy on any theory which is debatable but has not been debated. But if we assume, for the sake of argument, that there has been in the past, or will be in the future, such a thing as a growth or improvement of the human mind itself, there still remains a very sharp objection to be raised against the modern version of that improvement. The vice of the modern notion of mental progress is that it is always something concerned with the breaking of bonds, the effacing of boundaries, the casting away of dogmas. But if there be such a thing as mental growth, it must mean the growth into more and more definite convictions, into more and more dogmas. The human brain is a machine for coming to conclusions; if it cannot come to conclusions it is rusty. When we hear of a man too clever to believe, we are hearing of something having almost the character of a contradiction in terms. It is like hearing of a nail that was too good to hold down a carpet; or a bolt that was too strong to keep a door shut. Man can hardly be defined, after the fashion of Carlyle, as an animal who makes tools; ants and beavers and many other animals make tools, in the sense that they make an apparatus. Man can be defined as an animal that makes dogmas. As he piles doctrine on doctrine and conclusion on conclusion in the formation of some tremendous scheme of philosophy and religion, he is, in the only legitimate sense of which the expression is capable, becoming more and more human. When he drops one doctrine after another in a refined skepticism, when he declines to tie himself to a system, when he says that he has outgrown definitions, when he says that he disbelieves in finality, when, in his own imagination, he sits as God, holding no form of creed but contemplating all, then he is by that very process sinking slowly backwards into the vagueness of the vagrant animals and the unconsciousness of the grass. Trees have no dogmas. Turnips are singularly broad-minded."
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
146
Poor soul, the center of thy sinful earth,
My sinful earth these rebel pow'rs that thee array,
Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth,
Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?
Why so large cost, having so short a lease,
Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,
Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body's end?
Then, soul, live thou upon thy servant's loss,
And let that pine to aggravate thy store:
Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross:
Within be fed, without be rich no more:
So shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,
And Death once dead, there's no more dying then.
Shakespeare (of course)
My sinful earth these rebel pow'rs that thee array,
Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth,
Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?
Why so large cost, having so short a lease,
Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,
Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body's end?
Then, soul, live thou upon thy servant's loss,
And let that pine to aggravate thy store:
Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross:
Within be fed, without be rich no more:
So shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,
And Death once dead, there's no more dying then.
Shakespeare (of course)
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Vaccine
I took Caedmon for a vaccination today while my wife was teaching. The folks all said he was a real cute little guy as always. I'm a proud papa!
The nurse was pretty skillful with the needle. She pulled Caedmon's sleeve down and stuck the needle in--a long way--and gave him the shot. He didn't seem to notice until as she was pulling the needle out and then he said, "Aaaah." and was happy again. He didn't even cry. He just said, "Aaaah." He's a trooper.
Here are some pictures of him enjoying a morning nap.
The nurse was pretty skillful with the needle. She pulled Caedmon's sleeve down and stuck the needle in--a long way--and gave him the shot. He didn't seem to notice until as she was pulling the needle out and then he said, "Aaaah." and was happy again. He didn't even cry. He just said, "Aaaah." He's a trooper.
Here are some pictures of him enjoying a morning nap.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Wasting Time
Hi Friends and Family,
As you can tell, having a baby has kept me busy. I haven't posted for a while. I have been taking care of the baby and studying Chinese and doing some other things.
My Chinese has made great progress. I have been reading The Three Character Classic with the (very necessary) help of a commentary. I'm almost done with the book/poem now. When I finish, I plan to take a break on Chinese for a while. I have gotten pretty obsessed with this studying Chinese thing, so I need to take some time to get my life back in order. I really enjoy studying and learning tons of new things about Chinese ancient history and culture and literature, but at the end of the day I feel a bit restless, like it has all been in vain. It brings to mind a line from one of my favorite books, Ecclesiastes: "And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow."
As you can tell, having a baby has kept me busy. I haven't posted for a while. I have been taking care of the baby and studying Chinese and doing some other things.
My Chinese has made great progress. I have been reading The Three Character Classic with the (very necessary) help of a commentary. I'm almost done with the book/poem now. When I finish, I plan to take a break on Chinese for a while. I have gotten pretty obsessed with this studying Chinese thing, so I need to take some time to get my life back in order. I really enjoy studying and learning tons of new things about Chinese ancient history and culture and literature, but at the end of the day I feel a bit restless, like it has all been in vain. It brings to mind a line from one of my favorite books, Ecclesiastes: "And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow."
Monday, June 9, 2008
Lately
Been a bit busy lately. I haven't really had time to post for a while. Little Caedmon has been good usually. Today though he seems to be unhappy for some reason. At first I thought it was because he was figuring out that he could get picked up whenever he cries, but now I think he probably has some stomach pain. I hope the poor guy gets better soon.
We took him out for the first time on Wednesday last week. We had tried to take him out a few days before, but there is a tradition here that a mom and her newborn cannot go outside for a whole month. We, not really holding too much stock in that custom, wanted to go out for a walk. When we got to the ground floor of our building, the door keeper ladies where aghast that we would go outside before the month was over. They tried to physically prevent us from going outside. One of the ladies especially was becoming a bit angry at us. She said, "Poppy, how silly can you be? You still have two days left before you can go outside! This is a matter of lifetime importance!" A man walked in at that time and wondered out loud, "What! Even a Chinese girl doesn't know about this?" Poppy was a great sport. She was cool and happy about the whole situation. I wasn't.
On Wednesday we went out for a walk (the first month being over). We put Caedmon in a front carrier and walked around our neighborhood. We really enjoyed it. He created quite a stir wherever we went. Most people wouldn't even notice him riding in front of me, but if a person noticed him they usually seemed pretty surprised and delighted. Many people stopped in their tracks to turn around and look at him while we walked by.
Our trip on Saturday to Walmart was less idyllic. We ate lunch at KFC and then went shopping afterwards. The meal was nice, but it was a little difficult trying not to drop crumbs on the sleeping youngster under my chin. The shopping trip was a little more challenging. First, we went to the baby section to buy some wet wipes. The workers saw us coming from across the aisle and were there to greet us. They ooh-ed and ah-ed for a little while. Then there was a little boy who came beside me and just stared at Caedmon and me. As long as we were in the baby section this boy just stared and stared.
Then we went to buy something at the Adidas stand, which was in the cosmetics area. As soon as we entered, we were swarmed by cosmetics vendors plus a few customers. We tried to keep moving to avoid making a scene, but there were a lot of people wanting to ask questions and peek at him. There was one lady, a customer, who was really displeased with us. She first said that Caedmon was too small to go out. Then she was criticizing the way we were carrying him. She began to get louder and louder in her denunciations. She followed us to the Adidas area and stood there criticizing Poppy and me while I chose the stuff I wanted to buy. So much for not making a scene.
In light of this and other experiences I have had recently, it seems that I am wearing a sign around my neck that says, "I'm a parent. Please criticize me." People see us and say, "Those look like new parents! Let's go give them lots of useful tips!"
I'm trying to have a good attitude about it, but I'm not used to all of this criticism and unsolicited advice. Poppy, as always, is really wonderful about it. She is a good encouragement to me. She always says, "Sure I don't agree with them, but they are only concerned."
However, as I once again walk into my building with Caedmon, my shirt getting wet with sweat and my hat band getting moist, and the ladies shake their heads, make a tisk-tisk sound and tell me that my baby is too cold and should be wearing a blanket over his two layers of clothes and foam baby carrier, I feel that old sense of pride telling me to be annoyed.
Having a child reveals yet more places in my heart that I need God to change. It would be nice if he would choose to change me by having everyone tell me what a great and talented dad they think I am.
We took him out for the first time on Wednesday last week. We had tried to take him out a few days before, but there is a tradition here that a mom and her newborn cannot go outside for a whole month. We, not really holding too much stock in that custom, wanted to go out for a walk. When we got to the ground floor of our building, the door keeper ladies where aghast that we would go outside before the month was over. They tried to physically prevent us from going outside. One of the ladies especially was becoming a bit angry at us. She said, "Poppy, how silly can you be? You still have two days left before you can go outside! This is a matter of lifetime importance!" A man walked in at that time and wondered out loud, "What! Even a Chinese girl doesn't know about this?" Poppy was a great sport. She was cool and happy about the whole situation. I wasn't.
On Wednesday we went out for a walk (the first month being over). We put Caedmon in a front carrier and walked around our neighborhood. We really enjoyed it. He created quite a stir wherever we went. Most people wouldn't even notice him riding in front of me, but if a person noticed him they usually seemed pretty surprised and delighted. Many people stopped in their tracks to turn around and look at him while we walked by.
Our trip on Saturday to Walmart was less idyllic. We ate lunch at KFC and then went shopping afterwards. The meal was nice, but it was a little difficult trying not to drop crumbs on the sleeping youngster under my chin. The shopping trip was a little more challenging. First, we went to the baby section to buy some wet wipes. The workers saw us coming from across the aisle and were there to greet us. They ooh-ed and ah-ed for a little while. Then there was a little boy who came beside me and just stared at Caedmon and me. As long as we were in the baby section this boy just stared and stared.
Then we went to buy something at the Adidas stand, which was in the cosmetics area. As soon as we entered, we were swarmed by cosmetics vendors plus a few customers. We tried to keep moving to avoid making a scene, but there were a lot of people wanting to ask questions and peek at him. There was one lady, a customer, who was really displeased with us. She first said that Caedmon was too small to go out. Then she was criticizing the way we were carrying him. She began to get louder and louder in her denunciations. She followed us to the Adidas area and stood there criticizing Poppy and me while I chose the stuff I wanted to buy. So much for not making a scene.
In light of this and other experiences I have had recently, it seems that I am wearing a sign around my neck that says, "I'm a parent. Please criticize me." People see us and say, "Those look like new parents! Let's go give them lots of useful tips!"
I'm trying to have a good attitude about it, but I'm not used to all of this criticism and unsolicited advice. Poppy, as always, is really wonderful about it. She is a good encouragement to me. She always says, "Sure I don't agree with them, but they are only concerned."
However, as I once again walk into my building with Caedmon, my shirt getting wet with sweat and my hat band getting moist, and the ladies shake their heads, make a tisk-tisk sound and tell me that my baby is too cold and should be wearing a blanket over his two layers of clothes and foam baby carrier, I feel that old sense of pride telling me to be annoyed.
Having a child reveals yet more places in my heart that I need God to change. It would be nice if he would choose to change me by having everyone tell me what a great and talented dad they think I am.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Like on Animal Planet
Here is a quotation from On Loving God by Bernard of Clairvaux. I was reading it this morning and this quote caught my attention.
"For man, being in honor, if he know not his own honor, may fitly be compared, because of such ignorance, to the beasts that perish. Not knowing himself as the creature that is distinguished from the irrational brutes by the possession of reason, he commences to be confounded with them because, ignorant of his own true glory which is within, he is led captive by his curiosity, and concerns himself with external, sensual things. So he is made to resemble the lower orders by not knowing that he has been more highly endowed than they."
"For man, being in honor, if he know not his own honor, may fitly be compared, because of such ignorance, to the beasts that perish. Not knowing himself as the creature that is distinguished from the irrational brutes by the possession of reason, he commences to be confounded with them because, ignorant of his own true glory which is within, he is led captive by his curiosity, and concerns himself with external, sensual things. So he is made to resemble the lower orders by not knowing that he has been more highly endowed than they."
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Pure Cause of Virtue
"For virtue is nought else but an ordained and a measured affection, plainly directed unto God for Himself. For why? He in Himself is the pure cause of all virtues: insomuch, that if any man be stirred to any one virtue by any other cause mingled with Him, yea, although that He be the chief, yet that virtue is then imperfect."
The above is from an English book called The Cloud of Unknowing. It is an anonymous work written in the fourteenth century. The main point of the book is that one should focus his or her affections upon God himself and not on his gifts or on various issues that tickle one's intellect or imagination. It is definitely a work that people should read today, but I'm afraid that it is a little inaccessible to the average evangelical today, seeing that it is so old.
This quotation is especially good I think. It counters a common idea that one often comes across when talking with people about the subject of belief in God. People often say something to the effect of, "I am a pretty decent person. I try to be a nice neighbor and not litter, and sometimes I give some money to charity. So what use is there for me to love some God? Isn't my own behavior honorable enough? Why do I have to love this great being?"
The message that this quotation has for us is that God is in himself Pure and Perfect Virtue. That is not to say that he is not personal, of course. He is Pure Virtue and personal. But if he is Pure Virtue and the cause of all virtue, then if one loves virtue perfectly, then he will love God. If there is a complete desire for moral perfection according to God's standard, he or she will be a lover of God. If the person does not love Pure Virtue, there must be a part of God's moral standard that he or she has not submitted himself or herself to.
Now the last part of this quotation I don't know that I agree with. It says that if you are moved to virtue for any other cause than for the love of God, then that work is imperfect. But I would think that if I do something nice for my wife for the love of God and for the love of my wife,the goodness of the action would not be lessened because I enjoyed seeing my wife's enjoyment. I would agree with the statement if the writer meant that it is not virtuous for a crook and a cheat to stop stealing and cheating mainly so that people will be friends with him. (This example reminds me of Simon the sorcerer offering money to Peter to be given the Holy Spirit.) But I don't know that I would say that the crook and cheat should have no self interest. Didn't Augustine say "it is the decided opinion of all who use their minds that everyone desires to be happy"? Is it possible to do something right without any thought for the enjoyment that goodness brings? I don't think so. Surely the love of God should be the chief cause far above all other causes.
The above is from an English book called The Cloud of Unknowing. It is an anonymous work written in the fourteenth century. The main point of the book is that one should focus his or her affections upon God himself and not on his gifts or on various issues that tickle one's intellect or imagination. It is definitely a work that people should read today, but I'm afraid that it is a little inaccessible to the average evangelical today, seeing that it is so old.
This quotation is especially good I think. It counters a common idea that one often comes across when talking with people about the subject of belief in God. People often say something to the effect of, "I am a pretty decent person. I try to be a nice neighbor and not litter, and sometimes I give some money to charity. So what use is there for me to love some God? Isn't my own behavior honorable enough? Why do I have to love this great being?"
The message that this quotation has for us is that God is in himself Pure and Perfect Virtue. That is not to say that he is not personal, of course. He is Pure Virtue and personal. But if he is Pure Virtue and the cause of all virtue, then if one loves virtue perfectly, then he will love God. If there is a complete desire for moral perfection according to God's standard, he or she will be a lover of God. If the person does not love Pure Virtue, there must be a part of God's moral standard that he or she has not submitted himself or herself to.
Now the last part of this quotation I don't know that I agree with. It says that if you are moved to virtue for any other cause than for the love of God, then that work is imperfect. But I would think that if I do something nice for my wife for the love of God and for the love of my wife,the goodness of the action would not be lessened because I enjoyed seeing my wife's enjoyment. I would agree with the statement if the writer meant that it is not virtuous for a crook and a cheat to stop stealing and cheating mainly so that people will be friends with him. (This example reminds me of Simon the sorcerer offering money to Peter to be given the Holy Spirit.) But I don't know that I would say that the crook and cheat should have no self interest. Didn't Augustine say "it is the decided opinion of all who use their minds that everyone desires to be happy"? Is it possible to do something right without any thought for the enjoyment that goodness brings? I don't think so. Surely the love of God should be the chief cause far above all other causes.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The Mote and the Beam
I came across a rather humorous exchange today while I was listening to a conversation between Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss on iTunes U from the Aurora Forum at Stanford University. Their topic of conversation was science education, meaning, of course, the teaching of evolution.
The exchange was a real hoot in light of recent complaints in America about scientists being fired for being sympathetic to and/or tolerant of the ideas of intelligent design.
Krauss said that something scary happening in America was that some teachers are feeling intimidated not to talk about the theory of evolution. He said that his daughter's biology teacher would apologize to the students whenever he talked about evolution.
Dawkins replied, "That's a major evil. What are we going to do about it? It's terrible. That's absolutely terrible that teachers are being intimidated." Then he asked the audience if there were any teachers there who had been intimidated not to talk about evolution. At least one person raised his or her hand and said that he or she was intimidated by parents to not teach evolution.
"Well, you know what . . ." Krauss said (talking like I tend to do with so many "um"s and pauses and digressions that nobody knows what he is or I am trying to say). "It's even more . . . What happened in Texas. So the school board official recommended that there was an event on evolution. A bunch of interesting speakers. And the school official sent out the notice that this was happening. And she got fired. Because she didn't present the other . . . you know, she didn't talk about the other side. Can you believe that? But that's the kind of intimidation that actually happens. And it's really scary."
The exchange was a real hoot in light of recent complaints in America about scientists being fired for being sympathetic to and/or tolerant of the ideas of intelligent design.
Krauss said that something scary happening in America was that some teachers are feeling intimidated not to talk about the theory of evolution. He said that his daughter's biology teacher would apologize to the students whenever he talked about evolution.
Dawkins replied, "That's a major evil. What are we going to do about it? It's terrible. That's absolutely terrible that teachers are being intimidated." Then he asked the audience if there were any teachers there who had been intimidated not to talk about evolution. At least one person raised his or her hand and said that he or she was intimidated by parents to not teach evolution.
"Well, you know what . . ." Krauss said (talking like I tend to do with so many "um"s and pauses and digressions that nobody knows what he is or I am trying to say). "It's even more . . . What happened in Texas. So the school board official recommended that there was an event on evolution. A bunch of interesting speakers. And the school official sent out the notice that this was happening. And she got fired. Because she didn't present the other . . . you know, she didn't talk about the other side. Can you believe that? But that's the kind of intimidation that actually happens. And it's really scary."
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
An attempt at adding more pictures
Ok, this was supposed to be an entry with more baby pictures, but it will not work this time. Internet service can be a little spotty here at my house. I was able to post the other pictures and then ten minutes later couldn't post the others.
Maybe I will tell some details about the baby's delivery later. It was a really stressful time. It was wonderful that the baby was born, but several things happened that were tough to deal with. It is all in the past now, and now I have a beautiful baby. So all things considered, we are happy and blessed now.
I would like to make a couple posts later about the issue of ethics in philosophy. It seems that this is a big area about which secular philosophers are, generally speaking, pretty muddleheaded. Otherwise, maybe I am muddleheaded about it. (After all, I am pretty tired now, seeing that I have a baby to keep me up at night.) After I make my posts, then you can decide for yourselves who is confused.
Finally, I would like to share with you my grief with a popular concept regarding the will of God. The idea I am thinking about is confusing, unhelpful and unbiblical. Further, there are no precise words used to describe this idea--it is more of an attitude--so it is a little hard to talk about. Hopefully I will not completely obfuscate the issue when I get around to writing about it.
Maybe I will tell some details about the baby's delivery later. It was a really stressful time. It was wonderful that the baby was born, but several things happened that were tough to deal with. It is all in the past now, and now I have a beautiful baby. So all things considered, we are happy and blessed now.
I would like to make a couple posts later about the issue of ethics in philosophy. It seems that this is a big area about which secular philosophers are, generally speaking, pretty muddleheaded. Otherwise, maybe I am muddleheaded about it. (After all, I am pretty tired now, seeing that I have a baby to keep me up at night.) After I make my posts, then you can decide for yourselves who is confused.
Finally, I would like to share with you my grief with a popular concept regarding the will of God. The idea I am thinking about is confusing, unhelpful and unbiblical. Further, there are no precise words used to describe this idea--it is more of an attitude--so it is a little hard to talk about. Hopefully I will not completely obfuscate the issue when I get around to writing about it.
Baby Pictures
My son was born at the beginning of May. Here are some pictures of my wife, my baby and my wife's parents.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Bogus Batts
Here in the town where I live, there are a lot of fake products. Of course there are always the imitation Armani shirts and the unlicensed DVDs and CDs, which you can buy just about anywhere here. Sometimes though, a fake product could be dangerous. For example, once I bought a fake bottled tea, which was a very close copy of the original brand. It even had the original brand’s web address on the back. I took one taste and returned it to the seller. I figured that if the company owner didn’t care about honesty and ethical business practice, he probably didn’t care about my health either, so I didn’t dare drink it.
A few months ago, I bought some Nanfu batteries for my digital camera. Nanfu is a respected brand here that makes good reliable batteries. I was surprised though that when I got the batteries into my camera, it wouldn’t turn on. I went across the street and bought the same brand of batteries from a different store, and my camera worked. The first set of batteries was bogus. Here is a picture of two fake batteries and two real ones. Can you see the difference?
Drinking Pu'erh with my Brothers
Recently J.J. and D.M. came over to my house for a talk. I asked if they would like some tea, and they seemed interested. I took down my canister of Yixing black tea but tarried a moment trying to decide if I was really in the mood for black tea. Then I remembered my Yellow-mark Zhongcha brand Pu'erh tea cake. That was the one that M. had given me as a gift when he had come to visit China.
When I had received it, I had done a little research about it to determine its age and value. Nevertheless, I learned very little about it. The reason is that all of the packaging in this particular series of tea cake looks exactly the same. There is no difference in external appearance between a valuable cake and an inexpensive cake. Only an expert could tell the difference by smelling and examining the leaves. So from what I could determine from the package, it could have been made any time from as recently as last year to the 1970s. It could have been wet aged, a process that involves storing the cake in a moist environment to make it change its color and taste rapidly but producing a substandard product that looks valuable. Or it could have been aged meticulously in optimum conditions for 10 to 20 years. It could be worth 70 to 100 RMB, or it could be worth 7,000 to 10,000 RMB ($945 to $1350). I'm not an expert, so I cannot determine the true value of the cake. I can only say, "I like it" or "I don't like it." I asked M. how much he paid for it because I was just too curious. He said that actually it was a re-gift. A student of his gave it to him, but he decided to pass it on to me since he knew I enjoyed Pu’erh. M. didn’t know how much the student had paid for the tea, but he said that the student was pretty rich and was now studying in an ivy league school in America.
So after thinking for a moment about this tea yet untasted, I decided, in the spirit of the WSJ Wine column's "Open That Bottle Night," to break open my old Yellow-mark tea cake. I opened the box and smelled it deeply. There was something familiar in the fragrance. It had a rich smell, unlike most Pu'erh tea which has a faint dusty smell. If I have to compare the smell to something I would say that it is like the smell of a musty basement. I know that doesn’t sound very appetizing, but the funny thing is that J.J. and I both thought it was smelled heavenly.
I selected some leaves from the cake and noticed immediately that this one was different from my other black Pu’erhs. This one had large leaves, not just leaf pieces. The leaves looked like those of the high quality fresh green tea cakes that I had bought recently, which will not be drinkable for about another nine years. This cake really seemed to have been produced as a green Pu’erh and then aged. How it was aged and how long it was aged are the 10,000 RMB questions.
I placed the leaves in my small brewing cup and boiled some water. Then I rinsed the leaves once very quickly, poured out the rinse water into my pitcher and then went into the kitchen to discard the water. However, I was overcome with the temptation to have a little taste, so I sipped a little bit and then spit it out into the sink.
I was ecstatic. This was the very flavor that I had been looking for. Four years ago my first sample of Pu’erh was a pretty high quality, and since then I had been looking for a similar tasting tea. For four years I had been visiting various tea stores and sniffing all the Pu’erh teas to find this flavor. And now, finally I had found it in my own tea collection.
By this time J.J. was excited too, but D.M., having never tasted Pu’erh before, was curious. To him it looked like mulch, smelled like dirt and was probably going to taste like a mud puddle.
I waited one minute before filling the brewing cup with hot water again. I let it brew for 20 seconds before pouring it out through a strainer into the brewing pitcher, using the lid of the cup to keep the tea leaves from falling out.
The color of the brew was a golden brown. Then I poured out the pitcher into three small teacups, and the tea shone in the teacups as if they were filled with rubies.
We lifted the cups to our mouths and had a taste. I was boiling over with excitement. J.J. was impressed. “This is really good,” he said. D.M. on the other hand had a thoughtful look on his face. “It must be an acquired taste,” he said.
It is hard to explain taste, but it tasted smoky and dry but very rich. The second brew should have been 10 seconds. However, I let it brew too long, resulting in an overly strong brew. Nevertheless, it wasn’t bitter at all; it was completely smooth and gentle. The third brew was not as strong and seemed a little bit wet, not as pleasant. After the initial brews, the smoky flavor disappeared, but it started to come back around by the sixth brew. We were still drinking tea at ten o’clock and after about 10 brews.
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