António Vieira da Cruz

(também publicado no Substack ) You may read part 1 about Portugal, Bangladesh and Qatar here and part 2 about mainland China here . Macao and Hong Kong: I have been to Hong Kong and Macao many, many times. But still, not enough times yet. One can see the differences between those two cities, but they are relatively close to each other and experience a constant movement of people and goods. Both are open economies, where we can try some of the best teas from mainland China and other tea regions such as India, Ceylon, Taiwan, or Japan. These are cities where the best teas get proper attention in shop windows. One can conduct a serious sociological analysis just by observing the tea houses of Canton. There, we can see real intergenerational interactions, social hierarchies, habits, hospitality, and etiquette. Everyone should visit Macao and Hong Kong at least once in their lives. But if you like tea, besides visiting some of their beautiful tea houses and shops, you should also go to...

(também publicado no Substack ) My first travels began at home, going back and forth from the kitchen to the living room. As a child sitting next to my mother, I was amazed by how she poured steaming water and tea leaves into the teapot. Simultaneously, we would prepare a tray with warm scones, slices of bread, crackers, butter, honey, and tomato jam. It was cold outside, so we had our tea by the fireplace. Those were the days! I have always loved tea. Infusions of other aromatic plants never gave me as much joy as real tea. I learned at home to take my tea without sugar, and only rarely with a cloud of milk to mask any excessive bitterness. If I had a sore throat, a spoonful of honey and a sliver of lemon peel were also acceptable. However, in the 1990s, most tea in Lisbon was sold in teabags; if we ordered loose-leaf tea in specialty shops, there were few variations of black tea and lower-quality green tea. And it was difficult to find a nice Oolong. Lisbon: As a teenager living i...

(Originalmente publicado no " Jacaré parado vira mala " no dia 25  de Setembro de 2017) Padrões de janelas em  Gulang Yu 鼓浪屿  e Quanzhou 泉州, na província de Fujian 福建, China 中国.

(Originalmente publicados no " Jacaré parado vira mala " no dia 20  de Março de 2017) Padrões e texturas das paredes em Quanzhou 泉州, Fujian 福建, China 中国.

(Textos originalmente publicados no " Jacaré parado vira mala " nos dias 18  e  19  de Fevereiro, e 05  e 13  de Março de 2017) Sábado, dia 18 de Fevereiro de 2017 Lisboa O meu dia começa com um toque de despertador às 3 da manhã. Já tinha tomado um banho na noite anterior para ir um pouco mais fresco nesta longa viagem ao extremo Oriente. Arrasto-me do quentinho de casa para o vento cortante da avenida com uma grande mala e uma mochila nas costas, adapto-me aos elementos da Natureza inspirado pela tartaruga e sua carapaça, e espero por um táxi que me leve ao aeroporto. O avião da Xiamen Air 厦门航空 prestes a descolar de Amesterdão para Xiamen Esta minha ida à China tem três propósitos: conhecer a província de Fujian e provar os seus chás mais emblemáticos; trocar ideias e mundividências com os meus amigos de lá; e treinar o meu Chinês Mandarim. Em casa ficam a minha querida mulher e filhos, que desta vez não podem vir comigo. Foi um sacrifício...