The young people around us no longer like to drink tea. How do they view the future of tea culture and the inheritance of tea ceremony?

What is "tea culture"?

Some people may think of a beautiful lady wearing a cheongsam, performing a tea ceremony with exquisite tea sets, thinking of falling flowers, misty rain, Jiangnan, exquisite snacks, and melodious Guqin.

But tea culture is only a small part of it. You may still have such a concierge in your mind. He filled tea in a glass bottle with canned yellow peaches in sugar water. The label on the bottle was half torn off, with prickly white edges. He poured water from the thermos bottle, and the tea leaves Twist a few times and then stretch out. In the yard, there are children laughing, people collecting waste shouting, and bicycles ringing.

After all - tea is for people to drink.

I am now in my early twenties, but I have been drinking tea for almost ten years. When I was in middle school, Starbucks had just opened in China. At that time, buying a Starbucks cup could be regarded as a luxury product and placed on the desk. During the first class in the afternoon, I made a tea bag, held the cup and put my face against it. It felt like I had wiped my face with a hot towel. The heat alone was enough to refresh me.

When I was in college, my roommates and I had different ways of being lazy, and neither of us went to the water room to turn on the water. The three monks had no water to eat, and naturally they couldn't drink hot tea, so they went to the canteen downstairs every day to buy bottled tea. Either you have to wait patiently for this thing to drink in the classroom, or you have to drink it on the way. If you drink half of it, foam will form on it when you bump on the road, and it will look like another yellow liquid, which will make people laugh. Said it was Oriental X liquid.

When you go abroad, you have to replenish your inventory every time you go home. My mother said that every time my father got good tea or wine, he would nag him several times to keep it for his son to take back when he returned to China. Dad gets up very early every day, brews a pot of tea and watches the news. When I go back to China, I sometimes sleep until midnight before getting up. Dad calls home from work and tells me to brew the tea in the pot. It's just right for you to continue drinking.

You said that young people don’t like to drink tea now, and “tea culture” and “tea ceremony” no longer exist.

When it comes to tea culture and tea ceremony, why bother to show off? What kind of Zen practice and what kind of Tao should we go through all the trouble and trouble?

The Tao is invisible. As long as drinking tea makes people feel comfortable and allows them to get a small, exclusive comfort in such a big world, this is the Tao.