An elegant afternoon tea
---------Romantic Britain
One sunny day morning, I found a book named “Afternoon Tea” when I fooling around in the library. The British style cover of the book attracted my attention. I picked the book and found a chair near the window. The sunlight streamed in through the window, like a light music singing in a quiet house, warm and peaceful.
The words are simple but elegant.
At the time I heard the assignment, “Afternoon Tea ” immediately jumped into my mind. So I chose it for my topic.
Britain, the same as China, is a big country of drinking tea, but each of them also has unique features and represents the tea cultures between the east and the west. In China, people sample the fragrance of the tea, while in Britain, there will be much more complicated. People add milk and sugar in the tea and also enjoy the tea with the dessert.
British spend a lot of time on drinking tea, and “afternoon tea ” has already become the symbol of the elegant lifestyle of the British.
British started to drink tea in about 1650, and in the late seventeenth century, the outline of the tea drinking formed, and in the early nineteenth century, “afternoon tea” appeared.
The first person who enjoy the afternoon tea was Anna BedfordⅦ, a duchess who knew how to enjoy the life in Victoria’s time. At that time, people of upper class usually had supper at around eight o’clock in the evening. But Anna began to feel hungry at round four o ’clock in the afternoon. This had left her a long time of four hours. Therefore, she told the servant to bring a tray of tea, bread, butter and cake to her room during the late afternoon. She became to discover the afternoon tea is a kind of so wonderful dessert that she began to invite her friends to her room to join her tea party.
Afternoon tea was soon favored by most women, because they then have reasons to get together and killing the leisure time. After Anna ’s launch of the afternoon tea, women of the upper class did the same in their home and it later became a fashionable social event, providing a place for people to meet new friends and get new information.
The traditional afternoon tea usually contains a teapot of tea, several teacups, silver spoons and an original room or parties. This started at the Victoria time and continued till now. Generally, hostess will make the tea for the guests and sometimes the oldest daughter will help to treat the guests as well. And of course, there is always some dessert at the tea time. At the beginning, there would only be a piece of bread and some cream, however, today, the “afternoon tea dessert” not only delicious but also full of all kinds of all kinds of sweets: bread, toast, muffin, teacakes, pancakes
for that matter.
British is famous for drinking afternoon tea, but do not look down upon this short period of drinking, eating and chatting afternoon time, it represents the most traditional British culture.
Today ，afternoon tea has been simplified because of the high speed of the lifestyle. People use tea bags instead of infusing tea leaves. Parties are no longer as various and sophisticated as that of long time ago. There usually are some pieces of biscuit or cakes.
But if you have plenty of time and want to experience a real English afternoon tea, then, you can go to the Devonshire, where produces good clotted cream and famous cream tea. The tea consists of cups of hot and sweet tea served in china teacups and scones, strawberry jam as well as the fine clotted cream---the vital ingredient of cream tea. You may indulge yourself for a whole afternoon to enjoy the best tradition.
In my mind, afternoon tea is full of romantic and pleasure. It is not the
luxury life, but the happy and relax attitude to the busy life. In the increasing pace of life, people would feel tired of endless work, so just find a little time and a place in the day, relax and have a leisure time to keep the city noises away.
Having an elegant time, enjoying an elegant atmosphere, keeping an elegant behavior, listening a light music, sampling a hot tea and tasting the delicious dessert, maybe there would also be a book in the hand at the same time. Then, could you feel the warm and peaceful in your life? Maybe just like the sunlight stream into our heart and brighten all the darkness in your life…
An elegant afternoon tea
---------Romantic Britain
One sunny day morning, I found a book named “Afternoon Tea” when I fooling around in the library. The British style cover of the book attracted my attention. I picked the book and found a chair near the window. The sunlight streamed in through the window, like a light music singing in a quiet house, warm and peaceful.
The words are simple but elegant.
At the time I heard the assignment, “Afternoon Tea ” immediately jumped into my mind. So I chose it for my topic.
Britain, the same as China, is a big country of drinking tea, but each of them also has unique features and represents the tea cultures between the east and the west. In China, people sample the fragrance of the tea, while in Britain, there will be much more complicated. People add milk and sugar in the tea and also enjoy the tea with the dessert.
British spend a lot of time on drinking tea, and “afternoon tea ” has already become the symbol of the elegant lifestyle of the British.
British started to drink tea in about 1650, and in the late seventeenth century, the outline of the tea drinking formed, and in the early nineteenth century, “afternoon tea” appeared.
The first person who enjoy the afternoon tea was Anna BedfordⅦ, a duchess who knew how to enjoy the life in Victoria’s time. At that time, people of upper class usually had supper at around eight o’clock in the evening. But Anna began to feel hungry at round four o ’clock in the afternoon. This had left her a long time of four hours. Therefore, she told the servant to bring a tray of tea, bread, butter and cake to her room during the late afternoon. She became to discover the afternoon tea is a kind of so wonderful dessert that she began to invite her friends to her room to join her tea party.
Afternoon tea was soon favored by most women, because they then have reasons to get together and killing the leisure time. After Anna ’s launch of the afternoon tea, women of the upper class did the same in their home and it later became a fashionable social event, providing a place for people to meet new friends and get new information.
The traditional afternoon tea usually contains a teapot of tea, several teacups, silver spoons and an original room or parties. This started at the Victoria time and continued till now. Generally, hostess will make the tea for the guests and sometimes the oldest daughter will help to treat the guests as well. And of course, there is always some dessert at the tea time. At the beginning, there would only be a piece of bread and some cream, however, today, the “afternoon tea dessert” not only delicious but also full of all kinds of all kinds of sweets: bread, toast, muffin, teacakes, pancakes
for that matter.
British is famous for drinking afternoon tea, but do not look down upon this short period of drinking, eating and chatting afternoon time, it represents the most traditional British culture.
Today ，afternoon tea has been simplified because of the high speed of the lifestyle. People use tea bags instead of infusing tea leaves. Parties are no longer as various and sophisticated as that of long time ago. There usually are some pieces of biscuit or cakes.
But if you have plenty of time and want to experience a real English afternoon tea, then, you can go to the Devonshire, where produces good clotted cream and famous cream tea. The tea consists of cups of hot and sweet tea served in china teacups and scones, strawberry jam as well as the fine clotted cream---the vital ingredient of cream tea. You may indulge yourself for a whole afternoon to enjoy the best tradition.
In my mind, afternoon tea is full of romantic and pleasure. It is not the
luxury life, but the happy and relax attitude to the busy life. In the increasing pace of life, people would feel tired of endless work, so just find a little time and a place in the day, relax and have a leisure time to keep the city noises away.
Having an elegant time, enjoying an elegant atmosphere, keeping an elegant behavior, listening a light music, sampling a hot tea and tasting the delicious dessert, maybe there would also be a book in the hand at the same time. Then, could you feel the warm and peaceful in your life? Maybe just like the sunlight stream into our heart and brighten all the darkness in your life…