Rizhao, a beautiful coastal city in Shandong province, where on a tranquil tea plantation the view of the ocean and the mountain come together. Visiting a green tea plantation in Rizhao city, where the accommodation on the plantation and the tea leaves themselves, both tells of a love story. The accommodation at the green tea plantation is refurbished old boats, this idea bringing the true coastal history of the city of Rizhao to the tea plantation. Every boat is converted into the most beautiful and romantic room, each with a stunning view of the mountain and ocean. The story is told that if you and your loved one spend a night in one of the boathouses, your love will live on forever.
On the plantation also built is a tea storage facility as well as a museum containing the history of the boats and the city of Rizhao. Meeting one of the makers of the scale size boats at the museam, made the visit to the museum more special as he was in the process of making another scale size boat. He told us that one replica scale model takes two men only three days to build, which didn’t sound real, as the detail and perfection of each scale size ship in the museum was phenomenal.
Learning how to pick or rather pluck correctly only the newly grown tips of the leaves as these baby leaves produce the best tasting and highest quality green tea flavor, it feels romantic and relaxing being in the sun and in the fields of tea. Drinking the tea made from the leaves just picked fresh, while looking out on ocean and mountain view, tastes idillic and feels relaxing.
For dinner we visited the food market, where firstly we changed into the most beautiful traditional chinese cultural dress. And so, we dressed like Hua Mulan and her fiancé, the King of China and his princesses, the King’s soldier and protector, the King’s philosopher, a tibetan princess and a palace lady; all visiting the beautiful market of Rizhao. We had some laughs bowing down to “the King” before eating dinner.
The azalea garden in Rizhao city is the most gorgeous garden with different species of Azalea flowers originating from China as well as Germany and across the world. The garden also had shining mountain red flowers. These trees do not have leaves, only the dark pink-red blossoms, which when they bloom on the mountain side, the mountain shines red, herewith their name.
Rizhao has 64km of large golden excellent sandy beach, with clean, soft sand and water. The water is very clear, the beach is broad and the waves gentle.
Black pottery of Rizhao city; It looks easier than it is. What an amazing experience to learn from a professional black pottery expert on how to make a black pottery cup. The teacher’s hands on the turning table know how to shape and how to pull so evenly to create a perfect piece of pottery. Watching him work makes it look very easy, but once you try turning a piece of black clay into something on a turning table, you quickly realize your hands are not used to the feeling and the control it requires. His hands mold and fold with precise control and slow steady equal movements, with the precise strength required to create the exact shape he wants to make. Us trying to make some sort of something useful did not come with precision or thought, but rather luck and help from him. And the result of our attempts: not something that could be sold, but we grew more respect for the fine art of black pottery and had a lot of fun trying. What amazing craftsmanship to see his larger pieces on display, made by his experienced expert hand. It takes years to master the art of making black pottery. Rizhao is the only place in the world where this black clay is found and here with black pottery craft is special to Rizhao city.
