We’d planned to visit a natural soap making factory “山茶房” but google map directed us to its retail shop instead. That’s how we stumbled into another old street that sells all sorts of local produces.
As we walked past a tiny shop selling tea leaves, I noticed the shop lady who looks elderly yet her skin complexion is wrinkles and freckles-free. So we dropped in to try out her tea leaves which she was promoting.
She is a retired postal worker and her sister is married to a tea farmer. Since she has acquired a life long passion to drink only good tea, her sister invited her to be a tea seller.
Her motto is a simple one : “If I am going to meet many customers daily to introduce various tea leaves, I will be drinking all the tea which my customers would like to sample-taste. If the tea leaves that I sell are bad for my customers’ health, wouldn’t it be even worst for my own health?”
Hence, she decided to do the right thing. She invests in her own health by personally visiting local tea farmers to check out their farming methods and ensuring they do not use pesticides indiscriminately. She also sends their tea leaves for lab tests at S$150 per test to ensure they do no contain the 黄趨 toxin.
As we drank cups after cups of various tea leaves while soaking in her in-depth sharing of how to brew good tea to extract maximum health benefits for our bodies, I was fascinated by her thorough knowledge in the art of tea drinking.
My takeaway from her is this: When we choose to do what we really love and do the right things, we will truly enjoy every minute of it.
Hence, we must never work for the sake of money. Let’s pursue our passion wholeheartedly for God will surely make a way, even when there seems to be no way.
P/S : I forgot to introduce this beautiful old town. It’s called Sanxia Old Street (三峽老街). It’s located in ….where else? Sanxia town of course! New Taipei City, Taiwan. Visiting Taiwan soon? Add it to your itinerary and yes, if you happen to meet this tea lady, please do sit down and enjoy her tea stories.
John How (Teacher for life) - His teaching passion lives on... 