土耳其:泡在茶水里的国家

土耳其茶壶和冒着泡沫的茶

A cup of tea with froth and a Turkey teapot

在我的脑海里，中国是世界上第一个茶叶大国，然而来到土耳其才知道，土耳其才是一个真正泡在茶水里的国家。

根据最近调查结果，土耳其喝茶的人越来越多，而且发展势头迅猛，土耳其人的喝茶数量已位居世界第一，每人年均喝茶1250杯，全土耳其每天消费高达2.5亿杯，在饮茶数量上，在过去两年就已经超过爱尔兰和英国，位居世界第一，真是一个名副其实的泡在茶水里的国家。

土耳其是一个伊斯兰教国家，被称为“文明的摇篮”，也是古代丝绸之路的终点。她位于亚洲西部、欧洲东南角，地跨亚欧两洲，大部分领土在小亚细亚半岛上。历史上的土耳其有着6500年悠久历史和前后13个不同文明的历史遗产。

日前，我们有幸踏上了这片神奇的土地。

世界上爱喝茶的不只是中国人，还有英国人，他们把饮茶当作一种休闲和舒缓心情的享受。日本人也不甘落后，早中晚随时都可以喝茶，而且茶的种类不胜枚举。最酷爱喝茶的还要数土耳其人，在土耳其无论我们走到哪里都可以看见茶的身影。在土耳其的大街小巷我们都能看到大大小小的茶馆，无论我们在达达尼尔海峡的码头上，还是在乡村公路边的小超市都能看见茶。几乎在土耳其的每家商店里也都备有茶，不管我们是否购买东西，店家总是先送上一杯茶，一般是红茶，还伴有几块方糖。

在伊斯坦布尔我们坐上了一艘十分华丽的双层游船，在博斯普鲁斯海峡上游弋，海风吹拂着我们的脸颊，海鸥在我们头顶来回翱翔，高挂在游船桅杆上的星月旗迎着海风飘扬。我们刚坐定就有一位土耳其老汉手托着一个精美的盘子，盘子上用一只只小碟子分别盛载着精致的郁金香玻璃杯，只见红茶在这样的玻璃小腰杯里显得格外的可爱，像一盅红得透

邱明亮

亮的葡萄美酒，也像一柱玲珑剔透的红玛瑙，还像一朵笑口圆开的郁金香，左右赏看，极为养眼，热气腾腾的红茶香气扑鼻而来，茶杯旁边还放着几只闪亮的小匙和几块雪白的小方糖。老人家边嘴上轻轻地说“Cha、Cha、 Cha”，边笑眯眯地来回走动向我们推销。我们每个人都被老人家的热情所感动，拿出一个里拉，一人就顺手捧起一杯红茶慢慢地享用。

早在数百年前，茶就随着丝绸之路远行到了欧洲。土耳其，作为丝绸之路的终点，完整地保留下了一套属于她自己的茶文化，茶文化就成了土耳其永远不变的文化。在这里，土耳其人把茶叫做cay（Cai），很像汉语中茶的发音。

据说土耳其人比中国福建人还爱喝茶，不可一日无茶，不可一日少于10杯茶。即使是等公交车都要端着杯茶，等人时坐在路边小摊前也要来杯茶。在土耳其，早晨起床，未曾刷牙用餐，先得喝杯茶。无论是大中城市，还是小城镇，到处都有茶馆，甚至点心店、小吃店也兼卖茶。别有情趣的是，据说凡在城市工作的人，只要吹一吹口哨，附近茶馆的服务员，随即手托一个精致的茶盘，上放一杯热茶，给你送上。所以，在城市到处都可以看到有穿街走巷、挨门挨户送茶的服务员。 我们的导游是一位性格开朗的土耳其人，他用中国人的习惯，让我们叫他小名“阿褃”。他曾经在上海一家外贸公司里工作了3年，因此对中国有特别深厚的感情，会讲一口并不那么标准的中国话，还能

插着小银匙的玻璃杯中是诱人的茶水。

Glasses with a small spoon and alluring tea

TEA CULTURE茶叶博览

土耳其码头上的饮食车也卖茶。A mobile tea vendor at a dock

茶汁分别倾入各个小玻璃杯中。尔后，再将大茶壶中的沸水冲入盛有浓茶汁的小茶杯中，加上一些白糖，用小匙搅拌几下，使茶、水、糖混匀后便可饮用。

土耳其人煮茶，讲究调制功夫。认为只有色泽红艳透明、香气扑鼻、滋味甘醇可口的茶，才是煮得恰到好处。土耳其人喝茶也独具一格，无论到当地茶档品茗还是接受市内商店款待，都是一律采用我们在博斯普鲁斯海峡的游船上用的这种精致的郁金香玻璃杯。

总之，茶已经渗透到土耳其的每个角落、各个阶层，成为土耳其一道独具特色的生活景观。□

茶贩肩掮茶斗，腰缠茶杯，吆喝土耳其茶。

A fully equipped street tea vendor in Turkey

matter whether we buy or do not buy anything, black tea is served with a few cubes of sugar.

A boat tour we take in the Bosporus in Istanbul also testifies to the tea drinking passion in Turkey. The breeze touches our faces, sea gulls hover above the ship, and the flag high on the mast flut-ters in the winds. As soon as we sit down, an old man comes over carrying a large plate heaped with glasses. Black tea in each crystal cup looks fascinating. He says cay, cay, cay to us. The word is pro-nounced like the Chinese word Cha. The tea in such wonderful cups is irresistible. We each buy a cup of black tea from him.

We learn that as the one end of the ancient Silk Road coming all the way from China, Turkey has preserved a complete tea tradition and it has woven intricately into its culture. We know that people in Fujian Province consume more tea than in other places in China, but it seems to us that Turks drink more tea than Fujian people do. They drink ten cups a day at least. It is a common sight that those waiting for a bus hold a cup of tea. They have a cup of tea as soon as they get up in the morning. Teahouses are everywhere. Pastry shops and small restaurants all sell tea. Tea sales people can be seen everywhere in cities. They deliver tea to your door. It is said you can surely have a cup of tea whenever you whistle because one of these tea sales people will surely hear you.

Our guide is a friendly man, who worked three years in a trade company in Shanghai. His Chinese is not extremely standard, but he tells us about his experience in Shanghai. He says Shanghai is his favorite Chinese city and his second hometown, dreaming to revisit it when he has an opportunity.

He gives us a brief lecture on how his people love the tea. They

love black tea without any milk and they love it flavored by lump

sugar. With a lot of sugar, their favorite black tea carries a taste of honey. The tea set for a Turk is usually composed of a glass, a small spoon and a small saucer. They use two copper pots to make tea. A large copper pot sits on a charcoal stove to boil water and a small copper pot sits upon the large one. The boiled water is poured into the small one to make tea. Wait for 3 to 5 minutes until tea is ready. Then the undiluted tea is distributed into small glasses. The boiled water is then poured into the glasses to dilute the original tea water. Sugar is added and the small spoon is used to stir the sugar to get it well mixed with tea. A cup of tea is ready.

Turks prefer a cup of tea that looks red and bright, that smells redolent, and tastes sweet and pleasant. □