Just My Cup of Tea!

By Jacqueline Miller

I recently played a modern-day hostess for a black tea commercial in Beijing. As an American， it was a great opportunity to learn more about Chinas traditional beverage， which I have come to occasionally enjoy alongside my habitual coffee fix. We filmed the commercial in a Western-style hotel on the northeast outskirts of Beijing.

The hotel in Huairou featured the trappings of the European aristocracy： statues of British beefeaters outside the entrance， chandeliers， fireplaces， a suit of armor， baroque-style paintings， and a copy of a large painting of Empress Elisabeth of Austria in the lobby.

The second actress who had been recruited for the commercial was a bubbly young Ukrainian woman. Her permed blonde hair， swept up， perfectly matched the 18thcentury-style slate gray dress she was given to wear， while I was put into a yellow qipao. She appeared to be a comedienne at heart who loved the U.S. actress Lucille Ball and likened her hair to Balls.

She liked to pose with the tea cup and twirl around with it， while I was reserved and strictly business. Although we were in different scenes， my co-star and I both got our fi ll of black tea from southeast Chinas Fujian Province that day！ In fact， I was required to drink so much tea that I had to run to the restroom in between takes.

Shooting a commercial involves a lot of multi-tasking on the part of the actor. I had to learn how to hold a tea cup correctly （as an American I suppose I had an excuse not to know， as many of us are coffee drinkers）， while speaking in Chinese and making sure I was seated in a proper， lady-like fashion with my knees tightly together.

While sipping tea from a beautiful tea cup featuring a traditional Chinese motif of peonies and magpies， I had to “converse”with a Chinese man sitting on a sofa to my right and a young Chinese woman seated on a stool to my left.

The point was to show me chatting with my guests while savoring the tea， although our conversation was not part of the commercial. We explored various topics， such as traveling， cultural differences and Chinese cuisine， and of course， Chinese tea—black tea， oolong tea， green tea， white tea， puer tea. Although my Chinese party guests and I gradually ran dry of topics， we never got thirsty thanks to the never-ending refills！ I truly felt like Alice in Wonderland， seated in my wingchair at a tea party in an unfamiliar setting with an endless fl ow of tea.

Tea had to be poured into my cup multiple times and the portion I hadnt fi nished during a take was recycled back into the pot for the next shot until it was time to make and take more tea. The pouring of the tea had to be right for fi lming； the brew couldnt have too many bubbles， had to have the right consistency， and the rim of the cup couldnt be smeared with dust or lipstick， so it had to be meticulously wiped clean.

The director was a Chinese woman who had studied abroad in the UK. She gave me some background on Chinese tea and told me that tea has changed the course of history. China is the reputed birthplace of tea， including black tea （although the Chinese refer to it as red tea）， where it is said to have been accidentally discovered in Fujian during the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644） when tea leaves were allowed to ferment longer and then roasted， creating a bold， bitter taste.

The director also told me about black teas expansion west， where it was originally only a drink for the rich and privileged classes. Robert Fortune， acting on behalf of the British East India Company， disguised himself as Chinese and stole tea plants before taking them to India where he replanted them. She also mentioned how the U.S. colonists threw tea overboard to protest the British Tea Act during the Boston Tea Party， sparking the American Revolution.

Today， black tea is a staple in many Western countries. Filming this black tea commercial in its country of origin and drinking it in a peaceful East-West setting have made me look at this noble brew in a new light， and appreciate it even more.