Strolling beneath the swinging willows along the Funan River, watching the rippling water running smoothly along the city like a jade necklace, I realized that I had been here for more than a month. Sitting down on the bench by the bank of the river and bathing in the early morning sunshine, my mind had wondered away.

The fate between the city of Chengdu and myself had been long established ever since my childhood, when mum brought me along with her here during her business trip. We had played with the rapid-running water at Dujiangyan, climbed the steep steps of the handsome Qingcheng Mountain, and lost our way in the labyrinthic Qingyang Temple. I could still recall vividly how triumphantly I had been showing off among the kids in the kindergarten that: ‘I have been to Chengdu!’

When we are getting older and older as time flying away, when China is developing stronger and stronger with every changing day, travel is no longer a scarce activity in people’ live. I have been to loads of places as I grew up, however, there always seemed an invisible string tying me and this venerable city together.

After the National College Entrance Test, I had got the letter of offer from Sichuan Music Institute, but the decision of going overseas college to study lost me the chance of staying with Chengdu. When I thought I’d never been here again until three years later, right now, when I have graduated from overseas and returned to my hometown, where the hands of Fate have once more put us together-----I’ve got a job in Chengdu, right in this very familiar place!

This is an old city; its history could be traced back to the era of the Three Kingdom, yet this is a modern city, filled with the exuberance of the most fashionable vogue. Living with Chengdu, one would find that leisure is of top priority in the local people’s heart. Ii have particularly impressed by Chengdu’s rich tea culture, which is also a most popular way of relaxation.

The great American writer Henry James had ever said, "There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."  Of course, what Henry meant was the traditional English afternoon tea, which served as a rather fashionable social event during his time. But here, in Chengdu, people do know how to appreciate their own style of tea drinking as well as the westerners.

If you take a ramble around Chengdu, you’ll be marveled by those Chinese teahouses strew in every corner of this city. It is a traditional place of leisure. The practice of tea drinking can be dated back to as early as the period of Three Kindoms (220-265 A.D). As the descendants of the Shu Kindom, Chengdunese have not only inherited this old custom, but also incorporated it with modern concepts.

Classic meets modern in a new trend, a new innovation. A teahouse in Chengdu captures the spirit of the city and its habitants. They can be as much different as they are featured in other cities of China. In Chengdu, you can always expect more from a teahouse other than a cup of tea. There are teahouses designed in an archaized structure whose waiters and waitresses dressed in ancient times costumes. Live entertainment such as Chinese instruments playing or classic dances will be performed. Some teahouses provide you with a variety of entertaining tools such as chess, pokers, pool tables or even mahjong! If you are a bookworm, there are always teahouses with a large collection of books, magazines or newspapers waiting for your visit. Whether it is a family outing, or business talking, or romantic activities, teahouses are the most favorable haunts.

Well, in Chengdu it’s not necessary going only for afternoon tea, but one can find any excuses at any time just to sit down at a teahouse and enjoy the comfortable sensation brought by the environment. Chengdunese love going out for a cup of tea rather than having it at home. I guess it’s because of its unique ambience in the teahouses. The calls for refilling, the sound of the merry chatting, or the fast-moving service persons…make you feel you are a crucial part of this circle. Sometimes I would sit at the small teahut near my house for a whole afternoon just indulging myself with the rich scent trailing from the cup, and feeling all the earthly turmoil has been washed away.

If you like Chengdu, I’m sure you will like its tea culture too!