Ge Kiln

The Ge kilns had always been a mystery in the history of ceramics. Although authentic Ge porcelain wares are on display in the Beijing Palace Museum, Shanghai Museum and the Palace Museum of Taipei and so on, there is no surviving documentation from the Song dynasty, nor had any kiln sites ever been identified.

From existing Ge ware, we see all kinds of stoves, vases and dishes, including tripod cauldrons, cauldrons with fish-shaped handles, cauldron with glazed feet and double handles, cylindrical vases, thin-necked urns, bet bodied plates and so on, mostly imitating the design of ritualistic bronze ware and were intended from court use. Thus it had common elements with Ru and Imperial kilns but was very different from porcelain for the common people.

The most distinguished feature of Ge porcelain ware would be its crackling patterns. The surface of the glaze displays natural patterns such as ice-crackles, fine crackles, or fish egg crackles and so forth. The areas enclosed within the cracks can vary from the size of large chunks of ice to speckles as small as fish eggs. The actual crackle lines also vary in width and can be filled in with different colors such as black, gold or red. This effect is sometimes referred to as “gold and iron threads”. The crackling in the glaze is caused by differences in the degree of expansion of various parts of the glaze. This was originally an imperfection in technology, but was taken advantage of by porcelain artisans and made into added aesthetic element.

source: Chinese Ceramics, published by China International Press

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YiXing Kiln

The Yixing Kiln in Tixing of East China's Jiangsu Province has undergone great changed throughout its history. Celadon (glazed pottery) began to be fired at the kiln early in the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD). During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), porcelain was made. The kiln's most famous product, Zisha, or purple clay wares, began to be made in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), while the Zisha wares, especially the teapot, became famous across the country in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and reached its peak in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Zisha ware is made from the Yixing region's unique clay, which is fine and contains much iron content. Porcelain made of this kind of clay is mostly red brown, light yellow, and blackish purple. Zisha porcelain was popularized in the period from the Song Dynasty to the mid Ming Dynasty, due to the change of the ways of brewing tea.
People at that time brewed tea instead of boiling it, thus raising the need for teapots. In use, people found that the Zisha teapot was not only well designed but also a good choice for tea brewing. The body of the teapot could absorb some fragrance of the tea and keep it for a long time. The longer the teapot was used, the better the tea flavor.

The Zisha teapot had no glaze or bright color, a plainness that fit the aesthetic views and tastes of the higher classes, helping to make the teapot prevalent all around the country. In addition, the Zisha crafts absorbed the characteristics of the bronze craft of that time and also reflected the same style of the furniture.
Focusing on practical use, the Zisha teapots in the Ming Dynasty mainly adopted geometric designs that were simple but harmonious. The rough grains of the clay highlighted the plainness as well as the elegance of the vessels. Blemishes could always be found on the surface of the vessels because of the underdeveloped techniques at that time, while the colors of the vessels were always reddish brown and purple gray due to the material used and the firing time.
From Emperor Zhengde's reign to Emperor Wanli's reign (1505-1620) in the Ming Dynasty, the masters of Zisha teapot making - such as Gong Chun, Li Zhongfen, Shi Dabin, and Xu Youquan - made great contribution to the improvement and development of the Zisha teapot techniques.

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Procelain from the Yuan to the Qing Dynasties

Bright Red-Glazed Porcelain Bowl with High Stand, Yongle Period, Ming Dynasty
Height: 9.9cm
Mouth diameter: 15.8cm
Foot diameter: 4.2cm
Flared mouth, arched belly, slightly splayed long loop leg. The outer surface and the leg of the bowl are fully glazed in ruby red, and the inside surface is applied with white glaze and decorated with veiled patterns of cloud and dragons. There's a four-character veiled date mark "Yongle Nian Zhi"( Yongle Period") engraved in seal script in the middle of the inside bottom.

Gracefully shaped and evenly applied with flawless bright red glaze, the bowl is a rare treasure.

In the Yuan Dynasty, Jingdezhen already had the ability to mass-produce fine blue and white porcelain. Then during the Ming and Qing dynasties, many new types of wares were created. High quality porcelain with elegant shapes made Jingdezhen known as "the Capital of Porcelain". Ceramics-manufacturing crafts reached its zenith in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Tremendous varieties of vessel shapes, lustrous glaze colors and wonderful decoration designs of that period were conformative evidence. Famous brands included white Dehua wares from Fujian Province, Yixing Zisha (boccaro) wares from Jiangsu Province, and white Zhangzhou wares from Fujian Province. In the north, two important mass-produced wares were Fahua pottery from Shaanxi Province and Cizhou Kiln porcelain from Hebei Province.

Blue-and-White Handled Porcelain Pot with Phoenix-amid-Flowers Design, Yuan Dynasty
Height: 23.5cm
Mouth diameter: 4.7cm
Foot diameter: 7.3cm
Belly diameter: 13cm
Straight mouth, increasingly wider from the mouth down, thick neck, sagging belly, tapering off down sloping down from the lower belly, slightly splayed loop leg. There's a long curved spout that is thin on top and thick at the bottom on one side of the belly, and a ruyi-shaped handle with a small knob on top on the opposite side. The cover is flat-toped and has a knob shaped like a round bead. The bottom of the pot is white-glazed, bearing no date mark. The spout is decorated with flames and cloud, and the handle is decorated with such patterns as silver ingots and precious hairpins etc. And the cover is painted with chrysanthemum petal patterns. The body of the jar is decorated with blue and white patterns all over against the misty blue glaze background, with the patterns of phoenixes amid intertwining flowers painted on both sides of the belly and interspersed with fireball-shaped cloud and bamboos and rocks.   
The patterns on this pot are densely arranged, with the main-theme patterns standing out from all others. The arrangement is elaborate but not messy. The blue and white glaze penetrated deep into the base, bringing bright colors to the work. The pot is a rare work of pure colors of all blue-and-white porcelain articles handed down from the Yuan Dynasty.

Red-Underglazed Blue-and-White Handled Jar with Open-Carved Patterns, Yuan Dynasty
Height: 41cm
Mouth diameter: 15.5cm
Foot diameter: 18.5cm
Straight mouth, short neck, sloping shoulders, bulgy belly, loop leg, and unglazed sand bottom; The porcelain is thin on top and thick at the bottom and is fine in texture. The blue-and-white patterns are brightly colored, and the underglaze is slightly dark red. There's a cover with a lion-shaped knob on top of the jar.
The cover is stack-carved with a sitting lion-shaped knob on top, with three lines of blue-and-white lotus petals, curling grass, and labyrinth patterns around the surface below the knob. The body and the mouth edge of the jar are ringed with blue-and-white intertwining floral patterns and curling grass patterns respectively. The shoulders are decorated with hanging-down ruyi-shaped cloud patterns, in which blue-and-white lotus flowers on water waves are featured. There are intertwining peony patterns between every two cloud patterns. 
The belly is stack-carved with petal-edged paneled decorations in the shape of a diamond on four sides, with open-carved mountain rocks, peonies and other garden scenes of the four seasons inside the paneled decorations. The mountain rocks and flowers are applied with underglaze red, and the leaves are applied with blue and white. The patterns are created with a relief sculpture feel. The lower belly is decorated with blue-and-white intertwining lotus patterns in corresponding places with the cloud patterns on the shoulders. The area below the belly is adorned with curling grass patterns and variant lotus petal patterns, with downward-facing treasure flowers inside the lotus petal patterns.
The jar is full-bodied and adorned with patterns in clear layers. The making of this jar involves various techniques like painting, open-carving, sculpturing and sticking etc. The blue-and-white color and the red underglaze contrast nicely with each other, shining with the luster of red and blue.

Cobalt Blue-Glazed Plum Vase, Jiajing Period, Ming Dynasty
Height: 27.4cm
Mouth diameter: 3.8cm
Foot diameter: 8.6cm
Small mouth, short neck, broad shoulders, loop leg, increasingly wider from the shoulders to the belly, and tapering off from the belly down. The vase is fully applied with cobalt blue glaze in high temperature, with the area close to the bottom appearing purplish black due to thick accumulation of glaze. The inside of the loop leg is left unglazed.
The vase is simple and elegant in shape, covered with thick, even and sober glaze. The shiny vase is a masterpiece of cobalt blue-glazed porcelain ware of Jiajing Period in the Ming Dynasty.

Porcelain Bowl Painted with Enamel Peony Design against Yellow Background, Kangxi Period, Qing Dynasty
Height: 7.8cm
Mouth diameter: 15cm
Foot diameter: 6cm
Wide mouth, flared edge, gradually contracted from the edge to the slightly full belly, loop leg. The inside of the bowl is unadorned and the outside is applied with yellow as a background, against which blooming peonies, intertwining leaves and branches are pained in a riot of colors—red, blue, green, pink and pale pinkish purple etc. The bottom bears the date mark of four regular-script characters "Kangxi Yuzhi" (commissioned by Emperor Kangxi) in two lines inside a blue square.
The bowl, characterized by its elegant shape, rigorous painting, bright colors and superb craftsmanship, is a masterpiece of porcelain ware with enamel decoration in Kangxi Period.

Famille Rose Porcelain Vase with Peony Design, Yongzheng Period, Qing Dynasty
Height: 27.5cm
Mouth diameter: 6.3cm
Foot diameter: 8.6cm
Dish-like mouth, long and thin neck, long and round belly, splayed out from the belly down, loop leg. The vase is painted with peonies in a palette of colors—pink, tangerine, jadeite green, grass green and brown. The outside bottom bears the six-character blue date mark "Daqing Yongzheng Nian Zhi" (Yongzheng Period, the Great Qing Dynasty) in regular script in two lines. 
The vase is in perfect proportion, with smooth couture lines, well-arranged painting, sober colors and elaborate depicting of each and every petal and leaf, giving a lifelike feel. The vase is nothing short of a masterpiece of famille rose porcelain ware of Yongzheng Period.

Lotus Leaf-Shaped Famille Rose Porcelain Citron Plate, Qianlong Period, Qing Dynasty
Height: 3.8cm
Length: 15.7cm
Width: 10.5cm
The plate is shaped like a lotus leaf, which is partly folded and the stalk is twisted onto the leaf through branches from the reverse side. The edge of the leaf is stuck with lotus flowers in bud and seedpods with movable seeds. And there are legs shaped like river snails and water chestnuts stuck to the bottom, which bears the four-character blue date mark "Qianlong Nian Zhi" (Qianlong Period) in seal script.
What's known as "citron plate" is a small fruit tray placed in an ancient study for holding yellow citrons or fingered citrons, and the sweet smell of the fruit adds a lot of elegant taste to the study. This citron plate is exactly modeled after real items in the nature world in terms of its shape and glaze colors. The plate with lifelike colors and texture fully reflects the high skills of porcelain shaping and firing in the Qing Dynasty.

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Cizhou Kiln Productions

Octagonal porcelain pillow

Song Dynasty
Height: 12cm
Length of the pillow top: 32cm, width: 23cm
Length of the bottom: 31cm, width: 21.5cm
Octagonal, both the top and the bottom having a rim, eight bamboo-node-shaped arrises at the pillar wall, a blowhole at the pillow back, unadorned background without glaze. On the pillow top a plucked peony flower is painted with black pigment against the white background, and the vein of the petal and leaves is also painted. Frames in black pigment are delineated at the border of the pillow top.
The pillow adorned with bamboo nodes was typical of porcelain produced in Cizhou Kiln in the Song Dynasty. The painting on the top is delicate and lifelike; the pillow is a high-grade product of the Cizhou Kiln.

Porcelain pillow with children playing pattern

Song Dynasty
Height: 10.4cm
Length: 29.9cm
Width: 22.5cm
The pillow is in round waist shape, the top being lower in the front and higher at the back. White glazed, the top and side are decorated with kids playing pattern in black pigment. The border of the pillow top is sketched with ruyi-shaped pattern and double raised lines, between which four groups of curled branch patterns are decorated. The side is adorned with simple flower and grass pattern. The theme pattern on the pillow is precisely sketched, delineating two kids playing together. A bird is perching on the head of one kid, who is surprised; the other kid seems quite exciting, and is about to catch the bird.
Though just a few sketches, the picture on the pillow is vivid and lifelike.

Porcelain pillow with bamboo pattern

Song Dynasty
Height: 10.5cm
Length: 28.3cm
Width: 19.8cm
The pillow is long polygonal shaped, with eight sides, and both the top and the bottom have a rim. Both the top and the eight side walls are adorned with black patterns against the white background: the top a grove of bamboos, and the side walls curly grass pattern.
Outline drawing is applied to the pattern on the pillow. The strokes are natural and smooth which vividly presents the straightness and flexibility of the bamboo grove, giving off the effect of traditional Chinese ink paintings. The bottom of the pillow is inscribed with the mark "zhang jia zao" (presumably the maker surnamed Zhang).

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Cizhou Kiln

The main Cizhou kiln 磁州窑 , located at Guantaizhen in Handan of North China's Hebei Province (at that time under the Cizhou Administration), was an important kiln in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), and a representative of the civil kilns. Cizhou porcelain was a type of ordinary household ware manufactured in the region of Cizhou, hence the ware's name.

 

Archaeological investigations locate the Cizhou kilns over a large area -- far beyond the confines of Cizhou in the Song Dynasty. Production flourished most in southern Hebei Province and northern and central Henan Province (Central China), which included the areas of Handan, Pengcheng, Cixian, Yuxian, Xiuwu, Hebiji, Lushan, Baofeng, Dengfeng, Mixian, and Tangyin on the Central Plains. Shanxi (North China), Shaanxi (Northwest), and Shandong (East) provinces also produced this porcelain ware.
Cizhou porcelain came in many glaze colors: white, black, yellow, brown, and green as well as a blended glaze.

 

Cizhou's most outstanding achievement was applying the traditional Chinese art of painting to porcelain, with the painted decoration on white glaze being mostly black or brown, or black on green or yellow glaze. There were also incised, engraved, carved, and embossed designs on white glaze, all showing proficient skills.
Cizhou motifs were fish, aquatic weeds, flowers, birds, galloping deer, frolicking rabbits, dragons, phoenixes, vases with carved designs of flowers on a body with pearl-like dots, acrobats, legends, and poems and essays.
One example is a white-glazed jar with carved designs (Picture 2) . The paste surface is coated with refined white clay, while paintings of entwining peonies cover the jar body.

 

When potters created this jar centuries ago, they removed the white clay from the jar, except for the flower designs, exposing the grayish brown paste. After finishing the product, potters covered the whole piece with a light vitreous (glasslike) glaze, the designs showing in relief. Originally, the flowers were pure white and vivid and the background was brown, presenting a strong contrast in color. The style of painting was bold and unrestrained, striving to capture the theme, while a few strokes brought the motif to life.
A covered jar of white glaze with black designs, a vase of white glaze with a carved design of twin tigers, and a white-glazed headrest with a lion in black show strong color contrast and original composition. These and the masterpieces mentioned in the previous two paragraphs exemplify the historical decorative art of Cizhou ware.

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YaoZhou Kiln Productions

Celadon bowl engraved with child playing pattern

Song Dynasty
Height: 8.5 cm
Mouth diameter: 20.8 cm
Foot diameter: 4.8 cm
The bowl features an open mouth, thick lip and ring foot. Both its inner and outer surfaces are applied with celadon glaze. Its inner surface is engraved with an adorable chubby kid playing among three lotuses. The baby wears a bracelet around each of his wrists.
The bowl is noted for its exquisite engraving and vivid picture. In the late Northern Song Dynasty, playing kids served as the major decorative subjects of Yaozhou Kiln. Other examples include two kids swinging, four kids playing with lotuses, etc.

Celadon bowl engraved with a duck swimming in the sea

Song Dynasty
Height: 7.4 cm
Mouth diameter: 17.8 cm
Foot diameter: 4.9 cm
The open-top bowl is composed of six-petal shaped belly and a ring foot. Sea water traces are engraved on the inner surface and a swimming duck in the center of the bowl. No engravings are done on the outer surface. The whole body is applied with celadon glaze, whose color is dark and close to yellow.
With an exquisite design and clear patterns displayed by the vivid picture of a swimming duck in the calm sea, the bowl is a typical example of Yaozhou Kiln.

Bowl with decals

Song Dynasty
Height: 5.1 cm
Mouth diameter: 13.2 cm
Foot diameter: 4.1 cm
The bowl features an open top, big arc angle of the surface and a round foot. Both its inner and outer surfaces are applied with greenish yellow glaze. There is a decal of a chrysanthemum in the center of the bowl and the petals stretch like radioactive rays on both inner and outer surfaces.
Chrysanthemums and other flowers constitute the common decorative subjects of Yaozhou Kiln. The uniqueness of this bowl lies in the fact that it successfully combines the abstract petals with the vivid flower by adopting trenchant cutting skills. The simple and clear picture brings to people the flavor of nature.

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YaoZhou Kiln

The original Yaozhou Kiln 耀州窑 is located in Yaozhou, which is present-day Huangbaozhen in Tongchuan of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Yaozhou ware was another major school of porcelain in northern China during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
Exhaustive studies show that Huangbaozhen was an important porcelain-making site established in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Its development continued till the reign of Jingkang (1126-1127) in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), before gradually declining afterwards. However, the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) still saw the manufacture of Yaozhou ware.

 

The porcelain school of Yaozhou ware spread over a wide area, extending east beyond Shaanxi Province to influence the Ruzhou celadon school in Central China's Henan Province; while in the west it spread to Xunyi on the border between Shaanxi and Gansu (Northwest China) provinces. The Xunyi kiln, discovered in May 1977, produced celadon ware of the Yaozhou School.
The celebrated Song poet Lu You said in the second volume of his Notes in an Old Scholar's Studio that Yaozhou celadon was similar to "Mi Se" ("secret color") porcelain of the Yuezhou kiln in East China's Zhejiang Province. It was durable and widely used by the populace.

 

Qing Yi Lu , a work dealing with miscellaneous subjects, admires the concise and simple shape of a shallow bowl with a flat bottom devised by Yaozhou potters. The bowl was called "little seagull," illustrating the popularity of porcelain vessels manufactured in Yaozhou kilns.
In its early stage, Yaozhou ware of the Northern Song Dynasty had a rather coarse body and glaze and the vessels were mainly trumpet-shaped bowls. Teapots with a handle and short spout were externally decorated with some roughly incised lotus petals and peonies. Few had impressed (imprinted) designs.
In the middle period most porcelain vessels had thin bodies and were evenly glazed. Fired at high temperatures, they were durable. There was greater variety in shapes-bowls, plates, dishes, jars, saucers, boxes, censers, wine cups and lamps. One type of decoration consisted of bold, attractive motifs of flowers, human figures, and animals engraved in incisive strokes.

 

Impressed designs were also very popular during the middle period, and those covering the entire vessel inside and out were exquisite. Designs included flowers and grasses, fish, ducks, dragons, phoenixes, ocean waves, and floating clouds. The patterns of interlocking blossoms and plucked sprays of flowers were widely used, the best being peonies, chrysanthemums, and lotus flowers.
The vessels with still thinner bodies of the later period were prettier than those of the middle period. The designs were impressed, mostly at the bottom inside the bowls and plates; the finer ones depicted a phoenix gently touching peonies or a flock of cranes and children at play. The decorative art of Yaozhou ware was very influential in the development of Song arts and crafts.
Yaozhou kilns produced on a large scale. The kiln site of Huangbaozhen alone extended for five kilometers. According to archaeologists' measurements the kiln furnaces were generally 3.36 to 4 meters high and 2.16 meters long by 3.36 meters wide.
Unearthed from a Yaozhou kiln site were porcelain vessels decorated with dragon and phoenix motifs, showing mixed production of the simple, coarse vessels used by ordinary people, and a number of exquisite porcelain objects for the royal family.

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ChangSha Kiln Productions

Brown-glazed jar with decals and double handles

Tang Dynasty
Height: 19.2 cm
Mouth diameter: 12.6 cm
Foot diameter 14.2 cm
Open mouth, straight neck, broad shoulder, round belly contracted downward, flat bottom. The base takes on grayish white color. Yellow brown glaze is applied to the original hoar body except for the bottom and the area close to the bottom. There are two square ears and four decals on the shoulder of the jar. The bottom and the part close to the bottom are unadorned and without glaze.
In the Tang Dynasty, porcelain wares produced in Changsha Kiln were mainly for daily use, among which, jars of various kinds were the most popular. They featured simple design and delicate changes. Porcelain wares in Changsha Kiln sold well not only in China but also in many foreign countries at that time.

White-glazed green colored pillow

Tang Dynasty
Height: 9.5 cm
Length: 16.5 cm
Width: 10 cm
The pillow is rectangle with round corners. There is a hole on one side of the pillow. With the top in white glaze, the pillow features a large rhombic pattern composed of four smaller rhombic flower patterns painted in green color in the center and smaller flower patterns round the four corners. There are small crackles on the glaze. The bottom of the pillow is not glazed.
Small and exquisite, it is a typical porcelain pillow of the Tang Dynasty. The simple painting style displayed by simple pictures bears intense charm and beauty.

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ChangSha Kiln

The Changsha Kiln 长沙窑 was first established in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and its site was found in the town of Tongguan in the suburb of Changsha in Central China's Hunan Province , hence its other name of the Tongguan Kiln 铜官窑.

The kiln prospered at the junction of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties (907-960), before gradually declining after the Five Dynasties. The products of the kiln were mainly common house wares like pots and jars. The most prominent achievement of the Changsha Kiln was its invention of underglaze painting technology, which exerted tremendous influences upon the underglaze decoration technologies succeeding it.

The distinctive artistic feature of the Changsha Kiln at that time was its products being the first to incorporate traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy as decorations.

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How to brew KungFu tea

You are probably most familiar with the Chinese words Kung Fu as referring to the martial arts. This however, is by association and these words actually have other meanings in Chinese. Kung Fu actually refers to hard work, labor, and dedication toward any task or any goal. Kung Fu Cha (Cha means tea) is the Chinese tea brewing process that incorporates all these meanings. Here's how to indulge in the beauty and warmth of Kung Fu tea in the comfort of your own home.

Steps
Appreciate the tradition. In the Chinese traditional tea culture, Kung Fu tea has a certain etiquette that goes along with it, a procedure that drinkers follow. Each different place adds various details. Study the various ways in which Kung Fu tea is served and enjoyed, and eventually you will develop your own unique way.

Get a tea set: This will include a tea tray (hollow tray with a container inside which can contain all the water that will be spilled during the process), teapot, fair cup (a separate tea vessel), tasting cups, and aroma cups (sniffer cups). Prepare the tea leaves in advance, so that they are ready to be placed in the pot as soon as it has been warmed. A tea caddy, or “tea presentation vessel," is recommended for this purpose, as is a proper set of tea tools. Approximately one to two teaspoons of leaves is a good quantity to begin with and is easily adjusted to taste after the initial infusion. Keep in mind that due to the many variations of tea processing, some leaves are a lot more compact than others. For instance: in terms of volume of leaves, you will need less Tieguanyin than Yan Cha or Formosa Oolong. 

Tea leaves

Rinse all vessels with hot water. This signifies that the ritual of tea making has begun by purifying the pot, cleaning it of dust and residue and making it ready to receive the tea. It also warms the vessels since the hot water is then poured into the serving pitcher and from there into the tasting cups. This is done because at room temperature ceramic teaware is usually quite cold and unsuited to brewing fine teas whose temperature must be carefully controlled. After rinsing, the water should be discarded into the draining tray or a waste water bowl.
Before infusion, pour hot water over the leaves and then quickly pour it off. This removes any dust from the leaves and begins to open them up—-releasing the tea’s aroma, which should be savored prior to infusion. This set prepares the palate to appreciate the full flavor of the tea.
Use pure or mineral water to brew the tea. Tap water should be avoided, since its chemical treatment imparts undesirable flavors and odors which interfere with the delicate aromatics of tea. (Home filters and other water purification systems can minimize and, in some cases, eliminate these problems.) The best water for tea brewing is spring water with a natural mineral content that’s neither too hard nor too soft. Since T.D.S., “total dissolved solids", or mineral content measured in parts per million, varies greatly from water to water, you may want to do your own taste-test of waters available in your area to determine which one has the best flavor, body and compatibility with the tea you drink.
Fill the pot to the top with hot water and cover. Pour water over the top of the pot, drawing the stream over the air hole until a little water comes out the spout. When this occurs, you know the pot is full and heated to the right temperature. 

Pour hot water over the teapot

Pour the water into the fair cup to heat it. A fair cup allows the tea to be poured from the teapot into a holding vessel. Sometimes these fair cups use a filter to trap unwanted tea particles that may have passed on from the teapot. 

Teapot

 

 

Add tea leaves and let steep.
Oolong Tea: For light oolongs, such as Bao Zhong & Imperial Green, use 70°-80°C (158°-176°F) water and an infusion time of 3 to 5 minutes. For darker styles, including Tieguanyin & Yan Cha—between 80° and 90°C (176-194°F) again steeping 3 to 5 minutes.
Black Tea: You will probably find that water between 85° and 95°C (185°-203°F) and a three minute infusion works best for black tea. You may want to experiment with lower temperatures and longer steeping times.
Puerh Tea: Use water that’s just come to a boil and infuse 3-5 minutes.
When the leaves have infused their essence, pour the tea out into the pitcher (fair cup). This intermediate step between the teapot and the individual cups allows the tea to be mixed while pouring (the first tea coming out of the teapot will be less strong than the one on the bottom of the teapot). Moreover, it allows to precisely adjust the brewing time in the teapot (all the tea comes out quickly, instead of being slowly poured in the individual cups).
From the fair cup, distribute the tea in the aroma cups, keeping the pitcher close to the cups and pouring slowly. This reduces the movement of the tea, maintaining its temperature.
After the aroma cups are filled, position one tasting cup, upside down, over each aroma cup. After tasting cups are positioned, take each cup pair and quickly flip it: this is a very delicate step since the cups are becoming hot on the outside. Notice that the tea will not spill out because no air can enter the aroma cups. After this is done, each guest will simply lift the aroma cup from the tasting one.
Another option to this step is to give each guest the aroma cup and separately the tasting cup. The guests will then simply pour the tea from aroma to tasting cups and proceed by smelling in the same manner. 

Aroma cups

At this point, the aroma cup can be brought near the nose to receive the fragrance of the tea by inhaling the steam. 

After smelling, drink the tea from the tasting cups. Drink by taking small sips that allow to fully enjoy the taste, aromas and qualities of the tea.
A good green tea will allow up to four or five brews. Add water to the teapot and start again from point 10 to your will.

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Drinking Gongfu Tea: A Chinese Custom In East Guangdong And South Fujian

It is a Chinese custom to treat guests with tea. However, people in east Guangdong and south Fujian have a special way of preparing tea, called gongfu tea.

The tea sets for making gongfu tea are very small. The teapot is as big as a fist and the white and transparent teacups are as small as tiny liqueur glasses. In addition they use a small charcoal stove, a small water kettle and a porcelain base for holding the tea set.
 Spring or well water is the best for making gongfu tea. Water is boiled with olive stones, which give out high flames and the delicate fragrance of olives. Before making tea, first the teapot is cleaned with boiled water to get rid of the remaining tea flavor in the pot and to warm the teapot. Then a big handful of tea leaves is put into the teapot.
After the water is boiled,  the kettle is lifted high to pour hot water into the teapot. The water is continually poured even when it overflows, so as to get rid of impure materials and foam, and to make mellow tea. After the lid is put on the teapot, boiling water is poured onto the teapot. This will cause the tea leaves to unfurl.
 A few minutes later, the tea can be poured into the cups, which are arranged in a circle.  It is poured with a circular motion into each cup. In this way, the color and consistency of the tea in all the cups are the same. To avoid creating foam and scattering the fragrance of tea, the teapot should be held close to the teacups. When the tea is ready, the teacups are presented to guests and elders with both hands.
It is mentally refreshing to see the yellow and limpid tea and smell its delicate fragrance. The first sip seems slightly bitter, but a while later, the sweetness of the tea can be savored.
Wulong (black dragon) tea is the best variety for making gongfu tea. Half fermented, Wulong tea is as mellow as black tea and as refreshing and sweet as green tea, complete with lingering after taste. According to research, Wulong tea helps prevent and cure illnesses, prolong life and prevent arteriosclerosis and cancer.

Guangdong's Wulong tea comes from Anxi in Fujian Province. Legend has it that the first cultivator of the tea was named Wu Liang.
One day, Wu Liang went home after he had picked several pounds of mountain tea and caught a river deer. In the evening, he was busy with killing the river deer, and didn't have enough time to dry the green tea. The next day, he found the tea in the basket had fermented on the way back and after having been stored in the basket the whole night. He fried the tea at once. To his surprise, he found that the tea tasted very mellow, with no bitter and astringent taste. Soon Wu Liang taught his fellow villagers how to make the tea. Almost everyone in his village liked the fermented tea and they named it Wu Liang tea. In the south Fujian dialect, liang and long are two homophonic words. As time went by the tea was called Wulong tea by later generations.

By Explore Cultural China