World of Chinese Culture

World of Chinese CultureAlan Horowitz ( 美籍猶太裔語言學者 )

Ten years ago, having walked and hitched through Japan and enjoyed the serenity of its mountains and forests and its many temples and gardens, I arrived, by ship, in Keelung. From there I boarded a bus and was soon in Taipei, and in shock!
Crossing the street was a daunting, frightful experience. I had lived and traveled in over 60 countries, but was new to Asia. Taipei’s crowded hectic pace was a nightmare.

A few days later I walked past a small lovely garden with fish swimming in a pond, oblivious to the din of buses and cars on the street. Peeking into the garden and inside the door, I glimpsed another world, an oasis really. Here was serenity and an ambience at once creative and peaceful, with an exquisite feel for things as they should be.

It was, in short, a world of Chinese culture── the smell and taste of excellent tea and magnificent flower arrangements that one could gaze upon for hours. Chinese art adorned the walls and all was infused with a Taoist appreciation for art and for life. It was, in short, Wistaria Tea House.

I returned outside, into the “Red Dust”, to a world gone crazy with the quest for the material, with a craving for things-anything-from the west, for fast-food restaurants and Japanese style “coffee shops”. But I felt better── I had found an oasis of Chinese culture.

Since that first encounter, I have been honored and privileged to pass many hours sitting in Wistaria Tea House. I have learned the Chinese art of tea, sat with friends, met new friends, read book and written letters, listened to music and gazed at the garden, and sometimes I have just sat── doing nothing and yet feeling everything.

On numerous occasions I have brought my classes from the university to sit at Wistaria Tea House. Our discussions, at once more relaxed and more animated, have been greatly influenced by the unique and heavenly atmosphere which pervades the Tea House.

I can easily admit that my long sojourn at Wistaria Tea House has been the pinnacle of my time in Taipei.