A quiet teahouse for slow stories

Tea Across Borders invites you into conversations that steep slowly—
a quiet place for stories of people, places, and traditions that connect us across borders and time.
Not a destination for quick answers, but a place to pause, listen, and let understanding unfold naturally.
This isn't about consuming content—
it's about sharing the journey of cultural bridge-building, one story at a time.
Here I share reflections from tea sessions, field notes from my travels, and gentle guides for those seeking stillness through steeping.

Pull up a seat at the tea table.

This is where I share what doesn't always make it into public posts—deeper reflections, notes from the field, quiet moments of doubt and discovery, and the messy beauty of learning in public.
If you believe in slow storytelling and want to help sustain this work, your presence means the world.

Join the Quiet Conversation

Stories Still Steeping

Each story begins with a moment—steam rising from an unfamiliar cup, hands shaping clay, or silence shared across languages. These are the tales that asked to be remembered.

Brave Chicken, Take Two

June 14, 2025

After years away from this path, I return not as someone who's mastered cultural research, but as someone willing to listen to the stories behind each tea and do my share of work in recovering the tea world. Sometimes the bravest thing is admitting that you don't have all the qualifications but nonetheless taking actions to cross step by step—supporting communities through storytelling rather than claiming cultural authority.

After years away, I return not as someone who's mastered cultural research, but willing to listen and do my share.

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Tea After Tea

June 14, 2025

The story of how drinking tea every morning in my Kunming apartment became my education in slowing down and really listening. What I initially experienced as generous hospitality, I now recognize as a lesson in cultural learning. Each extended session revealed layers that hurried tasting would have missed, teaching me the difference between consuming tea and allowing tea to teach.

My Kunming apartment mornings became education in slowing down and really listening to what tea wanted to teach.

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Soft Hands, Hard Lessons

June 14, 2025

In Uncle Li's place, I learned that earning the right to witness cultural knowledge requires more than curiosity—it demands preparation, humility, and hands willing to fail safely. What began as business accompaniment became my first lesson in "capturing the value the time gives", teaching me the difference between cultural tourism and authentic learning through patient attention to what time wants to give us.

In Uncle Li's home, I learned that witnessing cultural knowledge requires preparation, humility, and hands willing to fail safely.

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