One of the most precious experiences on our trip (and we're sure
that all the
participants would agree) happened unannounced, as all great experiences
do. The surprise occurred after a long tea session in the old-growth tea
forest of
Jingmai, in which Ming Hui had just served a lovely old-growth tea from
that
very forest and everyone was basking in the open-hearted post-session joy,
walking around and hugging one another and the old tea trees. It was, after
all, our
last visit to the forest before heading back to the city the next morning.
Wandering around, we found a beautiful aboriginal woman pruning her tea
trees in a
distracted way, as though she was waiting for someone or something, which
she
was. All of a sudden, from up the trail, her husband came bounding into
view,
wearing a green rain-suit that covered his entire body and carrying a
matching
green plastic bucket. As he approached, we realized that he was dressed in
this
way because he had just been harvesting wild honey! He offered us all some,
saying that since the entire forest was tea trees, this honey was made
almost exclusively from the pollen of tea trees! Tea honey! Really?! The
honey was still warm
and in the comb. We all chewed it up, licking it off our fingers. It was
beyond a
doubt the best honey any of us had ever had! Dave put some in his mouth,
his
eyes lit up and he said, "I think this is going to get me high!" Sure
enough, everyone was full of boundless joy and smiles of delight for the
rest of the day. Is there
anything better than tea honey?
