Workshops and Projects » kung fu cha dao new perspectives on chinese tea culture » Tea Spaces Traditional

Initial Position

As drinking tea is a bigger part of Taiwanese culture, encountering spaces where tea is being served is a lot easier than in Germany. Different consumer requirements are covered through a wide variety of spaces which make the consumption of tea common in daily. After collecting and categorising research questions we narrowed down the subjects to develop a starting-position with two main research questions for Taiwan.

INITIAL QUESTIONS:
What variety of TEA SPACES exists and what is the room and product range for immediate consumption?
What are the motives for people visiting Tea Spaces for Tea consumption?

There are several activities surrounding tea drinking, such as how people interact in various situations and how modern influences affect the meaning of traditional custom. At this point two main categories emerged which divided the places of action for the further research process in the perception of traditional types of tea houses and modern appearances of take away stores. Drinking tea in Taiwan is no longer just a part of the traditional „Cha Dao“ ceremony but also the easily accessible „to go“ store for immediate consumption.

Desk Research

Based on the formulated main guiding questions a research plan was set up which focused on physical.- product.- and social dimensions of tea spaces.
In order to structure the desk research and to prepare for the field work we clarified useful methods to deep dive into important headlines such as TIME, SPACE- and SOCIAL INTERACTION.

Field Research

Research I – Explore Broad:

Methods:

• field observation
• photo observation
• observation sheets (physical, social, product)

For our first research in Taiwan we decided to go out, find and analyse different places where tea is purchased for immediate consumption. Therefore the Taiwanese students in the group created a map with several tea houses, restaurants and take away tea shops that seemed to be interesting, based on their own experience and desk research. Questions to be answered in the text which emerged by the observations:

• How and where is the information in tea spaces represented/displayed/communicated – relating to price, quality and origen and tea product range?
• Which are the most important and obvious micro events during the preparation and consumption within a single tea space experience?
• Is the social aspect the strongest criteria for tea consumption within a place?

The team prepared three different observation sheets upfront, in order to document the diverse aspects we would observe to answer our research questions.

• Physical observation sheet: to collect basic facts about the location like size, light, noise or a special setting.
• Product and information sheet: to document how information for the customer is communicated (signs, menu, host..) as well as the different products that are offered and in what way.
• Social observation sheet: for the social interaction and the different side activities going on.

We then split up into three equal groups to visit four to five of the locations we selected, trying to give every group a variety from street store to tea house. After the observations the whole group gathered and visualized the information in one big overview to find similarities and and special features.

Transformation

Conclusion I – Explore Broad:

Through the first exploration we were able to gain an overview of the existing tea space models and the habits of the local population. We identified three main categories: take away, traditional and modern combined tea spaces. Through analysing and comparing our data together with the Taiwanese students, insights were found that enable us to narrow down the topic and will be the groundwork for more detailed exploration.

Furthermore we noticed that, compared to other places, only few young people go to traditional tea houses. Concerning the question „What are the motives for people visiting tea spaces for tea consumption?“ we decided to focus on this observation and analyse its reasons, which means that we had to transform the question to „Why do people not go to traditional tea houses?“.

Research II – Explore Deep:

Methods:

• interview sheet

Therefore we created an interview sheet with the following questions to take a closer look.

1. How often do you drink traditional tea?
2. What do you know  about „Cha Dao“ (traditional tea ceremony)?
3. Focus on „Cha Dao“ within questioning:

• time (to spend doing cha dao, why spend time)
• surrounding (modern interior, anywhere else)
• tea (any alternatives, costs)
• host (being involved in the process, importance of host)
• ceremony (change process or equipment)

Conclusion II – Explore Deep:

After the evaluation we found out that young people often do have a limited knowledge of the product and the traditional „Cha Dao“, which means that it is rather a problem of knowledge than motivation. Furthermore we analyzed that people would prefer a moderised location and are interested in being involved in the process of preparation. In addition it is not important to have a host rather to experience it. This analysation signifies two main problems, concerning the choice of tea and the tea preperation.