I take the glass out of the fridge and sip on the dark, ice-cold liquid. The coldness is a comfort in this fast-tracked summer. And the flavour is transportational. It takes me back to Japan and my first brush with Asia; a school exchange aged 18. Specifically, it takes me to those affordable restaurants where this drink is default. At first, Japan’s ice cold oolong tea (乌龙茶) appealed to me only because it was wet and plentiful. The humid heat of Osaka was a shock to the system. Ice cold anything would...

“It’s just like sending gifts to myself!” It’s often said that the charm of Taobao is in the 4-day-long narrative it establishes. You order the products distractedly on your phone, return your full attention to work or family… and then, just when you have forgotten all about it, there’s a surprise knock at the door! Well, I guess I’m too materialistic for any of that forgetting. The childish excitement of Christmas Eve still dances in me for all 4 days. There’s also the nagging awareness that I may need to send...

“Thank you for your tea.” “I just tried it.” “It has a very good taste and smell.” As a proper tea nut, this is the kind of WeChat message I’m used to sending and receiving.  But this was odd. I hadn’t given any tea to my colleague’s girlfriend. So her message made no sense. Then I remembered. Yes, I had given them some curry leaves earlier in the week.  With the huge minimum order of curry leaves purchasable on Taobao, I had given half to the only other person I know nearby who loves Indian...

Strainer is a Nanjing column. It is no accident that a tea enthusiast would choose the southern part of Jiangsu as a place to drink tea. Ours is a fine tea-growing and tea-consuming region, to say nothing of the tea-pot-making tradition in Jiangsu. But this month finds Strainerʼs author back in Wales, the smallest of the nations in Great Britain. We all have to go home occasionally. Iʼm trying to fight jet lag by drinking from some appalling tea bag with a slice of fresh lemon. The best (Chinese,...