Gong Fu Cha, The way of Chinese tea!

Hi! Today I’ll be introducing the Gong Fu Cha and Gaiwan! 

In my blog about my tea classes I already showed the Gong Fu Cha I have. But I decided I wanted to write a blog about how to use it. 
I am by no means an expert on the use of the Gong Fu Cha and the Gaiwan, but I wanted to show my way of using it. The Gong Fu Cha was the subject of my last tea class, but I will be writing about my lesson in another blog.

For now, I will tell you about the Gong Fu Cha and the Gaiwan!

I've actually looked up quite some Youtube video's about using the Gong Fu Cha. I noticed there is actually not one way to use the Gong Fu Cha, but there are many ways. Not one seems to be the same. In the basics the steps are the same, but some of the video's had more steps or followed the steps a little differently. 

Gong Fu Cha
The Gong Fu Cha originates in China and is frequently used for drinking a lovely cup of tea! The cups, Gaiwan and teapots are small, so you’ll be drinking many small portions of tea! I’ve really come to enjoy these small cups of tea because it lets you enjoy the tea to its fullest. It is also perfect for tasting tea, because you can easily steep small portions of tea and taste them.

The tools of the Gong Fu Cha exists of the following:

The Gaiwan: This one is only 120ML! It’s small, and easy to handle. While it’s easy to handle because it’s small in diameter, it’s hard to handle as well because it can get really hot! I’ve burned my fingers multiple times already… Because I haven’t got enough experience with it I burn my fingers. But I’m sure there’ll come a time when I won’t burn my fingers anymore. I’ll be happily awaiting that time! I’ve also got this white Gaiwan at home. It’s 150ML so this Gaiwan is actually a little bit bigger. That also makes it harder to handle because its diameter is a bit bigger. It’s not much bigger, but just enough so that for me it is not as easy to hold. Since this Gaiwan is made from porcelain, it also seems to become way hotter than the grey Gaiwan! But that also might be my imagination.

Next, in the picture on the left, is the Cha Hai, a little teapot in which you pour the tea from the Gaiwan. This one is also 120ML. You can choose to pour the tea directly from the Gaiwan into the cups, but I pour the tea into the Cha Hai first. From there I pour the tea into the cups.

The Gong Fu Cha also comes with a Yixing teapot. 

I honestly didn’t know what to do with it, except make tea in it. Luckily during my study we learned about China and the Gong Fu Cha. 

I found out that instead of the Gaiwan, the Yixing teapot is used for making Pu Ehr and Oolong teas. Normally, the Yixing teapot is made of special clay that comes from the Jiangsu province in China. Teapots made of that clay can be very expensive. The Yixing teapot that’s part of my Gong Fu Cha isn’t made of that special clay. But, I can still use it to make Pu Ehr and Oolong. So far I’ve never made Pu Ehr or Oolong using the Gong Fu Cha, so I’ve never used the Yixing teapot.

Next up are the two cups! There are two cups, a tall cup and a low cup. I use both of them, but I never drink out of the tall cup. When I pour tea the first time, I pour it into the tall cup. 

The tall cup is used so you can smell the aromas of the tea. The aromas of the tea are very different when you smell or taste them. After taking in the aromas through the nose, you can taste the tea. Drinking the tea should be done with a lot of air, so slurping loudly is allowed! I usually drink my tea in two or three sips. I’ve read that there are ways to drink the tea ‘accordingly’ by taking a small sip, a bigger sip and then a last small sip. But I often slurp the tea in the amount of sips I feel like taking.

Then, there is the filter which can be used to pour the tea through. It’s not necessary to use the filter, but when you use a tea that has a lot of tea dust or fannings (small bits of tea leaves), it might be nice to use the filter. I always use it, unless I prepare whole leave tea. I think it looks quite cool, with the hand holding the filter hehe!

Next are the tea tools. I’ve got no clue whatsoever about how to use them. I know how to use the third one from the top; it’s used to scoop tea from its canister into the Gaiwan or Yixing teapot. I use the fourth one as I wash the cups, so I don't burn my fingers. I’m not quite sure how to use the rest of them, so if anyone has an idea, please feel free to tell me. 

Then there is the wooden tray on which the tea can be prepared and poured, without having to worry about spilling. The tray has a plastic drawer in which the spilled water and tea will be caught. Lastly the Gong Fu Cha has little statues which have different meanings. I have a frog who changes color and two little boys who seem to be peeing when you pour water on them. The exact of the peeing boys is not clear to me, but I know the frog stands for material luck.

Using the Gong Fu Cha

The Gong Fu Cha is, in my opinion, very fun to use. It allows one the really take the time to taste the tea. Of course, there are some inconveniences with using the Gong Fu Cha. First of all, when you are done with using the Gong Fu Cha, it takes some time to clean up again. Secondly, if you don’t remember to empty the water basin under the tray, it will overflow. It actually happened to me a few times already.. Thirdly, if you use the Gong Fu Cha to drink small cups of tea while for example; read or write (in my case the blog) your tea will turn cold quite fast. These things do not take away the fun of using the Gong Fu Cha though. I often enjoy a cup of tea with friends or my parents, using the Gong Fu Cha while explaining some things about the teas I have. For me, it is a good way to have a relaxing time with people who are close to me.

For now, I will explain the steps I take in using the Gong Fu Cha. Note that this may be different for others, since there are so many ways one can use the Gong Fu Cha. I always rearrange my Gong Fu Cha so that only the needed tools and the right amount of cups are present. I don't want to waste time with washing cups I don't use.

I've used two tall and two low cups, the Cha Hai, Gaiwan, the filter and the two peeing man and the frog. I've also prepared six small presentation bowls with different teas on them. 

Step one: Pouring hot water over the teacups, Gaiwan and teapots. I do this to wash my cups and tools, because it catches dust after a while of just standing around. In most of the Youtube video’s I saw the same thing, although it might be for different reasons as well. After the hot water is poured into the all the pots and cups that are being used later on, they can be emptied again into the tray. Some empty the tools into a container on the side, and wash the cups in there. Others empty the pots, but not the cups, using the cups to wash other cups in. Like shown on the photo. Some don’t wash the cups at all. How to do this differs per person I guess.


One of the Youtube videos showed that the cups can be washed by using your hands as well. But I figured I might as well use the tool. The cups are hot and I didn't feel like burning my fingers. One can do so from a hygienic point of view as well. After all, you wash the cups. Why touch them again with your hands.. 

Step two: Putting the tea into the Gaiwan. This is quite a necessary and obvious step if you ask me. Without tea leaves, you can’t prepare tea! Hehe. The amount of tea I use differs every time. I don’t measure it, unless I am doing my homework for the tea classes. In that case I need to be able to tell the water/tea ratio. Sometimes it turns out I’ve used to much tea and sometimes I used to little. With this step I use the long spoon to scoop tea from the canister into the Gaiwan. This way I keep the canister clean and I can control pretty well how much tea I put into the Gaiwan. Normally, for a pot of tea, I just shake the canister and see how much tea comes rolling out. But that might not be the brightest idea when using a Gaiwan.

Note: I've used a green tea for this picture, but as some of you might notice, the tea on the next pictures is not so green anymore! I've been making a lot of pictures, but sometimes I miss a step, so I need to borrow them from another tea session haha.

Step three: This one is optional. You can decide to wash your tea, or not. For me, it depends. Sometimes I wash the tea, sometimes I don't. If you do decide to wash the tea, put the tea in the Gaiwan and steep it very shortly with hot water. You pour the water on the tea and immediately empty the Gaiwan again. I sometimes pour tea into the cups to wash the cups as well instead of with the first step.

Step four: Steeping the tea. In this case it's mostly; do what you think is right! The temperature of the water, the steeping time, it's all according to your own taste. For me the Gong Fu Cha is a good way to taste tea, and try out different ways of steeping it. I'll just try whatever comes to mind! Sometimes the results are, shockingly nasty haha. If that happens, you are very happy when you've prepared a small amount of tea..

Step five: Pouring the tea! Now comes the tricky part. You really want to make sure you don't burn your fingers when using the Gaiwan. Make sure you have a good hold in it so you don't burn you fingers. It is important to empty the Gaiwan completely so no water is left with the tea leaves. If water is left behind, the tea will continue to steep and become bitter. So make sure to empty the Gaiwan in the cups or the little teapot (Cha Hai). Before pouring make sure you have decided to use the tall cups to smell as well, or only the low cups to taste. If you want to smell as well, pour the tea only in the tall cups! In this step you can decide to use the filter or not. For me, it depends on the tea I use. And, don't worry about spilling! It's part of the charm of the Gong Fu Cha. 

Step six: This step will only be done when the tea is poured into the tall cups to smell. When the tall cups are filled, you want to taste and smell the tea. Firstly, place the low cup upside down on the tall cup. Next, make sure you hold the tall cup and press the low cup like shown in the picture. It's kind of hard to explain in words hehe. If you have a good hold, turn the cups away from you in a smooth motion so that the low cup is now beneath the tall cup.

If you turn the cups towards you it might be difficult to so with the hold you have on the cups. Now you can lift the tall cup and the tea will flow into the low cup. Don't worry about spilling, the tall and low cup can hold the same amount of tea. You can use your tall cup to smell. Hold it under you nose and just smell! You will notice the smell and taste of the tea are quite different!

Step seven: Tasting the tea. After smelling the tea you can now taste it! As said before, it seems the 'correct' way is by taking a small sip, a bigger sip and then a small sip again. But I'm not sure if that is a 'golden' rule or not. To taste the tea you need to slurp and inhale a lot of air while taking a sip! But make sure you don't use to much air, you might get a coughing fit..

Step eight: Cleaning up the mess you made! This is the fun part. No ok, it's not, sorry. Make sure to clean up the Gong Fu Cha and dry it. It's a shame if the Gong Fu Cha gets damaged because it's not dried of well enough. This isn't really a step while using the Gong Fu Cha, but it is part of it haha! 

There we have it. That are the steps I usually take when using the Gong Fu Cha. At school they told us there are (apparently) 18 steps with using the Gong Fu Cha. But I've got to admit, I have no clue where all those steps come from. My little Youtube research didn't show me the 18 steps either, but I still have a long way to go before I explored the depths of Youtube. If you follow this link you will go to my Youtube Chanel so you can see my favorite Gong Fu Cha videos! Some videos are in Chinese, but by watching you can still understand what they are doing. 

Have fun, and if you have a Gong Fu Cha at home, please feel free to correct me where I'm wrong or miss information! I would also love to hear about your experience with the Gong Fu Cha, so leave a message! :)

Cheers! ~Liset.