British Afternoon Tea Culture 🍵

‘You are “my cup of tea”’! is a British phrase which means something or someone makes me pleasing. 

In York, Betty's Café Tea Room is one of the most famous tea rooms in the UK, and they have two stores which located in Helen’s Square and 46 Stonegate in city centre. 

About Betty's history, says the website, 'With beautiful interiors inspired by the Queen Mary ocean liner, it’s been making a splash since 1936.’

Betty's traditional English Tea 

They nowadays still follow the traditional way but serve more kinds of tea and coffee than before.

Interestingly, the founder—Frederick Belmont, is a Swiss confectioner, and who is Betty? It is still unknown.

In fact, tea culture has been popular for many centuries in the East and West world. In the past, tea is for the working class in the UK to be the evening meal and is typically eaten between 5 pm and 7 pm. For the upper social classes, they would call the midday meal—‘lunch’ or ‘luncheon’; and the evening meal (served after 7 pm)—‘dinner’ (if formal) or ‘supper’ (if informal).

Cream tea at Cotswolds tearoom

There is no doubt that drinking tea is one of the most fascinating cultural traditions in the UK. If you trace back to the British history, tea is very important so that the British Empire was intrigued to control the colony, such as India and Ceylon. The British Empire and Americans even fight for tea tax and finally, the US broke away with their counterpart, Indeed, the British people drink tea from breakfast to afternoon, tea drinking is definitely part of British lifestyle.

Whittard, Twinings or Yorkshire tea are popular brands in the UK, and if you want to enjoy tea time in the tearoom, it is better to learn the proper manner in which to drink tea, especially when you drink English Cream Tea. Should I put Jam on top first or cream first? This YouTube shows you how to drink it in a proper way (Cornish say 'put cream second' ). 

I do enjoy English cream tea in the Cotswolds and Brighton & Hove and now drink my high tea in Yorkshire. As the British say, it is something they are proud of! Come and Enjoy it!

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英國茶文化

‘You are “my cup of tea”’就是中文說的你是我的菜啦!

生活在約克，Betty’s是英國最有名的茶坊之一。他們的歷史如同他們的網站所描述:“成立於1936年以來,美麗的內部裝飾是受到瑪麗女王的遠洋航輪所啟發，它一直深受大家喜歡。”他們現在仍然遵循著傳統的方式，但比以前提供更多種類的茶和咖啡。有趣的是，創始人Frederick Belmont是瑞士糕點師傅，但誰是Betty？目前還不清楚。

事實上,茶文化在東方和西方世界已經流行了很多個世紀。在過去，茶是英國的工人階級的晚餐，通常在下午5點到晚上7點之間吃。對於上層的社會階層來說，他們會把午餐叫做“lunch’ 或 ‘luncheon’”。晚餐（下午7點後）稱為“dinner”（如果是正式的）或“supper”（如果是非正式的）。

毫無疑問地，喝茶是英國最迷人的文化傳統之一。如果你追溯到英國的歷史，茶是非常重要的，以致於促使大英帝國控制殖民地-如印度和錫蘭。大英帝國和美國人甚至為茶稅打戰，最後美國人擺脫了他們的對手了。的確，英國人從早餐到下午喝茶，喝茶絕對是英國生活方式的一部分。

Whittard, Twinings or Yorkshire tea 是英國有名的茶葉牌子,如果你想去茶室享用下午茶,最好學習喝茶的正確方法，特別是如何喝英式奶油茶。我應該先把果醬放在上面還是先把奶油放在上面呢？以下這個YouTube顯示你如何以適當的方式喝它。(Cornish人說奶油要第2個放,PS:參考其他資料是說可能是果醬在以前較貴,所以可以先放一些,再堆疊奶油).

我在Cotswolds和Hove享用了我的奶油茶，現在在York喝傳統英式下午茶。如同英國人說的,這是值得他們驕傲的事!來英國就喝一杯吧!

Happy New Year 2018!

Happy New Year 2018!🎊

I spent the last day of 2017 and the first day of 2018 in London, where held the incredibly beautiful firework displays to welcome 2018 and spectacular annual New Year's Day Parade to celebrate it.

As watching firework displays on site and standing so close to the shooter, when fireworks spew out to light up the dark sky, I was dazzled by these sparkling stars, then I suddenly felt that the spreading firework ash was hitting on my cheek.

I was not so panic to be burnt but felt that this is really something like ‘Your best life now’.

The next day—the first day of 2018, Google maps was saying some roads might be closed due to New Year's Day Parade running from Green Park through all the Central City. I definitely do not want to miss out such an event!

When I arrived on time around 12 pm, I was lucky enough to have a vantage point in Piccadilly Circus to take many colourful photos and really enjoy both these New Year events.

Have you made your New Year Resolutions? There will be many exciting events coming up in the following 365 days.

Taking one’s life to a higher level is never so easy, are you ready to set your goals, list down your events calendar, and give yourself a boost? 

Have a healthy and happy 2018! 

2018新年快樂！

我在倫敦度過2017年的最後1天和2018年的第1天，倫敦舉辦非常美麗的煙花展演來歡迎2018和壯觀的年度元旦遊行慶祝新年。

因為現場觀看煙火表演，而且站在距離射台很近的地方，當煙火噴出來照亮黑暗的天空時，我被這些閃閃發光的星星迷住了，然後我突然感覺到蔓延的煙花灰燼正打在我的臉頰上。我並不是很恐慌，反而覺得這真的是“活出美好”。

第2天 - 2018年的第一天，Google地圖說，由於從綠色公園出發的市中心城市元旦遊行,可能會封閉一些道路，我絕對不想錯過遊行，因為我正打算著要去威尼斯嘉年華。

當我在下午12點左右到達的時候，我很幸運地在皮卡迪利廣場有一個高據點位置，拍攝了許多精美的照片，很享受這兩個新年活動。

你有沒有立下你的新年志願了？未來365天將會有許多令人興奮的事件發生。

把自己的人生提升到一個新的水平從來就不是那麼容易，你準備好設定目標，列出你的事件日曆，並給自己一個提升了嗎？

2018年健康快樂！

⛄White X’mas

❅It is the X’mas season and it is snowing again this morning!

❅The sparkling snow is falling on the quiet forest all around, where the scenery reminds me of ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’.

❅When I walk into the Narnia-like perimeter, geese emerge from the woods and frozen lakes, tiny snowflakes drift down from the sky.

❅Unlike the plot of Narnia that the White Witch put a curse on everything and used ice to freeze living beings. Here, animal tracks are often more common than footprints.

 ❅And today, I left my tracks here.

❅白色聖誕節

這是聖誕季節，今天早上再次下雪！波光粼粼的雪花落在四周寧靜的森林裡，那裡的景色讓我想起了“納尼亞傳奇”。

當我走進納尼亞般的外圍時，鵝群從樹林和冰凍的湖泊中冒出來，小小的雪花從天而降。

與納尼亞的情節—白女巫對所有事物施加了詛咒，並用冰來凍結生物—不同的是，在這裡，動物的痕跡通常比腳印更常見。 而今天我把我的足跡留在這裡。

Merry Christmas!🎄

🎄As Christmas is approaching, York Christmas market is offering many gadgets for decorating the house.

🎄The high street is dotted with lights & boughs with different kinds of Christmas trees have been displayed in stores and the square.

🎄Festive chalets are selling delicious scents of the season, such as warm milled wine and sweets and gingerbread Man.

🎄Last week, I was in York Minster to listen the popular Christmas Carol. Through the music, people are blessed with the hope of a better year: less refugees and more wise political leaders. 

🎅Merry Christmas to everyone!

🎄隨著聖誕節的到來，約克聖誕市場提供了許多小玩意以裝飾房子。

🎄主街點綴著燈光和樹枝，商店和廣場上擺放著不同造型的聖誕樹。

🎄歡樂小屋正賣著本季的美味氣味，如溫暖的磨碎的葡萄酒及薑餅人。

🎄上週，我在約克大教堂音樂會聽聖誕頌歌。透過音樂，人們被祝福並希望擁有更美好的一年:少一點難民,多一些有智慧的領導者。

🎅祝每個人聖誕節快樂！

2017 UOY Dance Competition - 💃Hot Hot Hot!!!

After the snow, days get shorter and temperatures gradually drop. Sometimes the body and neck are stiff. To keep my soul and body warm, I decided to go to watch the 2017 dance competition on 3 December.

The 2017 UOY Dance competition is held by York Dance Society. This diverse dance competition includes Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, Tap, Street individual and group dancers coming from different universities.

What makes it more exciting and expecting for me is the selected music, ranging from classic music to modern pop music, to serve as visual and vocal entertainment.

All the participants are divided into novice and advanced levels. Throughout the year, they have taken part in different inter-university competitions; therefore, some of them are as good as experienced dancers.

From 10 am to 4 pm, with themed music, designed costumes, and body rhythms, I really gained a warm fuzzy feeling from these in the chilly day.

this is the final special show

Those great dancers are students from: UNIVERSITY OF YORK,UNIVERSITY OF BRADFORD,CARDIFF UNIVERSITY,GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY, LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD,TEESSIDE UNIVERSITY, and YORK ST JOHN UNIVERSITY. They are so Hot!!!

下了雪之後，白天變短了，氣溫逐漸下降。有時身體和脖子都很僵硬。為了在冬天保持身體溫暖我決家去看12月3日約克舞蹈協會舉辦的2017年舞蹈比賽。
這個多元化的舞蹈比賽包括來自不同大學的芭蕾舞者，當代，爵士，踼踏舞，街頭個人和團體舞者。令人興奮和期待的是選定的音樂，從古典音樂到現代流行音樂，作為視覺和聲樂娛樂。

所有參與者分為初階和高階。他們全年參加過不同的校際比賽，因此，他們一些人和經驗豐富的舞者一樣優秀。

從上午10點到下午4點，以主題音樂，設計服飾和身體節奏為特色，我真的從中得到溫暖的感受。這8所大學的學生舞者真的很辣啊!💃💃💃!!