2006年11月10日，這是杭州茶人難忘的日子。

杭州于2005年被國內(nèi)十家茶業(yè)權(quán)威機構(gòu)授予中國茶都稱號，時隔一年后，在由國家勞動保障部主辦、在杭舉行的全國茶藝技能大賽上，杭州的茶藝能手從來自全國20余個省、市、自治區(qū)的80余名選手中脫穎而出，獲得了囊括前三名的全部金獎，并榮獲“全國茶藝技術(shù)能手”稱號。

這是中國茶界的幸事，也是中國茶都杭州的幸事。特別是這三位全國茶藝技術(shù)能手，全都來自杭州茶館服務一線的茶藝師，而且都是30歲以下的年輕人。在倡導茶為國飲的今天，在全國茶館行業(yè)蓬勃發(fā)展的時刻，我們從當今年輕的茶藝技術(shù)能手身上，看到了我國優(yōu)秀傳統(tǒng)的茶文化得到了新的弘揚與傳承。陳芳、袁非、沈黎明三名全國茶藝技術(shù)能手，成了今天茶藝行業(yè)的話題。

陳芳來自杭州“你我茶燕”，是這家茶館的茶藝總監(jiān)，這位來自杭州郊縣的姑娘在茶樓泡茶已有10余個年頭。早在上個世紀末，她在杭州舉辦的一次茶藝活動上就被選評為杭州的十佳茶藝小姐，八九年過去了，這次參加全國比武的她，表演的是“九曲紅梅”。杭州素以西湖龍井聞名，而她則以杭州西湖鄉(xiāng)的九曲紅梅茶為載體，用茶、用藝、用茶席和她嫻熟的技能，讓人透過茶香想起詠梅西湖的林和靖和陸游。中國美院的一名知名教授看了她的比武表演錄像后說：整套茶藝表演是一曲茶與文化結(jié)合最優(yōu)美的舞曲。

袁非是一位在東海艦隊當了五年海軍的復員軍人，參軍前他在杭州“湖畔居”茶館當服務員，五年后復員，他讓父親陪同回到工作過的茶樓，找到老總要求仍回茶樓當茶藝師，茶樓老總自然喜歡，他在部隊入了黨又愛茶，茶樓也委他以重任。他參加比武表演的是祁門紅茶，茶藝隊的教練告訴他這是小平同志夸獎過的茶，他翻閱了大量的資料，深挖祁門紅茶的歷史，表演的茶席上他向老師借了徽墨、歙硯，還特意準備了“黃山松”。他在沏泡祁門紅茶結(jié)束時講到：祁紅茶香讓他想起了徽墨與歙硯的千轉(zhuǎn)百回，想到了中國的山水國畫，想到了蘊味無窮的徽州文化……他獲獎之后，單位的老總對記者說：袁非愛茶，心中有茶，是他獲獎的基本點。

沈黎明，也在西湖邊的“湖畔居”茶樓工作，他優(yōu)秀的茶藝曾吸引了無數(shù)中外游人。有一次，德國漢堡的一名議員作客茶樓被他的精湛茶藝吸引了，2006年“漢堡中國節(jié)”他被邀請去漢堡作茶藝表演，在漢堡市政大廳他還受到這名議員的接見。不過為了中德文化交流活動，他失去了這次全國比武賽事的初選，杭州市茶樓業(yè)協(xié)會和浙江省茶葉學會為此專門為他給大賽組委會打了報告，組委會根據(jù)沈黎明的實際情況，破例同意他參加全國比武決賽。他每天的接待任務多，但他一邊不耽誤工作，一邊復習應知理論，又抽閑練沏茶、擺臺席。功夫不負有心人，他的龍井茶禮表演也贏得了眾多專家的好評。一位業(yè)內(nèi)了解了沈黎明的專家說：“小沈泡茶已整整8個多年頭了，他每天的工作都在10個小時以上，他泡一年茶可抵人家三年！”是的，到過“湖畔居”茶樓的人都會看見他穿著青衣長衫、佩著團徽，忙上忙下地給客人殷勤泡茶的情景。成績來自辛勞，技術(shù)緣于勤練，在小沈的身上讓人看到了中國茶人的希望。

三名全國茶藝技術(shù)能手花落杭州，這給杭州這個中國茶都增添了光彩。有了他們，茶都的茶一定會更香。

如今，全國茶藝技能比武技術(shù)能手的表演已被刻錄成光盤流向全國，走向世界。技術(shù)能手們勤學苦練、愛茶敬業(yè)、無私奉獻的茶人精神和他們的故事正在被人廣泛傳誦。

Three National Gold Medals for Hangzhou

By Jia Ji

November 10， 2006 is an unforgettable day for tea professionals in Hangzhou. On the day， three tea-service professionals in Hangzhou captured the three gold medals in a national tea art and skills contest organized by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

It was no coincidence that the top-level contest was held in Hangzhou and the three gold medalists were from Hangzhou. Back in 2005， Hangzhou was designated as China’s capital of tea by top ten authoritative tea organizations in the country. One year after the honor， more than 80 tea art performers from all over the country gathered in Hangzhou to compete for three gold medals.

The three gold medalists are all in their 20s and work in teahouses in Hangzhou. The honors signify the city’s success in carrying on the country’s fine tradition of tea art.

Chen Yanfang works as a tea art supervisor at a teahouse named You and I， Tea and Swallow in Hangzhou. The girl from a suburban county of Hangzhou has worked in teahouses for more than ten years. In the late 1990s， she was awarded one of the top ten girls for tea arts service in a citywide competition. This time， she staged a performance named Red Plum Blossom. Though Hangzhou is known for the Dragon Well Tea， she used Red Plum Blossom tea to display her adept service. The performance integrated tea， tea sets， service ritual and her skills and made enjoying a cup of tea at a teahouse a highly pleasurable experience. A professor with the China Academy of Fine Arts watched the tape of her performance at the competition and enthused that her performance was like a musical piece that combined tea and culture.

Yuan Fei had worked at the Lakeside Teahouse before he joined the navy. After the five-year service， he came back to the Lakeside Teahouse again. He feels strongly attached to tea and things involved with tea. His ritual performance at the competition was about Qimen Black Tea， a famous brand produced in Anhui Province. He learned from the coach that Deng Xiaoping had a liking for this tea. To prepare himself for the competition， Yuan read up books about the history of the tea and cultural traditions in Anhui province where the tea has always been popular. He even used ink and inkstand produced in Anhui province as his props. The general manager of the teahouse attributed the gold medalist’s success to his passion for tea in general.

Shen Liming is Yuan Fei’s colleague at the Lakeside Teahouse. His service at the teahouse attracts customers. One day， a councilor from Hamburg， Germany， who was enjoying tea at the teahouse， was fascinated by Shen Liming’s service ritual. He invited Shen to perform his tea art at the 2006 Chinese Festival in Hamburg. However， Shen Liming’s visit to Hamburg overlapped the preliminaries at the national competition. The Hangzhou Teahouses Guild and Zhejiang Tea Institute jointly petitioned to the organizing committee for Shen’s participations in the final. The organizing committee bent the rule for Shen. After busy preparations， Shen presented the Dragon Well Tea performance at the tea art competition. An industrial insider commented， “He has been working as a teahouse waiter for eight years. A year of his work experience equals three years of others!” Shen is a big attraction at the Lakeside Teahouse. Customers can always see him there， wearing a traditional Chinese gown and filling teacups for customers.

Naturally， tea professionals in the city are proud of the three gold-medalist colleagues who are believed to have added honor to Hangzhou， China’s capital of tea.

(Translated by David)