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Mythic Mandarin

An afternoon in a teahouse

HSK 3 Unit 8: Festivals and stories · Lesson 4 of 7 · About 20 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can order and describe tea in a teahouse, and talk about how tea is made and enjoyed.

Warm-up: do you remember?

Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.

  1. Meaning

    What does 蛇 mean?

    1. snake
    2. to win
    3. to tell, to explain
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, snake.

    蛇 (shé) means snake.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “moon”?

    1. 关于
    2. 月亮
    3. 春节
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 月亮.

    “moon” is 月亮 (yuèliang).

  3. Listening

    From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    小偷 xiǎotōu

    1. river
    2. thief
    3. to book, to reserve
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, thief.

    You heard 小偷 (xiǎotōu): thief.

New words

  • 茶馆cháguǎnteahouse
  • 绿茶lǜchágreen tea
  • 红茶hóngcháblack tea
  • 泡pàoto steep, to brew
  • 香xiāngfragrant, smells good
  • 杯子bēizicup, glass
  • 尝chángto taste

Tea

In Chinese, black tea is 红茶, red tea, because of the colour of the drink. 绿茶 is green tea. Tea leaves are 泡 (pào), steeped, in hot water.

  • 这个茶多么香啊！

    Zhège chá duōme xiāng a!

    How fragrant this tea is!

  • 你尝尝这个绿茶。

    Nǐ chángchang zhège lǜchá.

    Try this green tea.

  • 先用热水洗杯子，然后再泡茶。

    Xiān yòng rèshuǐ xǐ bēizi, ránhòu zài pào chá.

    First rinse the cups with hot water, then brew the tea.

Characters

Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.

In the teahouse

Professor Yang takes Sophie to an old teahouse.

Listen first

Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.

  1. Listening

    Listen first. Which tea does Sophie usually prefer?

    1. green tea
    2. jasmine tea
    3. black tea
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, black tea.

    我更喜欢红茶.

  2. Listening

    What does the waiter do first?

    1. rinse the cups
    2. brew the tea
    3. bring cakes
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, rinse the cups.

    服务员先洗杯子，然后再泡茶.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 杨教授

    苏菲Sūfēi，这zhè是shì北京Běijīng很hěn有名yǒumíng的de一yí个gè茶馆cháguǎn。

    Sophie, this is a very famous teahouse in Beijing.

  2. 苏菲

    这儿Zhèr真zhēn安静ānjìng。我们Wǒmen喝hē什么shénme茶chá？

    It's so quiet here. What tea shall we have?

  3. 杨教授

    你Nǐ喝hē过guo绿茶lǜchá吗ma？这儿Zhèr的de绿茶lǜchá很hěn好hǎo。

    Have you had green tea? The green tea here is very good.

  4. 苏菲

    喝Hē过guo，但是dànshì我wǒ更gèng喜欢xǐhuan红茶hóngchá。

    Yes, but I prefer black tea.

  5. 杨教授

    那Nà我们wǒmen两liǎng个gè都dōu尝尝chángchang。你Nǐ看kàn，服务员fúwùyuán先xiān洗xǐ杯子bēizi，然后ránhòu再zài泡pào茶chá。

    Then let's try both. Look, the waiter rinses the cups first, then brews the tea.

  6. 苏菲

    这个Zhège绿茶lǜchá多么duōme香xiāng啊a！我Wǒ越yuè喝hē越yuè喜欢xǐhuan。

    How fragrant this green tea is! The more I drink, the more I like it.

Speak: listen, record, compare

Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.

  • 那我们两个都尝尝。你看，服务员先洗杯子，然后再泡茶。

    Nà wǒmen liǎng gè dōu chángchang. Nǐ kàn, fúwùyuán xiān xǐ bēizi, ránhòu zài pào chá.

    Then let's try both. Look, the waiter rinses the cups first, then brews the tea.

  • 这个绿茶多么香啊！我越喝越喜欢。

    Zhège lǜchá duōme xiāng a! Wǒ yuè hē yuè xǐhuan.

    How fragrant this green tea is! The more I drink, the more I like it.

  • 喝过，但是我更喜欢红茶。

    Hē guo, dànshì wǒ gèng xǐhuan hóngchá.

    Yes, but I prefer black tea.

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 茶馆 mean?

    1. two
    2. in short, in a word
    3. teahouse
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, teahouse.

    茶馆 (cháguǎn) means teahouse.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “green tea”?

    1. 成语
    2. 红茶
    3. 绿茶
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 绿茶.

    “green tea” is 绿茶 (lǜchá).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 红茶 (black tea)?

    1. hóngchá
    2. hǒngchá
    3. hóngchà
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, hóngchá.

    红茶 is read hóngchá. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    泡 pào

    1. fruit
    2. to steep, to brew
    3. to be called
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, to steep, to brew.

    You heard 泡 (pào): to steep, to brew.

  5. Pinyin

    Type the pinyin of 香 (fragrant, smells good). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.

    Show the answer

    Answer: xiāng

    香 is xiāng in pinyin.

  6. Fill the gap

    Complete: Try this tea.

    你＿＿这个茶。

    1. 香香
    2. 尝尝
    3. 泡泡
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 尝尝.

    你尝尝这个茶: try this tea.

  7. In context

    What is black tea called in Chinese?

    1. 黑茶
    2. 红茶
    3. 绿茶
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 红茶.

    红茶: black tea, named after the colour of the drink.

  8. Grammar

    Which sentence gives the steps in the right order?

    1. 再泡茶，先洗杯子。
    2. 然后洗杯子，先泡茶。
    3. 先洗杯子，然后再泡茶。
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 先洗杯子，然后再泡茶。.

    先洗杯子，然后再泡茶。: 先…然后再…: first … then.

  9. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for How fragrant! (with 多么 and 啊)

    Show the answer

    Answer: 多么香啊

    多么香啊: how fragrant!

Order tea

Act out a visit to a teahouse out loud.

  1. Ask what teas there are and say which you prefer.
  2. Describe how the tea is made, with 先 and 然后.
  3. React to the taste with 多么…啊.

Sentence frames

  • 我更喜欢喝＿＿。

    Wǒ gèng xǐhuan hē ＿＿.

    I prefer ...

Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:

Review and finish

Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.

  • I can order tea and say which I prefer.
  • I know that 红茶 is black tea.

Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.

Next lesson: A letter to my teacher