Cloud tea is like life; life is learning, wisdom is cultivation.
Besides the tea market, the March Fair has another experience well worth seeking out — the Bai people’s Three-Course Tea. This is the Bai people’s traditional way of receiving guests, divided into three courses: first, bitter tea; second, sweet tea; third, aftertaste tea. These three courses represent three stages of life — first bitterness, then sweetness, then reflection. During the March Fair, many Bai families serve Three-Course Tea to their guests.
This year at the March Fair, I visited a Bai elder specifically to learn how to prepare Three-Course Tea. The elder’s surname was Duan, a lifelong resident of Dali and a native Bai. He told me the tradition is several hundred years old and is the Bai people’s most important hospitality ritual. When guests arrive, they must be served Three-Course Tea as a sign of respect and welcome.
The first course is bitter tea. Green tea from Cangshan Mountain is placed in a clay pot and slowly roasted over charcoal until the leaves begin to scorch. Water is then added and brought to a boil. When poured into the cup, the liquor is deep brown, and the first sip is profoundly bitter. The elder said: “Life begins with bitterness; only after bitterness does sweetness come.” This is not ordinary bitterness — it is a deep, profound bitter that fills the whole mouth. But after a moment, a subtle sweetness begins to emerge.
The second course is sweet tea. Black tea is combined with walnut kernels, sesame seeds, rushan (a dairy product), and other ingredients. These are placed in the cup, then steeped with black tea. The result is sweet and delicious — a sharp contrast to the first course’s bitterness. The elder said: “After bitterness comes sweetness — that is the second stage of life.” This sweetness is not from added sugar; it is the natural sweetness of combined ingredients. The oily richness of walnuts, the nutty depth of sesame, the milky fragrance of rushan, all blended with the honeyed sweetness of black tea — the layers are abundant.
The third course is aftertaste tea. Honey is combined with Sichuan peppercorn, ginger, cinnamon, and other spices, then steeped with green tea. The flavour is truly extraordinary — sweet, spicy, and numbing all at once, a complex amalgam. The elder said: “At the end of life, every flavour is present — sweet, bitter, spicy. That is real life.” The taste is difficult to describe. But after drinking it, you feel deeply satisfied, as though you have lived through a complete life.
The sequence of Three-Course Tea is carefully ordered — bitter, then sweet, then reflective. This order must not be disturbed, for it represents the natural pattern of life. In youth, hardship — studying is difficult, working is difficult. In middle age, sweetness arrives — career established, family fulfilled. In old age, reflection — looking back on the past, contemplating life’s meaning. These three courses are a miniature, compressing decades of existence into three cups of tea.
From a wellness perspective, the design of Three-Course Tea is also deeply thoughtful. Bitter tea clears heat, sweet tea replenishes energy, and aftertaste tea dispels cold and warms the stomach. After all three courses, every aspect of the body has been attended to. This was not designed by modern wellness experts — it is the accumulated wisdom of the Bai people over centuries.
Tea has grades; all may enjoy it regardless of status.
After drinking Three-Course Tea, the elder and I talked for a long time. He spoke of the Bai people’s tea culture, the history of the March Fair, and his own life story. He said he had lived in Dali his entire life, making tea for decades, witnessing the changes at the March Fair — from the simple sincerity of the past to the commercialisation of today. There are good aspects and less desirable ones. But the tradition of Three-Course Tea, he has never changed. Because it is the root of the Bai people, and roots must not be moved.
After leaving the elder’s home, I carried the memory of Three-Course Tea back to my inn. Sitting on the rooftop terrace, I brewed a pot of tea I had brought and reflected on the day’s experiences. The bitter, sweet, and reflective flavours were like the journey itself — there was hardship, joy, and insight. That is the gift travel gives me.
Make friends through tea, please enjoy a cup.
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Author: Old Tea Head · Lin Shen (LamSam)
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