"I love tea, and when I saw the tea ritual in a TV drama, I got curious," the Shanghai resident says.

Chen met Han at a tea-tasting event. "The Song-style tea tastes magical, beyond description, nothing like I've had before," she says.

Chen immediately signed up for Han's class. So far, she can deliver a decent froth. "I felt it was more about opening a door to traditional culture," Chen says, adding that Han also tells the class about ceramics of the Song Dynasty.

Speaking about his understanding of this tea art, Han says it's "to increase aestheticism" rather than change the essence of tea.

"As well as the poems, calligraphy and paintings that were created back then, I want more people to understand the items used by people to drink tea, and the reasons behind the ways they prepared tea," he says.

Contact the writer at yangfeiyue@chinadaily.com.cn