A Chinese professor starts tea culture craze at a Hungarian university

In Miskolc, a northeastern city in Hungary, Fan Liyun has witnessed how a cup of tea makes a difference in cultural exchanges.

Fan, 59, currently works at the Confucius Institute of the University of Miskolc as a Chinese teacher. She observed that the institute is seeing more students who are curious about the institute's courses this spring semester.

"We usually held activities to attract students before new semesters. But it seems it's no longer necessary as we almost had full enrollment before this semester started," said Fan, who was known as Kristi by her students. "I think now the number of students studying in our institute has at least doubled, compared to when I first arrived here in 2019."

Fan welcomes the uptick, and she was not very much surprised, as she could get some clues from the feedback of a newly-launched course focused on Chinese tea culture last year.

Last semester, Fan and her students got together once a week, making and tasting Chinese tea, and sharing stories related to tea. From jinjunmei tea to dahongpao tea, they've tried various kinds of Chinese tea, and her students have created interesting ways of describing the taste, such as "dark chocolate" and "chicken soup."

Boglárka Kántor, 24, an undergraduate at the University of Miskolc joined the course last year and has learned the basics of the Chinese tea ceremony. She thinks it's completely different from how people drink tea in Hungary.

"Now I have my favorite jasmine tea at home and sometimes invite my family and friends to come over for a cup of tea," said Kántor.

Flóra Tóth, another student of Fan, said she has been drinking tea regularly ever since she started learning Chinese, which she believes gives her a fresh perspective and an immersive experience of understanding China.

"I've enjoyed trying out China's most famous teas, learning how to appreciate the tea ceremony, and how to taste and identify different types of tea. It's a beautiful experience that helps me to calm my mind," said Tóth.

What Fan presents in her tea culture class looks simple: tea, some refreshments and a bit of Chinese culture. Most of the tea that she uses is from China and she makes tea pastries herself.

"Thanks to my friends in China, I've collected a wide variety of Chinese tea. They gave high-quality tea as a gift after learning that I developed a course on Chinese tea culture," said Fan.

"Pastries are easy, as long as I have some flour, butter, sugar and milk," she said. "But still, I'm not a tea expert, so it was time-consuming to prepare tea-related stories and knowledge."

Fan, also an associate professor in the English department at Beijing University of Chemical Technology, has helped Chinese students understand the culture of English-speaking countries before she came this landlocked country in Central Europe. But now, she teaches Chinese culture in English.

"The tea culture is so inclusive that we could discuss many topics ranging from legends, and history, to health concepts and philosophy," said Fan. "For example, tea usually tastes a little bitter at first, but you can sense sweetness in the aftertaste. Just like life, no sweet without sweat."

Seeing the success of the tea culture course, Fan hopes to set up a tea culture experience center in the institute to help local people understand Chinese tea culture.

"Local residents in Miskolc are very fond of tea as well. Our tea-tasting activity is very popular at every cultural event. So from time to time, local residents come to our tea culture classes," said Fan.

Fan believes that people-to-people exchanges or cultural exchanges go way beyond the classroom, and she has been sharing what she has learned about Hungarian language and culture on her social media platforms.

"Sometimes a shared experience, such as having a cup of tea together, can be a way to achieve better cultural communication," said Fan.

By the end of 2022, there were 184 Confucius Institutes and 335 Confucius Classrooms in Europe, most affiliated with European universities and faculties related to language learning.

So far, more than 80 countries have incorporated Chinese into their national education systems, and Hungary is one of them. There are five Confucius institutes and one Confucius classroom in Hungary.

The Confucius Institute in Miskolc marked its 10th anniversary last November. Miskolc Deputy Mayor Lajos Badany said the institute played a vital role in deepening educational and cultural cooperation with China.