What is Tea Pets?

Tea pet is also known as tea play, which is the pet nourished by tea, means wealth and fortune, auspicious, mainly be used to decorate and beautify the tea table. When people drink tea, they often dip some tea for pet painting, or directly drip it with leftover tea. Over time, pets can become warm, pleasant, emitting a good smell of tea. Many tea lovers have their own beloved tea pet.

Tea pet is an item for tea lovers to put on the tea tray. As the name suggests, it is a pet nourished by tea water when drinking tea. Most of them are ceramic crafts made of purple clay or clear mud, and some are porcelain or stone. For those people who often drink tea, tea pets are no stranger. In the tea house, tea shop or home, there is a large tea table or tea tray, besides the tea cups, tea pots and other tea wares, they will also place several tea pets. Tea pet symbolize auspicious, cultural flavor, funny, and childlike fun, it is all depends on the host's preference. In recent years, with the improvement of life, more and more people pay attention to personal taste of life, tea pet has also developed rapidly. Tea pet's interest, so it is popular to be collected by many collectors.

The Feature of Tea Pets

1. When drinking tea, several friends sit around and put on a full tea set on the tea tray. At this time, tea pet is a kind of edifying sentiment and beautiful tea ware.

2. When you changing water, poured water on the tea pet, which can preventing the water splashing.

3. After a long time of tea rinse , it will become more bright.

4. Used to decorate and beautify the tea table, which is essential preference for tea enthusiasts, and it is also known as tea play.

5. Estimate whether the water temperature is suitable for brewing tea. For some color changeable tea pet, if the water is hot enough, pour the water into the tea pet, the color will change then.

The Type of Tea Pets

1. Mythical Animal (貔貅).

China's special traditional culture determines that there are several kinds of tea pet is the most popular. One of them is mythical animal, the ninth son of the dragon in legend. People think that it has the function of promoting wealth. At the same time, it also has the effect of drive away bad things in the house. It is the guardian God in the family. Therefore, it has become the most popular among people.

2. Golden Toad

Another popular tea pet is Golden Toad. The Golden Toad is the homonym of money in Chinese. In Chinese traditional culture, most of the tea pets related to money require to place and stand on right place in house. The mouth of the Golden Toad naturally should face to your home, which means keeping money. But if the Golden Toad does not has coin in mouth, it should be placed towards to the door but a little sideways of the door.

3. Elephant

Elephant is popular among tea lovers. Elephants are well-known for their ability to drink water from nose. In China, water is symbolize wealth. If an elephant is invited to stay at home, it is considerate large wealth will taken into the home. The nature of the elephant is gentle and peaceful, and stand for good luck at home. People who believe in geomantic omen will put it in the place where their wealth is most abundant, which will benefit the whole family.

4. Golden Pig

Pig has always been a symbol of wealth and auspiciousness. So it's very lovely to keep it on the tea tray, and it's also very popular.

5. Buddha

Generally for Maitreya Buddha, lying and sitting posture, most of them indicate auspicious, longevity and peace.

How to Select Tea Pets?

When you select the tea pets, you should considerate the workmanship, clay material and so on. The tea pet with delicate texture, exquisite shape, glossy luster and vivid painting has relatively high value. Therefore, when choosing a suitable tea pet, you should consider the absorption of tea material and modeling fun. Choose the right shape according to your preference. Under the condition of both beauty and taste, choose a suitable tea pet.

Tea pet can be made into a variety of shapes, such as the hedgehog, dog, and Buddha and so on, according to personal preferences.

Tea pet can be set with tea table, tea sets and the suitable environment.

The best choice for pet is purple clay, the more nourished, the more spiritual it is.

Where to Place the Tea Pets?

Tea pet is a very important part of geomantic omen in tea table culture. Many people collect the tea pet for the purpose of happiness, wealth and health, so it is more important to place and stay it in right place.

1. The tea pet is usually placed in the upper left corner of the tea tray in front of you. If you don't need to pour water, you should put it in front of the tea tray. This is not only convenient for the host to pour tea, but also convenient for guests to watch.

2. If you buy a Maitreya tea pet, the tea pet’s face of Maitreya is better to back to the host and face to the guest , and the size of the tea pet should be smaller.

3. The face of the Golden Toad with coin in its mouth should face its host, and the mouth without coin inside should back to the host and face the door, which means attract money back to home from the outside.

How to Nourish Tea Pets?

1. Tea pets are not only nourish with Pu'er tea. There are no limited on the maintenance of tea pets, but Pu'er tea, black tea are generally preferred. Because these kind of tea has better effect on your tea pets. If it is possible, we suggested that tea lovers to use only one kind of tea to nourish it.

2. Pour hot water to the tea pet, and gently wipe with a teapot brush. After a long time, the surface will have a better luster, more vivid.

3. Some people soak their tea pets in tea. Although it seems that the luster and color of tea pet will change quickly, it is easy to have uneven color.

The Tips of Nourish Tea Pets

1. The size of the tea pet should be moderate because it is inconvenient to carry when traveling or stroking.

2. It is better to use only one kind of tea, which helps to improve the purity of its color.

3. All kinds of tea can be used to nourish tea pet, but Pu'er tea has the best effect. Generally speaking, black tea, Pu’er and Oolong tea will bring faster "changes", while green tea will have a slower change. There may be positive changes when using Pu'er tea for 1-2 months. After six months, you can get a pleasant luster on the surface.

4. It's better not to nourish the tea pet with the rest tea. Sometimes you need to touch it with a brush and clean it with a tea towel.

More Meaning on Tea Pets

Appreciating tea is not simply a process of brewing to quench thirst, but for the pleasure in the process. Arranging tea pet on the tea tray, and sharing the tea liquid with them adds to your pleasure, like nourishing the pot. Most tea pets are made of purple-clay, such as the pig head, foot (symbolizing “always happy” because of the Chinese pronunciation of spider and foot), dogs, golden toads."

Of course, If it is a kind of crafts in high quality, exquisite in model, glossy in color, vivid in painting, the value of tea pet will be higher. The tea pet bought newly is usually a new purple color, in red, purple or white, and slightly dusting on the surface. So under this condition, you just using brush it by pen or pour tea water on it everyday is all right. When choosing a suitable tea pet, the absorption ability of tea set material and the style should be considered. According to yourself favorable, your could choose the best one for yourself. So, under the condition of giving attention to the beauty and interest, choosing the most suitable is very important.

Actually, the playful of tea pet bring to you is nothing but the participation to the process of enjoying tea. Like planting flowers, you have to do as many trifles as watering, pruning. But waiting to the flower blooming, the sense of satisfying also could not be said by words. Under the nourishing of tea water everyday, with the expectation and wishes in heart, you will never know the happiness bring by the foundation that suddenly the tea pet is full of lives.

Just as we said that the tea pet bought newly is a new purple color, in red, purple or white, and slightly dusting on the surface, giving you the feeling of civilizing. Bringing it back and putting it on the tea table, and if you could often pouring tea, or play it with hand, the color of tea pet which in a graze light will be presented gradually. And of course, the uneven surface will also be grind, the feel is also be more rounded. In the process of nourishing, you only need to pour by tea water, but not plain boiled water. Only in this way, the tea pet will be felt the smoothing of itself.

In other hand, not only the tea pet could be served as a playing object, also could be regarded a kind of special collection, which has a great value for collecting. At the time of free and tasteful, the life will inevitably be full full of fun and joy.