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The Chinese people, in their drinking of tea, place much significance on the act of “savoring.” “Savoring tea” is not only a way to discern good tea from mediocre tea, but also how people take delight in their reverie and in tea-drinking itself. Snatching a bit of leisure from a busy schedule, making a kettle of strong tea, securing a serene space, and serving and drinking tea by yourself can help banish fatigue and frustration, improve your thinking ability and inspire you with enthusiasm. You may also imbibe it slowly in small sips to appreciate the subtle allure of tea-drinking, until your spirits soar up and up into a sublime aesthetic realm. Buildings, gardens, ornaments and tea sets are the elements that form the ambiance for savoring tea. A tranquil, refreshing, comfortable and neat locale is certainly desirable for drinking tea. Chinese gardens are well known in the world and beautiful Chinese landscapes are too numerous to count. Teahouses tucked away in gardens and nestled beside the natural beauty of mountains and rivers are enchanting places of repose for people to rest and recreate themselves.

ZDS reporter Lan - Guangzou, China

WuXianliang has completed the second test at XinHua Hospital in Shanghai, China. His doctor, in early may, performed a three month examination and PML-RARa fusion protein bone marrow test that shows negative. The maintenance therapy has worked very well and he will need to continue taking medicine on time for the next six months. Xianliang has returned to his village with his mother to attend first grade. He studies very hard and also helps his mother with housework after school. His father remains in Shanghai to work as an unskilled laborer on a building site - this leaves farm work and Xianliang’s care for his wife. While she works very hard to maintain the farm it is still difficult to make enough money for basic necessities of life - especially Xianliang’s special needs for medicine and nutritional food. His recovery can easily be compromised by poor nutrition and weakened by hunger that is often satisfied with abrasive food. The China Labor Union at Jiangxi has said they will go to visit the family and possibly provide some assistance. While the family remains in poverty, they express much gratitude to all the kind people that have helped. The family has continued medical bills and needs assistance to help pay a large debt to friends, family and the bank.

In October of 2007 WuXianliang travels to Shanghai with his mother for his 6 month check up. The doctor orders a morphology and fusion gene test. Morphology is to observe whether there is still leukemia cells in his bone marrow through taking his bone marrow on a glass slide with staining. The result of this test showed he is still in complete remission. The Fusion gene test is to detect whethewr there is enough fusion gene, which is the reason to cause disease, to make trouble. Usually the fusion gene is detected by using qualitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. But since Xianliang has taken maintenance therapy for almost 10 months in a complete remission status, they used a more sensitive method which is called Taqman real time quantitative RT-PCR to evaluate how many copies of the bad fusion gene still exist. Currently, the boy’s RNA extract is being preserved until a hardware problem on the RT-PCR machine is repaired. Xianliang and his mother have returned home to their village and we await news on test results.

Feb. 13, 2007 Very good news - the test results continue to show that Xianliang is in remission and liver functions are also good. He will continue taking medicine and return to Shanghai for tests in May. He currently is in second grade in the village of Nanfeng, China.

The Selfless help from an American Photographer to a Chinese Boy with Leukemia

How did you become acquainted with the family?

Wumeijuan is a college student from a small village in Fuzhou Jiangixi province that I met while walking around the beautiful lake of Guilin. Wumeijuan is majoring in tourism management and as we spoke in English she guided me to some sights to photograph. We continued to correspond by email after I returned to the USA and she asks for my help because her seven year old cousin was very sick with leukemia and could not stand by himself. The family had exhausted all their resourses and there was no money for the final treatment and medicine.

What?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s the detailed process that you helped the Wu family?

I contacted a charitable medical organization in the USA by the name of St. Jude Children?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Research Hospital. They have an International Outreach Program that has a collaborative project with the Beijing Children?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Hospital and the Shanghai Children?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Medical Center to treat Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia known as (ALL). They suggested that WuXianliang be taken to (SCMC) Shanghai Childrens Medical Center for examination. I raised money to help the family with transportation cost from JianXi province to Shanghai. It was determined that the boy had a different type of leukemia called Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) and fell outside the limitation and focus of the St. Jude International Outreach Program. They were, however, very helpful in overseeing protocol, finding a doctor, and a charity organization called Mercy Fund in Shanghai. Small donations have so far made a big difference, but this boy?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s struggles are not yet over. For information on how you can help this family contact Mercy Fund at www.mercyfund.net
In the USA checks can be made payable to Jeryl Collins FBO Mercy Fund Contact: Bank of America c/o Enrique Corneiro Huston TX phone 713-296-7844

Where do you live and what do you do?

I live in Seattle, WA USA and am a retired architect. My passion is photography, travel in China and exhibiting Asian paintings and calligraphy in my Tea House Gallery.

Why help a Chinese you never met?

I am helping a Chinese boy that I have never met because wumeijan made me aware of how the Wu family has courageously faced the painful circumstances brought about by poverty and disease. Every child in the world is worth of being helped and through compassion and kindness of many people it is possible to make a positive impact on the poor children - one child at a time!

What difficulty do you run into when you helped the Wu family?

The difficulty and desperate need is in finding money for the family. They returned to their village home from Shanghai in February of 2007 and have expressed their deep gratitude to all those who have helped. However, they still owe money to the hospital, to the bank, and to their friends and family. Furthermore, they lack the resources required for medicine and check-ups during the next year. The good news is that the boy has started first grade and is still in remission.

China is a country with a time-honored civilization and a land of ceremony and decorum. Whenever guests visit, it is necessary to make and sever tea. It is said Chinese tea has a history of over 5,000 years, during which a series of unique tea culture have come into being, covering from tea plant cultivation and conservation, tea-leaf picking to processing and sampling tea. tea-leaves are mainly produced in the southern area of China to the Yangtze River for mild climate and fertile ground there, such as the provinces of zhejiang, yunnan, guizhou,and fujian. There produce an abundance of renowned tea varieties. E.G. Longjing, Oolong, Pu’er, Ti Kwan Yin and so on. But followed the Chinese custom, tea belongs to five different species. they are black teas(lapsang souchong, keemun, yunnan and so on); green teas (gunpowder, chun mee and so on); Oolong teas(Ti Kwan Yin,Pouchong and so on); herbal teas(Jasmine, Rose Congou, Earl Grey and so on); compressed teas(Tuancha, Tuocha and so on). Tea can refresh us and researchers say tea may reduce the risk of serious liver damage in people who drink too much alcohol, are overweight, or have too much iron in the blood.

ZDS reporter Lan - Guangzhou, China