Liyang Sheng is a tea expert and columnist for t-Magazine. Under the name ‘Teeregen’, she draws delicate, deeply researched pictures of tea culture. How did she get into it?
Anyone who knows me is aware that I love to talk about tea all day long. In this first blog post, I would like to introduce myself and explain how I got into tea. I was born and raised in Germany, and today I live in the west of the country. But my father's family hails from a small tea village in Anhui, China. So tea has always been there. In everyday life at home, there is only (green) tea.
Like many people who grow up with two cultures, the pendulum between both sides swings back and forth in different phases of life. I basically grew up in a very Westernized environment, but still vividly remember a visit as a child to my father's home village: in April, the otherwise sleepy nest was suddenly abuzz with activity – the tea harvest was in full swing.
My real love for tea started during my studies.
The gift of a tea advent calendar sparked my curiosity to learn more about the origin and production of the different varieties: I tried a lot of teas, read books and articles, watched videos on Youtube. At the same time, I also found a connection to my family's culture, which led to exciting discoveries and a new perspective on my own history.
Many of you will share this experience: once the world of tea reels you in, it won't let you go. Every day there were new facets and elements to explore, new fascinating details to discover. That's how ‘teeregen’ was born in 2022. It started small, with a simple idea: I wanted to present (Chinese) tea culture in a visually simple and understandable way. My vision was to create memorable and beautiful associations with my pictures of tea culture, especially for people in Europe.
At first, I thought that I would be done after my initial three or four ideas. But now, thirty designs and two posters later, my list of ideas is continuously growing faster than my capacity to put them onto paper. Numerous workshops, events and festivals later, I can say that I have met many people who have become tea friends, and I hope that I have also been able to inspire some people to drink more tea.
Here on the blog, I will report on personal moments with tea, share nerdy details and also shed light on the back story to some of my designs.
You can find more about Liyang on her website www.teeregen.de or on Instagram: @teeregen