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On the afternoon of April 7, 2009, a ceremony was held at the City Veranda in Xincheng District across the Qiantang River from downtown Hangzhou. The ceremony was for launching “100 Tea Poems Handwritten by Liu Feng” and “Selected Tea Poems and Annotations”.

Present at the ceremony were some sixty cultural and art celebrities such as Liu Feng, Xu Yongqing, Xiao Feng, Liu Jiang, Liu Jiang. Wang Meng, former cultural minister and writer, sent a congratulatory letter. CPC Hangzhou chief Wang Guoping points out that the Qiantang Poetry Society serves as a window and platform on promoting the tea culture of Hangzhou.

Liu Feng, president of China International Tea Culture Research Association, said at the ceremony that the two books on tea culture were a new effort to promote tea culture. He encouraged people to work in one mind to make contributions to promoting tea as national beverage, promoting tea culture, tea industry, and tea economy.

An incomplete survey indicates that at least one thousand poets from the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) wrote several tens of thousands of tea poems, indicating tea poems as a unique chapter in Chinese poetry.

Experts and calligraphers spoke highly of the selected poems, annotations and calligraphy, confirming the value of the two books in both poetry and calligraphy.

Liang Chaoqing, vice director of the China International Tea Culture Research Association, read out the decision to establish the tea poetry research center of CITCRA. The center was unveiled at the ceremony. The Qiantang Poetry Association will merge with the new center and work together to bring tea culture into every household in the city. □