The Magical Tea Cup

A few weeks ago, my mom came to China for a visit. We spent the weekend in Hangzhou, and went to a few tourist places, including the Chinese National Tea Museum. I hate going to museums with my mom and Ryan because they both take soooo long, stopping at every little thing, and reading every little word.
We had just entered the museum, and I was already half a corridor further than Ryan and my mom, when a woman approached Ryan, speaking Chinese. I ran over to translate and she asked us if we wanted a free tea tasting. I would have gone to a cock fight at that point just to avoid a museum so I very quickly agreed (after double checking it was free) and we set off. We went through the museum up the stairs, around the building, outside and inside again, and came upon a shop which had many workers (about 4) but curiously was pitch dark until we arrived. (Were they just standing there in the dark?)
We went into the room, had the whole spiel and tried 4 different kinds of tea. It was actually tasty and quite enjoyable. The woman didn’t speak much English, but she could name all the teas and it was interesting to learn the official way to make tea. (Hint: it is more complex then boil water, add bag.)
Afterwards we were led back into the gift shop, and to be honest, I’m a pretty big sucker for tea stuff, and they had something that was equal part cheesy and awesome. A tea cup that changed colors. She had shown it to us during the tea tasting, and I secretly knew I wanted it.
Luckily my mom was in a generous mood, and bought me the tea cup and Ryan some especially delicious black tea. I don’t use it every day, (it is a little small and I feel like it is too fancy for just a regular tea bag), but I like it a lot.
Without further ado, here is the magical tea cup……
Without tea:

With tea:

Ta-da!!
What is your favorite tea cup or tea accessory?