Jennifer J. Chow is a friend of the Wicked Authors, and I’m delighted to help her celebrate her newest novel, Star-Crossed Egg Tarts.
Chinese Tea Ceremony
By Jennifer J. Chow
When I got married, one of the things we wanted to incorporate into our special day was a tea ceremony. This was a chance for us to express our respect to our elders by serving them tea. In return, we’d gain acceptance from our relatives. They would accept the tea and shower us with approval through their laisees and gifts of jewelry. Fun fact: My aunt gave me a pearl necklace after drinking her tea.
How exactly does the ceremony work? This long-standing ritual, which originated in the Tang dynasty, is historically conducted on the morning of the wedding at the homes of the bride and groom, respectively. In modern times, it’s held at a single location. The couple will kneel on the floor before the relatives, who sit in chairs. The beverage often contains lucky fruits to symbolize sweetness and fertility: red dates, longan, and lotus seeds. It’s also often served in an auspicious, red-colored teapot.
My recent novel, Star-Crossed Egg Tarts, (book two in the Magical Fortune Cookie series) also features a tea ceremony. That part of the wedding goes relatively smoothly despite the disgruntled parents and in-laws. What really brings down the occasion is the dead body of a groomsman. And, of course, he’s found under the dessert table where my main character, enchanted baker Felicity Jin, has displayed tiered egg tarts.
What is a tradition that’s important in your life?
About Star Crossed Egg Tarts:
Felicity Jin returns in the second book in the heart-warming and deliciously mysterious Magical Fortune Cookie series from Lilian Jackson Braun Award-nominee Jennifer J. Chow.
Jin Bakery has been asked to cater the Lum-Wu outdoor wedding at Pixie Park. The day of the ceremony, Felicity is finishing the “cake” of tiered egg tarts as the wedding party arrives for the ceremony. When one of the groomsmen, Miles Wu, doesn’t arrive, Felicity’s best friend and local florist Kelvin generously steps in for him and the wedding goes smoothly―until cake cutting time.
That’s when Felicity finds Miles’ dead body beneath the table with her egg tarts display, stabbed by Kelvin’s gardening shears. With the detective’s sights on Kelvin, Felicity starts sleuthing away to prove his innocence, revealing dark secrets about all the wedding’s attendants. They each had something to hide―and a reason to quiet Miles forever. To make matters worse, Felicity’s powers of prediction are on the fritz thanks to the emotional turmoil of a surprise visit from her estranged father.
When the groom gets poisoned at the send-off party and winds up in a coma, the stakes are even higher, not to mention Felicity’s feelings for Kelvin are beginning to feel more than friendly. Will Felicity’s magic return in time to catch the true culprit and rescue her budding relationship with Kelvin?
Author Links:
https://www.facebook.com/JenJChow
https://www.instagram.com/jenjchow
About the Author:
JENNIFER J. CHOW writes cozies filled with hope and heritage. She has been a finalist for the Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Lilian Jackson Braun Memorial Award. Kirkus Review said this of her Magical Fortune Cookie mysteries: “Good things lie ahead in this series.” Star-Crossed Egg Tarts was highlighted in Book Riot, Criminal Element, and Fresh Fiction. Jennifer is a past president of Sisters in Crime and an active member of Crime Writers of Color and Mystery Writers of America. She regularly blogs at chicksonthecase.com. Connect with her online and sign up for her newsletter at JenniferJChow.com.
The Wickeds 
What a lovely tradition, Jen, and congratulations on the new book! I make my mother’s cookies recipes at Christmas every year.
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Thank you, Edith! Mmm, I’d love to sample some of those cookies!
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Congratulations on the release of STAR CROSSED EGG TARTS! It’s on my TBR list and I can’t wait for the opportunity to read and review it. Thank you for explaining the Chinese Tea Ceremony and its meaning.
My favorite tradition for me is now a wonderful memory. After our daughter was born, it became a tradition that my folks would travel the 40 miles to our home in order to be there when Jenet woke up. Dad started it by going down the hallway to her room after they arrived going “HoHoHo Santa’s been here!” It became such a tradition that as a teenager and not wanting to disappoint her Papaw, but still not wanting photos taken of her all sleepy headed, she would get up very early to fix hair and be dressed in something better than pj’s. Then she would crawl back in bed and wait for Papaw to “wake her up”. Both have gone on to their heavenly home now making it a precious memory for us.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
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Wow, that’s a commitment! What a beautiful tradition! And happy that my book is on your TBR list!
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Interesting to hear about your wedding, Jen. Do you know if it’s common to incorporate a tea ceremony into a Chinese (or Chinese-American) wedding day, or was this your idea? Good luck with your new book.
A tradition–or I guess a ritual–that my parents started when my sister and I were children, and my husband and I continued with our son: About five minutes into our dinner in the evening, my father would say, “Okay. Time for everyone to tell about their day.” He’d start with my sister, the youngest, and she’d always say, “Well, I got up . . .,” which made us laugh, since that was a little more than anyone wanted to know. The point was, both we kids and our parents would share something we’d experienced that day. At the time, it meant a lot to me that my parents listened to me and also that they told us something about their mysterious grown-up lives.
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Yes, it can be common to have the ritual—depends on how traditional you want to be! I love the connection at the dinner table; I try to do with the same with my kids. Whether they respond or not is another story…
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Interesting about the tea ceremony. Is it used for other parts of life as well?
When my kids were growing up, we had dinner together every night we could, starting with a prayer of thanks and then (attempting) to get them to talk about their day. The Hubby and I still start the meal with a prayer of thanks, but since we are with each other almost all day there’s no need to talk about that. LOL
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The tea ceremony is specific to weddings. But there is still a respectful serving of tea at a dinner table which involves the youngest giving tea to the eldest relatives first and then going down the line.
That prayer of thanks and gratitude is a great way to start a meal. (I do have to say sometimes I feel the same about sharing about our day since my hubby is mostly work-from-home now).
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Congratulations on your latest book Jennifer! I love learning about the different traditions in various cultures, as well as family traditions. Since all 4 of us siblings live in different states, we have developed the tradition of speaking on the phone to wish each other a happy birthday. It is a continuation of our mom making a big deal out of our birthdays when we were kids. In addition to baking a homemade birthday cake,, mom also cooked whatever meal the birthday boy or girl chose. And every year during elementary school we also had a birthday party with about 10 of our friends. Since we have such great memories of our childhood birthday celebrations it just seemed natural to continue celebrating our birthdays with phone calls. That may not seem like much now, but before the use of cellphones, a long distance call was a genuine gift of time and money spent to acknowledge each other’s birthdays. And much more cherished than a brief happy birthday text.
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Thanks for sharing, Sue! I think a personal phone call is something to be cherished. What a beautiful birthday tradition!
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Jen,
Wishing you many sales of your latest book! Sounds terrific!
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Thank you, Marilyn! Appreciate it!
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What a heart-warming ceremony, Jen! Thanks for sharing that with us and congratulations on the new book! I’m not a big tradition person, but so do love singing along to “Back Home Again in Indiana” during the run up to the Indy 500 every year. I get teary-eyed.
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Thanks, JC! Ooh, the singing tradition sounds fun! Any recordings of you doing so? 🙂
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Jennifer, I already have your book and can’t wait to read it. Got a few ahead of it, but it will get read. I love everything that you have written. One tradition that I loved from my family is that every Christmas my father bought a huge peppermint stick for his mother and I got to go with him to give it to her before Christmas–not my sister or mother, just my Daddy and me.
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My son’s wife is Asian and when they married in 2015, they had a tea ceremony and Buddhist blessings. But, I didn’t know the history behind the tea ceremony so thank you for sharing!
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