A few weeks ago, I wrote this piece which I still think is relevant to put up on our website.  Some of the timing has past, but the thoughts and intentions are the same….my thoughts about being part of Chinatown…..

I’ve been giving alot of thought to what it means to be part of Chinatown….how to be part of it, why we are part of it….

And many things started flooding in. First off, tea originated in China. I always imagined taking the tour of tea from its origins through different countries and cultures. And we aren’t just selling tea, but we want to support the culture of tea and that has an ancient heritage in China….and here in Chinatown in Canada, in our multi-cultural city, we will cultivate that culture. And we will honour its origins and bring it up to our current day fascination and enjoyment of it.

We will have teas from China, Japan, India, Britain, South America….and herbal teas grown locally. We will prepare the teas not just for individual consumption like coffee, but we will make tea to share both substantially and conversationally.

We will also make organic coffees…freshly roasted, fair traded, individually stimulating.

But back to Chinatown…we are like the other storekeepers in that this is a family affair. It is not just a business plan, it is a way of life…..having our shop and coming each day to turn the open sign and be part of the life on the streets of Chinatown.

I love the international flair, the constancy of humanity walking and talking and passing by. I love the love for Chinatown and its gates and gifts and food. I see us being a part of that culture of invitation, to partake of customs and cultures….like tea and sharing meals…and shopping for gifts for others.

We have had several old time shopkeepers come up to us and notice that a family is moving in…they love our colour choices, even though they are different. Most of all they love that we care and that we are bringing beauty….One gentlemen said he would help us with Chinese words for our signs….how lovely.

Yes, I feel excited to be part of this neighbourhood of shopkeepers and community who are upholding a culture of creating a life out of not always easy circumstances. I love the daily rhythm to it….it is always there and always open and I want to be part of that eternity, of shopkeepers and ways of living life….down to earth.

Although I have never been to Greenwich Village in New York City, I find myself saying that I feel like I am in that village…and what does that mean to me…something about a heartbeat of eclectic culture, of sharing space and creating an artistic way of living. There are always people coming to and fro on Fisgard Street…whether it is for vegetables sold on the sidewalk stands or Chinese food or bubble tea or coffee and soon added our culturally eclectic tea selections….with a boutique that will highlight artisans from many cultures.

The trucks come in every morning delivering fresh veges and many people receive them. It is like a centre…one step removed from the gardens…..the city hub where the food is disbursed….and we are wondering if we can get the organic line coming in….

And I will sell flowers next to the veges, not like a flower store, but in metal buckets….and what I don’t sell I will turn over and dry and hang them from our ceiling.

Inside the tearoom, magic is happening. We’ve attached an old wooden mantelpiece that I have been collecting for some time and it now has found its final resting place. It is beautiful as you walk in….and today we found lovely large metal lights with foral scalloped glass globes….welcoming you into this environment prepared for dignity and conversation, life sharing and feeling part of….tea not as a specialty but as a daily ritual…drunk in beauty, not in haste….

Of course all of it will be there….take outs, sit ins, moments or minutes, alone time or friend time…and I am searching for special books to sell for those ponderous moments. I’ve done blue willow mosaic around the cream and honey table and just finished teacup porcelin mosaic around the fireplace….the chairs are a lovely ivory chic, yet to be shabbied. And today I found a perfect wool braided rug for the tea room with the ivory couches and velvet chairs…..

The counter has been finished with white wainscotting and a lovely birch countertop, and we are in search of the perfect bakers to bake for us…..

Oh yes, but back to Chinatown. I created beautiful “rose-like” mosaics on the front door and it was the best way to meet people. It was early evening and there I was seated on the sidewalk in a long cottony brown and white dress with scarf wrapped around my head creating a little work of art from teacups and you would’ve thought I was Michelangelo. It was heartwarming and supportive to know how many people are just waiting for us to open. We have a green awning which we would love to not have to put up again, but it is good to have for the rain…and the banner hanging down in the front both says the old businesses name and cuts out light from out windows. I called the awning company to see what it would cost to replace just the front banner and he said $500 plus the cost of graphics….I instead removed the panel and affixed beautiful white lace scalloped curtains pulled straight across….it looks so lovely and fits right into our Parisian cafe’ feeling and the light still comes through. I can’t wait for others to enjoy the look as well…..

I think I will always have something I am artistically working on there as the response outside had been so overwhelmingly positive and it would be a great way to advertise for The Art of Living Series which will be developed over time.

I will send out invitations to everyone on the block inviting them for a free cup of coffee or tea when we open….I will write something for the newspaper about the privilege of being part of the culture of Chinatown because apparently someone recently wrote an article about how Chinatown is just for tourists….but I have some things to say….why it is different….and how something has to be essentially there for tourists to experience and it isn’t just in the selling…..I want to help create a block party for the stores….special cultural celebrations….maybe a tea festival, or a foods festival..or…..something with the gate’s name: The Gate of Harmonious Interest….interest both ways, in balance…..a festival of diverse cultural interest….the palette is so full of possibilities. I can’t wait to meet everyone.

There are not alot of young Chinese people coming along to run their parent’s businesses, yet I want to be part of the generation that keeps that street culture alive, for all cultures, arising out of Chinatown. I want to go to China, visit the tea plantations. I want World Hearth to start cultural exchange journeys to the places of tea…..ah…..it is simple….I love the energy of a place that is alive and thriving, with so much diversity and age groups and love of life going on…..and I want to keep it alive, not just for one reason, but for all of them and for everyone….it is the most happening street in Victoria….with its flashing lights and busyness, with the voices of many languages which do come in through the tourists–cultures meeting cultures, with its ambiance of creativity and certainty of daily living and morning tasks of sweeping and evening tasks of pulling in the awnings and closing for the night.

Although there is stress, more importantly there is love in what we are doing and in what we are creating. And, it is truly beautiful for the eye to behold and the soul to enter into…..it is a privilege to live where we live, to have the work we are unfolding, to live the lives we are living, amidst all the colours of life, within suffering and joy, sorrow and happiness…..because in the middle there is love….there is everything that is living….and there is a burgeoning of joy…and when there is a big contraction of stress or pain….I turn my gaze towards all of this, towards all I meet in the day, towards my family and friends, and I breathe out into it all allowing that love I feel to radiate outwards, so the sorrow can turn into gold.