Many Shades of Earl Grey— Chinese Social Media As a Mirror of Chinese Culture 格雷伯爵茶的不同色彩— 中国文化在社交网络中的反射
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ESSAY Peter Peverelli Many Shades of Earl Grey— Chinese Social Media as a Mirror of Chinese Culture 格雷伯爵茶的不同色彩— 中国文化在社交网络中的反射 Instagram artist: photogarrett arl Grey tea is my favorite drink Bojue, where Gelei is the transliteration for washing down my break- of Grey and Bojue the translation of E fast. It has been for years. I was Earl. So far, so good. I know Nicolette, therefore delighted to see Earl Grey’s as she likes to call herself, as someone statue in the English port city of New- with an eclectic taste, who can strike a castle earlier this year and to learn a bit good balance between the Chinese tra- more about why this particular tea was dition and foreign influence. She is not named after him. one of those young Chinese who inter- A couple of months later, I read a lace their language with English words note on WeChat, one of the most popu- and phrases, as if their own language is lar Chinese social media, from a former insufficient to describe the thoughts of a Chinese student of mine: “I love to member of the ‘after-ninety’ generation, drink a cup of Earl Grey tea.” Interest- the Chinese designation for people born ingly, while the message was in Chi- after 1990. nese, the name of the beverage was in This is certainly not a typically Latin letters. Apparently, she regarded Chinese phenomenon. I am confronted it as a very foreign thing, something with it daily in my own country. Many that did not have a proper name in Chi- people do not refer to their offspring nese. In fact, it doesn’t. Lipton is mar- as kinderen, the Dutch word for “chil- keting its Earl Grey tea in China as Gelei dren,” but as kids. Most of the readers ESSAY to think that I am a good host, I am not Only a few days after reading that a waiter. However, I also remembered the post on WeChat that had aroused message on WeChat, a friend from my interest a couple of days earlier. China was in town, leading a small Was this merely a coincidence, or was delegation from the bank she works this sudden liking of Earl Grey tea per- haps a fad, a vogue among young and for. We had invited her and her well educated Chinese women, possi- party to have coffee at our home. bly to differentiate themselves from the The moment she entered the front others? After she and her colleagues had door, she stated brashly that she was left, I wanted to check this little theory thirsty, and would like to have a cup of mine. WeChat is an online social of—you guessed it: Earl Grey tea. medium; call it the Chinese Whatsapp. Was this liking for Earl Grey transmit- ted through social media. Had it per- of this text will do so, too, but then haps “gone viral”? Another extremely you are mainly Americans, whose popular medium is Weibo, the Chinese mother tongue happens to be English. counterpart of Twitter, which comes The word kids, by the way, is always with a good search engine and made it pronounced “kits,” because native a good way to start my little research speakers of Dutch have a problem with project. ending words with voiced consonants. Weibo literally means “micro blog” Still, these fellow countrymen do in Chinese. Twitter has been blocked not always refer to their children with by the Chinese authorities for some that English expression. There seems to time. No reason has been publicly be a pattern, a set of contexts in which announced for that decision, but most Dutch kinderen becomes kids. Someone people believe it was because the Chi- should set up a research project to nese government had no control over check this out, but it won’t be me. I was the contents of messages tweeted into trained as a linguist once, but switched China. However, others—in particular to another field two decades ago. those more familiar with the Chinese However, I still have my radar open for cyber-scene—have claimed that it was peculiar language. also a move to let Weibo monopolize Only a few days after reading that the Chinese market. message on WeChat, a friend from I opened the Weibo app on my China was in town, leading a small iPhone and typed in “Earl Grey” in delegation from the bank she works for. Latin script in the search box, to focus We had invited her and her party to my search on tweets that regard the have coffee at our home. The moment beverage as “foreign.” This resulted in she entered the front door, she stated an avalanche of Chinese tweets about brashly that she was thirsty and would Earl Grey tea. And that was by no like to have a cup of—you guessed it: means a collection of posts covering the Earl Grey tea. My first reaction was to past few months, weeks or even days, remind her that our home is our home but only of that particular day. and not a café, and that although I like Although the peculiar nicknames make guessing the gender of the writ- 36 WEBER THE CONTEMPORARY WEST SPRING/SUMMER 2015 ers behind these tweets more diffi- “tea,”which would have produced a cult than regular Chinese names, the rhyming tweet. He had missed that majority of those twitterers seemed to linguistic detail. Anyway, the photo be female. The two friends introduced seems to indicate that his lady friend above are also female, so that already was quite impressed and that is all that was a strong link with the outcome matters. of the search. Most netizens, as they Diana apparently believes that are usually referred to in the China some of her followers are not familiar Daily, China’s prime English language with this type of tea and volunteers the newspaper, associate Earl Grey (and information that Earl Grey is Lapsang Lady Grey, which is also mentioned souchong + bergamot oil + Ceylon tea. frequently) with high-end living. When If you believe that is incorrect, please you are tired, there is no better way don’t blame me; blame her. to boost your spirits as well as your QueenJ confides to us that she is a physique than a cup of Earl Grey and single-minded woman: her favorite per- a piece of cake. More than a few of the fume and beverage are both Earl Grey. messages are accompanied by photos of a cup of tea and a piece of pie. Let’s have a closer look at the first four pages CheckPoint Coffee in Bengbu, of the search result. A young girl (she adds a selfie, Anhui province, introduces Early so we can establish the gender) who Grey tea from Tea Pigs as the best calls herself Yvette shares a picture brand for this product, explaining of her cup of tea and her, also female, companion. A boy (again a selfie, with that it is Himalayan Darjeeling tea a girl [friend?] in the background) scented with Italian bergamot oil. even tweets in English: “A cup of Earl Here we can observe a very Chinese Grey Tea made my day.” The photo of the “cup” shows a paper cup with way of thinking: what has come a plastic lid, much less sophisticated from afar, in particular from abroad, than Yvette’s picture of a China cup. must be good. He also should have left out the word SPRING/SUMMER 2015 WEBER THE CONTEMPORARY WEST 37 ESSAY Businesses are also active. Check- exaggerations about how all aspects of Point Coffee in Bengbu, Anhui prov- his life are so good may be a hint that ince, introduces Early Grey tea from in fact the opposite is true. Many of his Tea Pigs as the best brand for this posts are reminiscences of Chinese food product, explaining that it is Himala- and how good it tastes at home. So, yan Darjeeling tea scented with Italian cake and Earl Grey tea may actually be bergamot oil. Here we can observe a a poor substitute. Extolling something very Chinese way of thinking: what is a very Chinese way of expressing has come from afar, in particular from sarcasm. abroad, must be good, so we should not The post of Zhang, also living in forget to point out the geography of the Canada, strikes me as almost a poem: ingredients, which have been blended in the UK and then shipped to China, to A hazy sky, red maple leaves, a wet be consumed by high-end tea lovers in street; it is the rainy season in Vancouver. Bengbu. The last day of October is already half Chinese residing abroad chip in too. finished. Drinking a cup of Earl Grey [in A Canada-based Chinese, Leeeeeeeeeon Latin script], cleaning my room. Although (sic), tweets completely in English. it is only noon, the unlit room looks gray. “Cake is soo good! Earl grey tea is soo good! Sunshine is soo good! Ohsogood This IS a poem, and a classic Chi- is soo good! Everything in my life is nese one too. However eager Chinese soooooo good.” Zooming in on his may seem to learn about foreign account, I see that most of his posts are regions (and their beverages), in in Chinese, so the choice of English for the end there is no place like home. his tweet on Earl Grey also stresses the Throughout Chinese history, Chinese “foreign” character of this brew. He residing outside the Chinese homeland describes his location as “Overseas, have been writing poetry about their Canada.” Canada alone is insufficient, anguish for being separated from their so he adds the emotionally laden hometown and their friends.