Chinese tea ceremonies are one of the oldest traditions in the Middle Kingdom. Besides preparing the tea correctly inter-human relationship is of great importance. The emperors used to invite foreign guests to tea; a ritual to welcome them and to create a harmonic atmosphere. This way of thinking is still present even today. Lao Gu, a master of tea ceremony, and guqin player Wu Na combine two of the oldest traditions of Chinese culture: tea and music. The seven-stringed cither called guqin has existed for more than 3000 years. The guqin was never usually used in ensembles and has stayed a solo instrument over the centuries. The voice of the guqin is difficult to be heard among other instruments and its soft notes can easily be drowned out by the sound of a noisy crowd. This is why guqin players concentrate less on the external effect of the instrument, but more on its private function like meditation and concentration. This musical-classical tea performance is a mixture of rituals and avant-garde sounds. H.-Dieter Jendreyko, an actor and director living in Basel, will read classical poetry such as poems from Li Bai, Du Fu and Goethe.
