Traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony
2026-10-17 14:00 - 16:30 (Europe/Helsinki) | address, HLS Mandarin Centre, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Chinese people like to drink tea, and often entertain friends and guests with it. The tea leaf is a necessary in the life of Chinese people.
Tea plants originated in China, although the ancient Chinese first used them for medicinal purposes before developing tea as a drink some 2,000 years ago. Later, they gradually learnt to grow tea plants and use the leaves to make various types of tea.
As regards the method of making tea, the Chinese variety can be classified into green tea, black tea, oolong tea, scented tea, tuó tea (bowl-shaped compressed mass of tea leaves), and brick tea, each consisting of many types.
Drinking tea can quench one’s thirst, dispel fatigue, help digestion and prevent some diseases. Drinking tea for a long period is quite beneficial to people’s health.

Chinese Painting
2026-11-28 14:00 - 16:30 UTC | address, HLS Mandarin Centre, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as guóhuà (simplified Chinese: 国画; traditional Chinese: 國畫), meaning “national” or “native painting”, as opposed to Western styles of art which became popular in China in the 20th century. Traditional painting involves essentially the same techniques as calligraphy and is done with a brush dipped in black ink or coloured pigments; oils are not used.
As with calligraphy, the most popular materials on which paintings are made are paper and silk. The finished work can be mounted on scrolls, such as hanging scrolls or handscrolls. Traditional painting can also be done on album sheets, walls, lacquerware, folding screens, and other media.
Chinese painting and calligraphy distinguish themselves from other cultures’ arts by emphasis on motion and change with dynamic life. The practice is traditionally first learned by rote, in which the master shows the “right way” to draw items. The apprentice must copy these items strictly and continuously until the movements become instinctive. In contemporary times, debate emerged on the limits of this copyist tradition within modern art scenes where innovation is the rule. Changing lifestyles, tools, and colors are also influencing new waves of masters. (Quoted from Wikipedia)

Online cooking lesson- fried dumplings making
2026-12-05 14:30 - 16:30 (Europe/Helsinki)
Our centre will send the list of all ingredients to the participants at least 3 days ahead before the cooking lesson starts at 14:30 on the 27th of June 2026 (Saturday). The participants need to prepare all the ingredients by own selves.
1. The online cooking lesson will be conducted via Zoom.
2. Our Centre will create a group on WhatsApp and add all the participants on it.
3. The Zoom invitation will be sent to you via WhatsApp 5 minutes ahead (14:25) before the cooking lesson starts.
4. During the online cooking lesson, the participants can ask questions, and share photos or videos via WhatsApp group.
5. The participants are welcome to speak to chef directly in class.

The jiaozi (餃子/饺子) is a common Chinese dumpling which generally consists of minced meat and finely chopped vegetables wrapped into a piece of dough skin. The skin can be either thin and elastic or thicker.
Popular meat fillings include ground meat (usually pork, but can instead be beef or chicken), shrimp, and even fish. Popular mixtures include pork with Chinese cabbage, pork with garlic chives, pork and shrimp with vegetables, pork with spring onion, garlic chives with scrambled eggs. Filling mixtures vary depending on personal tastes and region. Jiaozi are usually boiled, steamed or fried and continue to be a traditional dish eaten on Chinese New Year’s Eve, the evening before Chinese New Year, and special family reunions. Particularly, in Northern China, people generally eat dumpling on the Winter Solstice (22 December of each year), a custom signifying a warm winter.
Extended family members may gather together to make dumplings, and it is also eaten for farewell to family members or friends. In Northern China, dumplings are commonly eaten with a dipping sauce made of vinegar and chili oil or paste, and occasionally with some soy sauce added in. (From Wikipedia)

Are you interested in learning how to make dumplings?
Programme on the this event
1. Learning the technique of making dumplings
fees: 200 Rand per person
