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as tea lovers happily recalled the fulfilling trips and cultural explorations they had made at a tea expo in beijing, exhibitors from taiwan praised the event for building important channels of communication across the taiwan strait. lu hsueh fen is a teaware artist from taiwan. unlike the neighboring booths which were mainly dedicated to the promotion of various types of tea, her booth was filled with tea utensils – all of which were made under her unique design ethos. "generally speaking, it is quite rare for creators to attend exhibitions and deal with sales-related issues themselves. but i wanted to meet the people who like collecting my work, and understand what kind of artwork these collectors are looking for – and what appeals to them," lu explained. she added that she enjoyed the process immensely, which she said helped her "resonate" with her collectors. lu was not the only exhibitor from taiwan who joined this year's beijing international tea and tea ceremony exhibition. her fellow members also included tea farmers and producers from taiwan. another exhibitor from taiwan surnamed lin expressed her appreciation for the disposable tea cups offered by the expo management for their convenience, both for the visitors tasting new types of tea, and for exhibitors catering to customers sampling the quality of their tea. "it was really pleasant to meet the people attending the expo. they were not only tea lovers but also many trade visitors who impressed us with their professionalism," lu continued. both casual visitors and industry insiders were also impressed with their exhibition experience. there were over 600 exhibition booths at the beijing international tea and tea ceremony exhibition showcasing various brands of tea, tea sets and tea party attire, and involving almost every section of the tea industry supplychain. and 23 of them were from taiwan. for lu hsueh fen, it was the first time that she had attended a tea expo in beijing, and this memorable experience helped her to decide to return to the city to take part in another tea expo in august. "i hope that there can be more exchanges between the museums, art galleries and people involved in the teaware industry from taiwan and the chinese mainland. that way, we can discuss the future direction into the research and development of tea utensils," lu told cgtn. starting in 2011, the beijing tea expo has become one of the most influential tea exhibitions in china, providing a leading trading and communication platform for tea producers, distributors, teaware manufacturers and tea enthusiasts. formerly held once a year, but since 2019, the expo has sometimes been held twice a year to satisfy rising demand for this traditional drink that has helped shape both chinese and asian culture.
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