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While I've been drinking tea for over half my life, it was only recently that I inadvertently was introduced to the Gong Fu Tea Ceremony at Chaikana. Whilst there I was fascinated at the yixing 'tea pet' that the hot water and tea was poured over. I became obsessed. I MUST have one.

I am now in the possession of an absolutely adorable squirting frog on a snail shell that is exquisitely tiny and shoots water a good 18" out his mouth. But what I'm truly looking for is a dragon tea pet, as I'm quite partial to dragons. Where can I find the best selections of tea pets?

Many thanks!

TeaDragon wrote:But what I'm truly looking for is a dragon tea pet, as I'm quite partial to dragons. Where can I find the best selections of tea pets?

Likewise, quite partial to dragons of Chinese descent ... at least one member has one, and I always forget to save the site. Hopefully the member will post here.

Welcome to TeaChat!

I see GeekGirl has a GORGEOUS dragon tea pet in a photo in this thread: http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... cot#p57389

Ah, photo!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/geekgirlun ... 453917477/

Yep, GeekGirl is the member.

If you cannot find what you are looking for One of our TeaChatters (IPT)(http://www.teachat.com/memberlist.php?m ... le&u=32954) sells TeaPets (http://www.chinese-tea-culture.com/tea- ... -sale.html)

He does not have any dragons at the moment but I am sure if you PM him he would be able to source some!

Why didn't I know this!!!

Sincerely,

Obsessed with Tea Pets

question:

Qilin and Pi Xiu - they look quite a bit alike to the inexperienced. (one horn, teeth, beard, claws, curly tail) Are they different incarnations of the same creature?

The pig ones are adorable!

I'm obsessed with tea pets too.

The Qilin and Pixiu are quite different creatures. Their appearances are supposed to be quite different as well, although they sometimes do resemble each other. The biggest difference is that the Pixiu has a big belly.

According to legend, the Pixiu was an evil creature who ate people and livestock. The king of heaven punished him by only allowing him to eat gold and sealing up his butt so he could not do his doody. So in Chinese culture having a statue of a Pixiu is considered lucky and will help bring gold into a home or business, but will not let it leave.

The Qilin is a benevolant creature who, it says, will not even harm grass when walking on it. It protects the good and is quite vicious when encountering an evil person. Statues of it are supposed to protect the innocent.

Both animals are a mix of other animal parts including dragons, deer, fish, etc and that is why their heads sometimes look similar and are hard to tell apart.

Which is the one who sometimes has wings? I was told my dragon is Pi Xiu from several different sources. I wonder if he is really Qilin? Although he has no pooping ah... apparatus.

Mine looks kind of like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pixiu3.jpg

Here he is:

IPT wrote:I'm obsessed with tea pets too.

The Qilin and Pixiu are quite different creatures. Their appearances are supposed to be quite different as well, although they sometimes do resemble each other. The biggest difference is that the Pixiu has a big belly.

According to legend, the Pixiu was an evil creature who ate people and livestock. The king of heaven punished him by only allowing him to eat gold and sealing up his butt so he could not do his doody. So in Chinese culture having a statue of a Pixiu is considered lucky and will help bring gold into a home or business, but will not let it leave.

The Qilin is a benevolant creature who, it says, will not even harm grass when walking on it. It protects the good and is quite vicious when encountering an evil person. Statues of it are supposed to protect the innocent.

Both animals are a mix of other animal parts including dragons, deer, fish, etc and that is why their heads sometimes look similar and are hard to tell apart.

Great stories IPT, thanks for sharing that.

IPT wrote:sealing up his butt so he could not do his doody.

what is it with the doody fixation? Even the gods mess with the doody?

Anyways, my Pi Xiu also has a round little floor-dragging belly that you can't really see in the picture, so I'm guessing I've got his identity right.

This is one of those depictions that confuses a lot of people. It is a Pixiu. It is a copy of the ancient depictions. A lot of people would say it is a Qilin because it looks like the Ming and Qing Dynasty representations of the Qilin, but the Qilin never had wings.

I love how you use it for incense. Brilliant idea.

Geekgirl wrote:

IPT wrote:sealing up his butt so he could not do his doody.

what is it with the doody fixation? Even the gods mess with the doody?

You guys are too much!

The teapets are very cool, IPT.

Amazing... http://www.chinese-tea-culture.com/tea-ware-8170.html

Stay classy TeaChat!

tingjunkie wrote:Amazing... http://www.chinese-tea-culture.com/tea-ware-8170.html

Stay classy TeaChat!

Heh, yeah, saw that.
Decided not to go there. Glad you did though, hah!