In celebration of the spring season, community and tradition, the Traditional Chinese Tea Festival created a space filled with cultural love and balance that holds an influential grip on the city of Baton Rouge.

The Traditional Chinese Tea Festival was held at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library’s Main Library at Goodwood on Saturday from 2-5 p.m. It was the library’s first Traditional Chinese Tea Festival, and the event’s itinerary included tea demonstrations, traditional Chinese dance and Tai Chi movements, and tea sampling from a selection of vendors.

The program opened with LSU PhD graduate, civil engineer and Tai Chi coach Jie Gu giving a proper introduction to Chinese tea as a longstanding, living tradition. She talked about its origin and evolution, different types of tea and how tea ceremonies find harmony in balancing humans and nature.

Gu even demonstrated the serving steps behind a tea ceremony, emphasizing server respect and guest etiquette.

As Chinese tea culture is important to Gu, she also discussed how her role as a Tai Chi instructor has similar significance because it is a hobby that provides health benefits and community-driven customs.

“It’s good for your physics and it comes down to your nerves, and people get more peaceful, more friendly,” Gu said. “You can see how close we are because we have been fostering this friendship since the class started. We didn’t know each other before that, but through the practice and mutual understanding about Tai Chi, we’ve all improved and benefited from it.”

Due to her personal health struggles, Gu started practicing Tai Chi in 2018 as a way to strengthen her well-being. Since then, she has competed in national championships, offered Tai Chi instruction to her coworkers and started teaching free Tai Chi classes at the Main Library in November 2023.

Gu said she was invited to present her knowledge of tea at the Chinese Tea Festival, along with her Tai Chi Club’s dance demonstrations. She explained what has been the most valuable thing she has learned from her experiences both before and at the festival.

“The people really share their true love to you. That is how I feel. I feel like I will not stop, because the people keep inspiring me. It’s not a business anymore. We all do what we can do for free for others, and I feel like we are building a better community,” Gu said. “I just feel like we are really in a good community, and I appreciate the Baton Rouge community.”

Accompanied by saxophone music, Gu’s Tai Chi class dancers performed after the Chinese tea introduction. Their performance commenced the traditional Chinese dance portion of the program.

As jazz saxophonist Eric Whitefield performed in the middle of the room, the Tai Chi dancers gave a Tai Chi sword routine demonstration in a circle around Whitefield. Following this dance that is typically included in competition, a handful of different kinds of Chinese dances were demonstrated to the engaged audience.

Some included were a Chinese classical dance performed by the Chinese Friendship Association of Baton Rouge, two children’s dances performed by children that attend the Chinese Language School of Baton Rouge, and even a Chinese Mongolian folk dance performed by the CFABR. The folk dance was The Horse Dance, which is meant to signify 2026 as the Chinese Year of the Horse; this means creating an atmosphere of freedom, speed and passion.

After a taste of these Chinese cultural traditions, the program shifted into a socialization and tea tasting period. The list of the event’s tea vendors included businesses such as TBR Books & Tea, Rich Tea and Red Stick Spice Co.

Licensed nurse and Rich Tea founder Ciara Franklin described her business as a wellness beverage brand. She brought her flagship product, Mood Tea, which is meant to aid in relaxation through the lavender flower.

Franklin started her business in 2019, motivated by her desire to create wellness beverages that are healthier alternatives. She attends vendor events on the weekends to advertise her nourishing drinks, and she even has her products located in stores in Baton Rouge.

Franklin described the importance of tea as a health benefit in her life.

“Through learning about the different herbs, I learned that there are healthier vices that we can use to cope with daily stresses,” Franklin said. “Those who have children, those who have high-stress careers, instead of going to an alcoholic beverage or an unhealthy substance, you can indulge in tea that creates moments of relaxation, but it’s still healthy.”

Franklin said that she loved seeing the different types of traditional dances that were performed at the festival, and she also loved learning about the Year of the Horse and the energy surrounding it.

Franklin explained how she has had life obstacles that have pushed her in her business objectives, and they have inspired her greatly to balance health and joy in her products.

“I want to be the brand that you think about when it’s a hard day, you got a lot going on, and instead of going to something unhealthy, you go to something healthier — like a tea — and still get that moment of rest,” Franklin said.

Social media coordinator for The Advocate Krysta Mostert explained how she came to the Chinese Tea Festival because she enjoys tea and learning about it. She said that any time there is an event involving tea going on in Baton Rouge, she would love a chance to go to it.

Mostert talked about the significance of tea in her life, and how when she traveled out of state for college, it was something that connected her and her friends. She even joined a club about tea, and she said coming back home seeing the different ways it is grown has staked a great meaning in her heart.

Mostert has spent her free time studying Chinese tea culture for the past eight years now, so most of everything mentioned during the program wasn’t new information to her. However, she believes there is a lot that the Baton Rouge community could learn about it.

“There’s so many intricacies to it — the way you boil it, the water you use, the type of tea leaves you use. Everything makes a cup of tea entirely different,” Mostert said. “I know in the South, we know our Southern sweet tea kind of has a very standard taste to it, but there’s a depth of flavor in Chinese tea that you don’t necessarily see with Southern sweet tea here.”

Mostert said her favorite part of the event was the tea sampling. She described how she loves trying any new tea, and she offered the same sentiment to anybody else willing to do the same.

“If someone ever offered you a cup, you should always say yes.”