High tea the Chinese way

"If you go to an English household, you don't want to offend your host and hostess. Likewise, I had a few Chinese etiquette classes before I went out."

While at the Dianhong Group, Katarina watched tea pickers pluck tender leaves from the tea trees. She also saw the ancient Jinxiu tea tree, which is endemic to Yunnan, planted a sapling and plucked some tea leaves. She says she will never forget those experiences.

At the tea ceremony, Katarina gave a speech explaining that she became fond of Dianhong tea after she first tasted it at Kensington Palace.

"I was thinking at that time why it was so special," she said in her speech. "By coming here today, I know why. I found this place very special, the garden picturesque and the environment friendly. The tea making here is superior."

Keen to share her passion for Chinese tea with more British tea drinkers, she accepted the UK China Culture Association's invitation to become an ambassador for Chinese tea drinking.

Allowing people to see and experience tea culture is the best way to promote Chinese tea, she says. "They'll actually see how interesting and wonderful it is."

Katarina also likes visiting Chinese tea shops to look for green tea and white tea, which both she and her daughter Victoria like, and also for black tea, which she frequently serves to her visiting English guests.

Katarina has attended many Chinese community gatherings in Britain. In December, she presented an award to Chinese actress Fan Bingbing at the opening of the first China International Film Festival in London.

She says she felt warmly welcomed by the Chinese people, and admits this may be due to their fascination with royalty, which began with their interest in the British royals.

"The people I met in China were absolutely fascinated by the royal family. I was treated like a queen out there."

Tea with heart	Jiaotong Tea House in Chongqing