Tea house in Moscow shares traditional Chinese tea culture with locals

A tea house in Russia's Moscow is introducing locals to centuries-old traditions, offering not only premium brews, but also hands-on experiences in tea preparation and ceremony as China's tea culture continues to flourish abroad.

The tea house offers three floors of cozy tea glades, there are even hammocks built into the floor for relaxing over a nice warm cup of tea.

Although Russia has its own tea traditions—drinking it with treats and sweets—many prefer the aesthetics of just the taste of tea leaves.

"At first, one of the most difficult things was just to convey the process of tea etiquette—you just try and drink tea slowly. Try to go from the start to the end—from meeting the tea to finishing the tea. And it was difficult in terms of how long it took—for all those who live in a big city and are in a hurry and on the run—it doesn’t feel normal to drink tea for two hours. But then many people fell in love with it, when they try and understand that there is taste, aroma, that all these differences make up the tea's own aesthetics—that there is history behind it, knowledge, just the beauty of the moment and you get the opportunity to slow down in the rhythm of the big city," said Denis Nikolaev, co-founder of the tea house.

The atmosphere of the teahouse is different from the hustle and bustle of the city outside. All the calmness here helps the residents of this megapolis sharpen their senses to feel the different tones in the taste, and hear their own thoughts better.

"I like the atmosphere, the candles, the tea itself. Visiting the tea house gives me a sense of a home outside of home. Here I can do my things, get away from all the outside noise at work and elsewhere," said Evgeny, a customer.

"I love the quietness and calmness here. It's like an oasis in a busy city. It gives a chance to relax and slow down—to reflect on a different flow of time outside the hustle," said Olga, another customer.

The tea house boasts a collection of different types of tea available for ceremonies or purchase. And the idea is that tea is more than leaves—it is an art bringing traditional Chinese tea culture to local customers.

Tea house in Moscow shares traditional Chinese tea culture with locals

The death toll from a landfill collapse in the central Philippine city of Cebu has risen to eight by Monday morning as search and rescue operations continued for another 28 missing people.

The landfill collapse occurred on Thursday as dozens of sanitation workers were working at the site. The disaster has already caused injuries of 18 people.

Family members of the missing people said the rescue progress is slow, and the hope for the survival of their loved ones is fading.

"For me, maybe I’ve accepted the worst result already because the garbage is poisonous and yesterday, it was raining very hard the whole day. Maybe they’ve been poisoned. For us, alive or dead, I hope we can get their bodies out of the garbage rubble," said Maria Kareen Rubin, a family member of a victim.

Families have set up camps on high ground near the landfill, awaiting news of their relatives. Some people at the site said cries for help could still be heard hours after the landfill collapsed, but these voices gradually faded away.

Bienvenido Ranido, who lost his wife in the disaster, said he can't believe all that happened.

"After they gave my wife oxygen, my kids and I were expecting that she would be saved that night because she was still alive. But the night came and till the next morning, they didn't manage to save her," he said.

Death toll in central Philippine landfill collapse rises to eight