Gaibei vs. Gaiwan

It's interesting.

gaiwan:

gai = the cover of the cup/bowl wan = bowl

gaibei:

gai = the cover of the cup/bowl wan = cup

I think the two terms basically describe the same thing. A cup/bowl and a cover. There are coffee style mugs with a top that they refer to as gaibei, but I have seldom heard the term used even when talking about this. I have heard chabei (literally tea cup) more often than gaibei, and chabei can be used to describe the small tasting cups as well. Gaiwan is the more commonly used phrase and it is used solely in the preparation or drinking of tea; it's not used in everyday life. Some of the older people use the gaiwan for drinking tea, but even this is becoming more rare as coffee drinking proliferates and because the younger generation doesn't have as much interest in tea.

It could also be a regional variation in language. Maybe people in a certain place just call it gaibei instead of gaiwan.

As an aside, I actually searched all over southern China for a specific type of gaiwan that I saw used in some teashops and couldn't find it. heh.

But other than this, my Chinese friends and I don't know. heh.

Mydnight

-------------------- thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

OOPS. heh

an endless night.

Mydnight

-------------------- thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

I think that gaiwan is a special type of gaibei from Sichuan. Nowadays the term gaibei is mostly applied to a lidded mug with or without strainer. Take a look at this site:

The last word should be said by our Chinese friends, though.

Sasha.

actually, that's where i heard it called gaibei; when i was in sichuan. that's why i thought maybe it was some regional variation because i also heard the same thing in sichuan called gaiwan or chabei. the sichuan dialect is very strange and sometimes difficult to understand or even translate into mandarian.

I really don't know, I'm just telling you what I heard. People seldom say 'gaibei' anyway. heh. But I agree with you about you shouldn't call the mug a gaiwan. Still, some people do.

Mydnight

-------------------- thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

In my Chinatown all the boxes are labeled 'chawan' for what you call 'gaiwan'. It is bowl with no handle and the lid fits inside the rim for brushing aside the tea leaves as you sip. You can buy cups with handles where the lid sits on the rim with or without the infuser.

Jim

Mydnight wrote:

Nowadays the

strainer. Take

seldom

cylindrical mug

shades of an endless night.

That's cool, I've not heard chawan used when referring to gaiwan. Where is your Chinatown? That would translate to 'tea bowl' where gaiwan translates to 'lid and bowl', so i guess it's just a matter of semantics. I know the Japanese word for it translates to something more akin to tea bowl.

Mydnight

-------------------- thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

I came out of the closet this year, Denver. Our Chinatown is a bunch of shopettes and large grocery stores strung out for miles along two intersecting major boulevard corridors serving a large Vietnamese population. Anytime I go I come back with whole Peking duck for $12. I saw a new duck style called Ping where a much larger duck is split open and roasted with outstreched wings and legs. One of these days I'll get the special order roasted pig for $200. I previously mentioned the apothecary type glass tea jars sold by several export companies. I ran across a new exporter for rolled whole leaf dong ding, west lake dragonwell and a georgous spring bud(all) green tea. I'm going back to the store and unstocking them on this one. Still no luck finding any green beeng cha. I reported before I found some for $3.99 but I should have tasted before comparing the wrapping to the websites which more than one said it was green. It was cooked. I do like the taste anyway. You drink enough Chinese tea you expect the odd taste.

Jim

Mydnight wrote:

Thing I've always wondered about gaiwans is.. since they're three pieces, don't they tend to fall apart when you're manipulating them in your hand? I could understand two pieces, but with a lid, a cup, and a saucer it seems the parts would be constantly shifting around unless they fit VERY snugly together.

difference?

Ya, they fit pretty snugly together. It mainly comes down to getting used to holding it and using it; also, if you use it to drink or do gongfu cha.

Mydnight

-------------------- thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

Try a small one (Chinese stores in Philadelphia seem to have seasons on them and they're about $5 there rather than the $35 I've seen advertised through the on-line vendors) with a deep indentation in the saucer and the lid that fits inside the cup. It works quite well one handed even.

Good point about the indented saucer seat to hold the cup. In fact the bottom of the cup with leading circular rim and contoured sides is formed to mate with the saucer. I prefer the one hand technique where the lid is used as a strainer versus the two hands where the lid brushes back the leaves for sipping.

Jim

Rebecca Ore wrote:

advertised