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YELLOWKNIFE
Met by the aroma of brewing tea, the soft plucking sounds of Chinese string instruments, and the multi-coloured jars of Chinese flowers lining the walls, Tom But's tea room seems like a small piece of China in Yellowknife.

Chinese herbal medicine practitioner Tom But sits in his tea room inside D'Orient Spa on Saturday afternoon. - Thandie Vela/NNSL photo

Although a long way from Guangzhou -- the southern Chinese city on the Pearl River where Tom is sometimes called "Master Tea," the Chinese herbal medicine practitioner went to all lengths to create an authentic Chinese tea room inside D'Orient Spa.

"It's just like going to China," he said. "In China, every tea house is like this," he added, except for the gift items on display along with the tea, including a large collection of ceramic and purple clay tea pots, chopsticks, silk cloths, jewellery, shisha pipe sets, and Chinese jade combination Buddhas to improve the feng shui, or attraction of positive forces, of the space.

Before setting up the D'Orient Spa tea room this summer, Tom spent $3,000 to have the furniture shipped in a container from China, including the Chinese beech wood table in the centre of the room, in order to recreate the genuine Chinese tea room experience, he said.

With $30,000 worth of flowers also shipped from China, his stock of more than 100 different Chinese flower teas is the largest variety in the North, he said, and possibly all of Western Canada.

"Tea shops in Calgary and Edmonton might have 10 varieties of flowers ,but I have the most," he boasted.

The flower teas, which are all-natural and contain no caffeine, in addition to a variety of green teas and pure black teas, are sold in five- to six-cup bags of loose leaves, including specialty teas like the Pink Lady, which is billed as a general cleansing and body-slimming tea. The recipes of the special flower combination teas, which also include "sweet dream" tea, "stress-free" tea, and "long life" tea, are so coveted in China that tea shop owners hold publishing rights over the ingredients and ground the products so the components are not visible, Tom said. However, he readily offers the flower combinations of his teas, including the French rose, Hawthorne and honey suckle mixed into Pink Lady, and the jasmin, peppermint, and fresh verbena flower combination of his "brain wake-up" tea.

"Tea is good for your health, it is more hydrating than coffee and makes you prettier," But said, noting he brews 10 small pots each day, and it has kept him looking younger. "I'm 66 and I look young," he said. "It's all the tea."

D'Orient Spa owner Melody But, Tom's daughter, says the addition of the tea room has reinforced the holistic approach of the spa, which has run at the Monkey Tree Mall for eight years.

"Normally when you look at health and general beauty you're looking at the internal out," she said. "So you can do lots of stuff on the surface but if internally you're not healthy, you're only going to see so much of a difference."

With 11 rooms in the spa offering stand-up tanning, vibrations training, skin tightening, laser hair removal, cellulite reduction, acne treatments, eyelash extensions, and nail services, Melody says the spa has helped many people on the surface, but has directed clients to also see herbalists and naturopaths in the past.

She said Tom offers free consultations by appointment at the front desk.

"Now with him to assist with the different types of natural tea remedies, we're able to see better results that way."

With plans to have the tea room permanently in the spa, Melody says it also adds the eastern approach to the western services offered at D'Orient.

"What we do is the eastern and western philosophies put together, so it's a little bit of both worlds," she said, adding the spa once offered acupuncture services, but it was difficult to keep acupuncturists in the city permanently.

Clients in the spa's Ideal Protein weight-loss program are referred to the tea room because drinking a lot of water is a key component of the program, Melody said.

"(Tom) has so many different flavours of tea so you're not just drinking water with no taste all the time," she said.

Tom said the majority of the tea room visitors have been spa clients, but he wishes the tea shop was in a location with more traffic, so more people could know it is there.

"I want people to know I have tea for all those concerned about their health," he said, adding tea consumption is said to reduce the risk of 20 types of cancer including lung, stomach, and liver cancer. His teas can also be used as a remedy for diabetes, rheumatism, arthritis, tight muscles, sore throat and coughing, he added.

The tea room is open during regular D'Orient Spa hours, which are listed as Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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