上次在写关于雕塑的那篇文章时，我想起了自己最喜欢的北京咖啡馆--雕刻时光。据我所知，它在北京一共有四家店铺。我去过的第一家店是在香山。店里有一个很漂亮的花园，环境惬意，很休闲。实际上雕刻时光所有的店铺都非常棒，这就很难得了，因为本来在北京能喝到一杯好咖啡不是很容易。 Writing about sculpture last week reminded me of my favourite coffee shop in Beijing. It’s called “Sculpting in Time” and I am aware of four different outlets around the city. The first one I came across was in the Fragrant Hills. It has a pretty garden and a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. In fact all of the “Sculpting in Time” cafes are great, which is a plus, because it is hard to find a good cup of coffee in Beijing. There are the ubiquitous Starbucks, of course, but their sterile, corporate feel is a distinct turn off. Perhaps I am being too hard, as I am interested in trying a new blend of theirs called, “South of the Clouds”， made from beans grown in Yunnan. In these ecologically sensitive times it makes better sense to use local produce rather than stuff flown half way round the world. Although Brazil is still, by far, the number one coffee producer, I was interested to see Vietnam makes it into the top five, with 5.8 million bags a year and if Vietnam can do it, so can Yunnan。 我要收藏 Of course what I should really be drinking in China is tea. There are some wonderful tea houses here, but I have found that they are pretty expensive too. Also, as an Englishman, what I really miss is ”a good cuppa cha!” I am used to black tea not green tea. Black has undergone a lot more processing, including fermentation, which gives it a distinctive taste. When my brother came for a visit I asked him to bring me some English tea. He thought this a tad strange, a bit like “bringing coals to Newcastle”， but brought me two big boxes of extra strong breakfast tea. I do drink green tea and I am getting a taste for it. There is some debate which is better for you and it seemed, when it came to health benefits, green tea was the clear winner. However recent research suggests the jury is still out and both black and green reduce the risks of strokes, heart disease and cancer. So that’s good news and, whether you drink green or black, I hope you enjoy your cuppa!