Sichuan province is renowned for several things. Its mountainous regions are the last remaining home of wild pandas, its cuisine is spicy like fire, and its teahouses are the envy of China. These factors entwined have conspired to make Chengdu one of my most favourite places in this country. The setting is beautiful, the food is insane, but the tea – the tea! – is to die for.

The tea served at the glorious, bamboo-encircled tea garden at our hotel is no exception. There is never any rush here: you simply purchase your tea, and then the table is yours for as many hours as your heart desires. Many hours can be happily idled away sitting in companionable silence watching other imbibers play endless rounds of competitive cards, slouched in their deep, comfy chairs, all the while mainlining sunflower seeds and nicotine.

We place our orders. First up, two tall, clear glasses are brought to the table. (Over the course of several days I learn that the etiquette varies according to what one has ordered. Some teas, like Chrysanthemum and Red Date, will arrive already steeped, while others are brought out dry in the bottom of the glass, and still others arrive in tiny ziplock pouches.) At this point, a battered copper teapot with an ungodly long spout is swiftly produced. Skilled hands pour scalding water deftly from a great height; the stream hits the tea-leaves exactly, stirring them up like the grounds of the Yangtze.

'Covered in a Sweet Dew Tea' (l) and 'Fragrant Pearl of Crab's Eye' (r)

Steam curls in the cool air. Only one-third of each cup is filled - first one, then the other - and only after a period of steeping are the glasses fully topped up. Each time you drain your glass, a black-panted, mandarin-collared waitress materialises to refresh your glass. The tea's flavour is markedly different each time: today, mine is by turns earthy, then sharp, then a more mellow version of its earlier selves. I notice the magnolia tree that was in bloom when we arrived (flirting with the rest of the compound with its deep blush of pink and cream) has lost its flowers in just two brief days. Its twiggy branches are now shyly sporting pale green leaves, and the flowers' formerly glorious petals have fallen down in amongst the mondo grasses. Spring moves with a sure, swift hand here. Equally, the water replenishing our depleted glasses travels in a smooth, unwavering arc. The line between hand-kettle-water-leaves is steady and unyielding.

We spend hours here, reading and talking. Sometimes, I write and Andrew sketches. We play game after game of cards, to the astonishment of our companions. The sight of two ‘big noses’ playing cards seems to cause quite a fuss (and much amusement). The world stops.

Detail from former salt merchant's home; Chengdu tea garden

When the stomach rumbles, we consult the list of ‘little eats’ on our table. Big bowls of spicy handmade noodles with crumbled pork, and unctuous, silken wanton soups are put away. When we want something simple, we order basic fried rice, which is served with just a little egg, some chopped shallots and a tiny side-dish of the most delicious pickles.

The tea list here reads like poetry, and I have become addicted to trying new varieties. Each section of the menu is more wonderous than the last, right down to the varieties of cigarettes on sale, which have names almost as whimsical as paintings.

Some of the enchantment reads like this:

JASMINE TEA
snow in the green pool;
litchi dragon chrysanthemum;
colored hair peak of the highest grade;
craft coloured hair peak;
the silk city reveals the buds;
fragrant pearl of crab's eye

CHRYSANTHEMUM TEA
raise the body chrysanthemum tea;
maintain the skin chrysanthemum tea;
make eye bright the chrysanthemum tea;
empty worries the chrysanthemum tea;
relieve summer heat the chrysanthemum tea;
chrysanthemum tea of silver tangerine;

FRUIT TEA
the usual suspects (apple, orange, lemon) are listed, but also 'Shirley's Fruit Tea';

GREEN TEA
blue mountains and green waters tea;
make man's tea bitter in millenium;
covered with a sweet dew tea;
tea of snow bamboo of high Mei;
fit the melon film tea six times;

BLACK DRAGON TEA
ginseng black dragon tea;
dongding black dragon;
iron goddess of mercy;

WHITE TEA
white peony;
silver needles

NOURISH TEA
powerful army tea

SPECIALLY MAKE TEA
tendril-leaved fritillary bulb tea;
the benefit of the longan is angry;
sober up tea;
lover rose;
the litchi maintains the skin;
the snow pear maintains the skin;
the seed of the boat-fruited sterculia moistens the throat te [sic];

SPECIALLY PUSH THE FRESH FRUIT JUICE IN SUMMER
watermelon juice;
snow pear juice;
pineapple juice;
cucumber and juice;
tomato juice;

CIGARETTE
red sedan chair;
soft cloud;
white sedan chair;
blue sedan chair;
gift third five-year plan period;
specially pure third five-year plan period;
nephrite

And so, with a bamboo garden and a simple menu, Sichuan makes me fall for China all over again.