SFist can't even begin to recall the number of times it has aimlessly wandered past the Imperial Tea Court in San Francisco's Ferry Building Market Place and wondered why it appears to be less populated than its thriving surrounds. It always looks so peaceful and calm. It resembles a haven in a pop video where everything important luxuriates in sensuous slow motion as throngs of shoppers speedily time lapse by.

When we can take no more of the Saturday Farmers' Market crowds, when we tire of tourists bumbling around in front of us, when the line for ATM seemingly stretches further than Berkeley, when no little nook or cranny in the Market Place offers total respite from the bustle, we quickly retreat into the tranquil surounds of the Imperial Tea Court, to satisfy our curiosity and find out about the way the Chinese serve and drink tea.