Yes! ba1 bao3 … literally, eight treasures! Eight even if there aren’t actually “eight” ingredients because eight is lucky, and that treasure is the same “bao” in “bao bei” (which means baby, honey, treasure, etc). I guess “bao” is the adjective-like part that means “most dearest” and “bei” is the noun-like part that means “treasure-thing/shell.” Yes yes…

There is also “eight treasure tea” from Schezhuan (shechuan? shezuan? sechuan?), famous not only for having all kinds of stuff in it–whole chrystanthemum flower heads and longan and weird orange herbs that look like beans and rock sugar!!–but for the way it is served: each person gets their own herb concoction in one of those little cups with a saucer and a lid, and then the waiter (who has to practice, btw, it’s very difficult) holds this GIGANTIC teapot with an INCREDIBLY long spout… like, seriously four feet long, and swirls the hot water into your cup with extreme force. Then you wait a while (and the longer you wait the more sugar dissolves!), and sip it holding the little cover at a slanty angle like a seive for the herby stuff. They say the 2nd cup is the best because the stuff has had a chance to get undried out.

You could order it in this one restaurant San Jose, and my family actually went there the month before it burned down =O

And then we had it in China and Ryan became obsessed with it and bought a bunch of premade packets to bring home =) But it’s just not the same without the giant teapot =( I must find a restaurant with this service and take you all