Leo Kwan

Leo Kwan studies my face as I raise a white porcelain cup to my lips and carefully sip the warm, wet substance within. It trickles into my mouth in a syrupy stream - I have never tasted tea so good. Kwan smiles. 'You see,' he says calmly, 'this is how tea is meant to taste.'

I had come to meet Kwan, my fame-radar flashing ferociously, after spotting an all-new release of his book A MingCha Guide To Premium Chinese Tea - Not All Teas Are Created Equal. Since it was first published in 2000, this work has received intense trade attention worldwide, both for its stunning photography and the wealth of knowledge on authentic Chinese tea. Earlier this year, the book was included in the official 74th Academy Award celebrity gift basket, along with a can of MingCha tea.

'We are trying to elevate tea to the same cultural position as wine,' says the softly spoken Kwan, 44, in his Quarry Bay office. 'It should have that place. If you look at how hard the tea producers work, you can understand the worth of the drink. This is our mission.'

Kwan was born in 1958 into a struggling family in Wah Fu Estate, Pokfulam. He and his four younger sisters were raised with the jewels of traditional Chinese wisdom by their parents who had recently moved from the mainland. 'We grew up in a unique Hong Kong way, a real grass-roots Chinese existence, and were very aware of our Chineseness. I grew up learning Taoism and Confucianism. I grew up learning ethics.'

He graduated from the Polytechnic University's design school in 1979 and spent the next seven years working as an art teacher at St Stephens College, then moved on to work as a design consultant for publishing houses. In 1986, he went to Chicago to take a master's degree in fine arts. Kwan was shocked by the Chinese culture in America. 'I had intense culture shock. Chinatown is extremely vernacular - dragons everywhere, lion dances, green, gold and red, restaurant people,' he says.

He took photographs and used his art to challenge the US representation of 'Chineseness'. His work earned him a best young photographer award from Life magazine in 1987. His quest continued as he took students to meet Chinese families and organised a Hong Kong film festival in Jamestown, New York. Finally he realised: 'I could only do so much!'