Valley Brook Tea

Valley Brook Tea Shop Reports Hate Crime Against Chinese Owner | Eater DC

"In Dupont Circle, Valley Brook Tea, which brews leaves from China's Fujian province, was the site of a disturbing, racially charged attack this week: owner Yunhan Zhang says a man shouted “COVID-19” and “Chinese tea,” told him to “take that mask off,” and then used pepper spray on him in an incident the Metropolitan Police Department describes as a “suspected hate crime.” Zhang shared surveillance video of the attack on Twitter, which had been retweeted about 230 times by midmorning; on the video the attacker can be seen charging in, repeating “COVID-19,” saying “You go away, motherfucker,” and pulling a can of pepper spray from a backpack. Zhang posted photos of residue on his clothes and wrote that he was sprayed on his face, arm, and clothing, that some spray got into his mouth and made him choke when he called 911, and that the burning persisted for hours. He told WUSA9 he believed the assault was racially motivated and noted this was at least the second time he had been attacked (in July someone slapped him and stole from him). Inside the shop he displays a map of his native Fujian province, where he sources oolong, black, and white teas and various teaware, and he tweeted that his business cannot survive ongoing harassment and asked the public to help identify the individual. The report places the incident in the larger context of a rise in anti-Asian discrimination tied to the coronavirus pandemic and rhetoric—researchers say labels like “China virus” used by political figures and some media have inflamed bias." - Gabe Hiatt