What was Shanghai's gift to British Queen Elizabeth II on her 90th birthday? A new Guinness World Record, made after 735 people took part in the largest-ever English tea party, thrown by the Consulate General of the UK in Shanghai on Tuesday.

Rows of long, white tables set up on the lawn of the InterContinental Shanghai Ruijin sat British and Chinese guests, who feasted on traditional English scones over black tea. The whole affair was monitored by officials from the Guinness World Records, and tended to by volunteers from local universities.

The new record broke the previous record, made in the UK just last year, which consisted of 691 people.

Toasting to China

"When the Queen rose to the throne, the Prime Minister of the UK was Winston Churchill and the mayor of Shanghai was Chen Yi. Both countries at that time had just been through war," said John Edwards, Consul General of the UK in Shanghai, during the event.

Edwards then extended a royal toast to his Queen followed by a toast to the "friendship of China and the UK."

"Today, the UK and China are thriving societies and economies and important partners," Edwards said, expressing his gratitude to people who "work in and out, night and day" to make this development and cooperation possible.

Jiangsu Province-based entrepreneur Yuan Yafei, who in 2014 purchased British department store House of Fraser and plans to expand the chain to China, delivered a speech as a sponsor of the record-breaking event.

"I joined in a private dinner with Prince William last Thursday in London and told him I would come to this tea party today. The Prince was delighted and asked me to say hello to everyone for him," Yuan said.

He noted that his enterprise is the first private Chinese company to cooperate with British royalty to set up a charity foundation. In March of 2015, he and Prince William visited a refuge for wild elephants in Yunnan Province as part of the foundation's goal to preserve the nearly extinct animal.

Take more tea

The tea party took its theme from Lewis Carroll's classic 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Boards of poker cards dotted a beautifully manicured garden named "White Queen's Garden." A hall serving refreshments was called "Hatter's Hat."

Under an enormous white tent, performances by young students from Wellington College International Shanghai enacted scenes from Alice's Adventures. Huangmei Opera (a school of rural folksong and dance) performed a Chinese rendition of the 16th century comedy play by William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Cardiff University alumni Chen Yang and her husband were invited to the event. She told the Global Times that participating in the record-breaking tea party was an exhilarating experience for her.

"The best thing about the event was that it was family friendly, an occasion for everyone to have a sweet time with their own loved ones," Chen said.

John Edwards, Consul General of the UK in Shanghai (right) talks to Hanscom Smith, Consul General of the US in Shanghai, at the Queen's birthday party.

 

The Consulate General of the UK in Shanghai has successfully challenged the Guinness World Record for the largest-ever English tea party.  

Amikam Levy, Consul General of Israel in Shanghai (right) attends the party.

 

 

 

A tea party thrown by the Consulate General of the UK in Shanghai on Tuesday attended by foreign and Chinese guests broke the Guinness World Record Photos: Courtesy of the consulate

 
Newspaper headline: It’s always tea time