I had my first Tea Egg in Beijing. It's a tantalizingly simple idea:
 
1) Make some hard-boiled eggs.
2) Reduce the water to a simmer.
3) Add a teabag and some spices.
4) Crack the shells of the eggs by tapping around them with a knife handle.
5) Return eggs to the water and simmer for 2-5 hours.
 
The flavors permeate the white of the egg and also create a neat spiderweb effect.
 
When done right, like the ones I had in China, the taste will inspire you to try making some when you get back home. Even when done wrong like this, it's damned tasty.
 
I did these "wrong" in the sense that I didn't follow a fixed recipe. These were "practice" eggs that were near their use-by eggs. One bag of black tea and a tablespoon each of cinnamon and Worcestershire made a nice, barbecue-ey sort of taste but it wasn't quite strong enough.
 
Also, to duplicate the best I had in Beijing, I think the eggs would have to go in unshelled...so the flavors seep in everywhere at full potency.
 
Still, a solid first effort. And I think if you served this to a 9- year-old boy as a "dinosaur egg" it'd go over pretty big.