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| Chinese Tea
Guide |
Introduction
Tea is made from the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis
plant, native to China and parts of India. Tea was
supposedly discovered by Shen Nong (the Divine Farmer),
sometime around 2700 BC. First mention of tea is
found in the famous herbalist's "Book of Plants,"
which says: "When the Divine Farmer was tasting
the plants of the kingdom, each day he would eat
72 kinds which were poisonous, but when he had tea,
he was cured."
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Tea was used as offerings
in the West Zhou, vegetables in the Spring and Autumn
period, and medicine in the Warring period. Later
in the West Han dynasty, it became a main commodity.
During 300 years between the Three Kingdoms period
and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, especially
latter, Buddhism was popular and Buddhists applied
tea to relieve sleep in Za-zen, so tea trees spread
along valleys around temples. That is why people
say tea and Buddhism accompanied each other in their
development. Till the Tang dynasty tea became popular
in ordinary people. In the Ming dynasty, tea trade
began to play an important role in the social economy,
the "Tea and Horse Bureau" was set up
to supervise the tea trade.
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In the 6th century, a
Buddhist monk introduced tea to Japan and in the
16th century to Europe by a Portuguese missionary.
And tea became an international drink.
Now in China, tea family not only consists of traditional
tea, but also tea beverage, tea food, tea medicine
and other tea products. |
| Tea Culture
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Just as coffee in the
West, tea became a part of daily life in China.
You can see teahouses scattered on streets like
cafes in the west. It has such a close relationship
with Chinese that in recent years, a new branch
of culture related to tea is rising up in China,
which has a pleasant name of "Tea Culture".
It includes the articles, poems, pictures about
tea, the art of making and drinking tea, and some
customs about tea.
In the Song dynasty, Lu You, who is known as "Tea
Sage" wrote Tea Scripture, describing in detail
the process of planting, harvesting, preparing,
and making tea. |
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Other famous poets such as Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai
Juyi once created large number of poems about
tea. Tang Bohu and Wen Zhengming even drew many
pictures about tea.
Chinese are very critical about tea. People have
high requirements about tea quality, water and
tea wares. Normally, the finest tea is grown at
altitudes of 3,000 to 7,000 feet (910 to 2,124m).
People often use spring water, rain and snow water
to make tea, among them the spring water and the
rainwater in autumn are considered to be the best,
besides rainwater in rain seasons is also perfect.
Usually, Chinese will emphasis on water quality
and water taste. Fine water must feature pure,
sweet, cool, clean and flowing.
Chinese prefer pottery wares to others. The purple
clay wares made from the Yixing, Jiangsu province
and Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province are the best
choice.
In China, there are customs about tea. A host
will inject tea into teacup only seven tenth,
and it is said the other three tenth will be filled
with friendship and affection. Moreover, the teacup
should be empty in three gulps. Tea plays an important
role in Chinese emotional life.
Tea is always offered immediately to a guest in
Chinese home. Serving a cup of tea is more than
a matter of mere politeness; it is a symbol of
togetherness, a sharing of something enjoyable
and a way of showing respect to visitors. To not
take at least a sip might be considered rude in
some areas. In previous time, if the host held
his teacup and said "please have tea",
the guest will take his conge upon the suggestion
to leave.
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| Tea Classification |
There are many different types of
teas, which include Green Tea, Oolong Tea, Black
Tea, Flower Tea and many others. Each type of tea
includes various tea brands.
White tea is special and is not very familiar to
most people. Just as its name suggests, this kind
of tea is as white as silver. It is mainly produced
in Zhenhe and Fuding in Fujian Province, but popular
in Southeast Asia. Famous varieties include "Silver
Needle" and "White Peony".
Brick tea, usually pressed into brick shape, is
mainly produced in Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan
and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Brick tea
is made from black tea or green tea and is pressed
into blocks. This kind of tea is popular with minority
people in border regions. The most famous one is
"Pu'er Tea" made in Yunnan province.
Best Ten Chinese teas
Longjing (Dragon Well): Produced at Longjing village
near the West Lake, Zhejiang.
Biluochun: Produced at Wu County, Jiangsu.
Huangshanmaofeng: Produced at Mt. Huangshan in Anhui.
Junshan Silver Needle: Produced at Qingluo Island
on Dongting Lake.
Qimen Black Tea: Produced at Qimen County in Anhui.
Liuan Guapian: Produced at Liuan County in Henan.
Xinyang Maojian: Produced at Xinyang, Henan.
Duyun Maojian: Produced at Duyun Mountain, Guizhou.
Wuyi Rock Tea: Produced at Wuyi Mountain, Fujian.
Tieguanyin: Produced at Anxi County, Fujian.
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