Chinese Tea Culture

I don't drink classic tea, particularly caffeinated teas; but I'm imbibe an herbal tea now and then. But I learned from our students that hot water is also called tea. Boiling hot water dispensaries are everywhere on campus because one can not drink the water in China. Freshman student, Emma, gave a good information about Chinese tea culture even though she struggled with it. I prefer to see students give honest, personally prepared presentations rather than copy something perfectly scripted from the Internet just to save face.

Tea Garden in China

Chinese people are believed to have enjoyed tea drinking for more than 4,000 years. Legend has it that tea was first discovered by Shennog, who was tasting hundreds of herbal medicines to fast their medicinal power. Since then, tea was originally used for detoxification and mean to be chewed in the mouth. Later, people began to eat it with water In Han dynasty, Chinese people gained a wealth of experience, including different tea species, baking skills, infusing, water selection, tea sets and so on; initially forming a set of tea drinking customs.

Tea as a drink prepared during the Tang Dynasty. In Song dynasty, tea became a popular drink. You can see tea houses everywhere. Someone worked in the house was called tea doctor. New skills created many different ways to enjoy tea. During Ming and Qing dynasty, drinking tea had been an elegant hobby so that many literati like drinking and talking tea to show off themselves. There is a saying that literati drink tea, warriors drink wine.

Tea plant

How does the teach make? First is withering. After people put off the leaves, they evenly place them in house to make leaves dry. The new leaves must be parched in tea cauldrons. Then is rolling and chopped. This step make the smell of tea out of the leaves and easily volatilize when people drinking it. The last step is ferment. It takes four pounds of fresh tea leaves to produce one pound of parched Chinese tea. Different steps decide different species of tea, including black tea, green tea, white tea, yellow tea and dark green tea. In addition, China has many kinds of tea, the most representative are the China top ten famous teas.

Oolong tea being infused in a gaiwan

Tea is a healthy drink which has anti-aging, prolong life and physical effects. It can refresh you when you are tired. It is also good for eyes and teeth. Whats more, tea can prevent cancer and reduce radiation. 

A tea plantation

About how to drink tea, this formed tea arts. Different tea has different arts. For example, Oolong tea art has 36 steps. So, someone calls Chinese tea as Gongfu tea. If you have a chance, you really should see the tea show. You can see tea doctor use long spout of the teapot to pour. It is interesting and amazing. Chinese say tea drinks like life.

Leaves of tea plant

Tea of different fermentation prepared, in cups:  green tea, yellow tea, oolong and black

Tea set

Tea Culture Photos


http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294211-i642-k4835748-Tea_Ceremony_Scam_Shanghai-China.htmlShanghai Tea Ceremony SCAM