Chinese Tea

China is the birthplace of tea.It has been thousands of years since Chinese people started growing and drinking tea.Tea was first used as herbal medicine，called“cha”（tu）.During the treating process，people gradually found that tea was not only able to cure illness，but also tasted fragrant，and could clear away heat，thereafter tea became a kind of indispensable drink in people’s live.In times ofleisure，a cup of tea will cultivate your morality and personality；at busy times，it will refresh you.It is also inevitable for the Chinese host to welcome the guests.

There are wide varieties of tea which are roughly split in four groups:green tea，black tea，oolong tea and scented tea.Green tea doesn’t go through fermentation.It looks jade green and tastes of scents.The representatives are Lungching Tea in Hangzhou Xihu，Biluochun Tea in Suzhou Taihu Tea and Maofeng Tea in Anhui Huangshan.Black tea needs fermentation；it looks dark red，and tastes fragrantly sweet.Qimen black tea in Anhui is the most famous variety.Between green tea and black tea，oolong tea is semi-fermented.Combining the making process of both green tea and black tea，it has the sweet taste of black tea，and the scent ofgreen tea.Scented tea is also called fragrant piece.Dingdong oolong in Taiwan and Wuyiyan tea in Fujian are representatives of oolong tea.Tea is an ideal product toabsorb any peculiar smell，thus people put fresh flowers and new tea together in an airtight space.As the tea has absorbed the fragrance from flowers，it become a scent tea with the scent of both tea and flowers.Most Northerners prefer the heavy-flavored jasmine tea.Chrysanthemum tea，magnolia flower tea，sweet osmanthus flower tea and rose tea are all common scented teas.

Nowadays，tea has been well accepted by people all over the world，and it is given the reputation as one of the world’s three major drinks along with coffee and cocoa.Chinese tea art is prestigious in the world，and was brought into Japan inthe Tang Dynasty，then developed into Japanese tea art.Besides tea，water，and tea set，drinking is now an art worth studying.People feel subtlety by smelling，watching and tasting.Swallow with a mouth-full is solving thirstiness instead of enjoying the tea.One should slowly sip the tea.Generally speaking，we should smell the scent，watch the color，and then sip it slowly and taste.

It can be seen that，Chinese tea culture has become an important part of Chinese culinary culture.

qingquang

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