Tea Culture

Tea was first discovered and drunk in China several thousand years ago，and human cultivation of tea plants dates back two thousand years.Chinese tea first appeared in Sichuan，and then to the east and the south，and finally to the whole country.Tea has been spread to the world，and a com plicated tea ceremony has developed It was said that Shennong once tasted a lot of plants and was poisoned many times.

There are some rules for drinking tea one should not drink it up all at once，instead，he/she should first smell it，taste it，then drink it slowly；one should neither pour tea water till the teacup is full nor empty the teapot or teacups while drinkingtea；one should not point the mouth of tea pot to any drinker In Hangzhou，there is a tea museum，the only national museum of its kind，in which there is detailed description of the historic development of tea culture in China.

As to its pronouncing，it had another sound”tey，beside the generally acknowledged sound”cha In the ancient time along the Silk Road, tea along with silk and porcelain began to be exported into other countries in the east. The wordtea’ as a drink in many countries is derivatives from the chinese name of tea Generally speaking, there are two kinds of sound group for tea One is from the present Putonghua. In this group, tea is called cha’. It had been accepted by the Japanese people. In Japanese the written form is exactly the same as the Chinese, with only a little difference in pronunciation. In Persia, it isshai”, in Turkey, it became”,, in Portugal, it is “cha and in russia.

Lu Yu Tea Sage”, Who Wrote Tea Classic: the I st Exper tise book on tea in the world The other group is the Fujian-Xiamen dialect””. Dur ing the middle of ming and Qing Dynasties the accidental overseas fleet began its oriental business trip in Xiamen.

The Categories of Tea

Most people throughout China have a habit of drinking tea daily. Because of China’ s different geographic areas and different climates. there are various kinds of tea. chinese teamay be classified into eight categories according to the differ ent techniques involved in the making of tea

Green Tea

The green tea is an unfermented tea Green tea keeps the original colour of the tea leaves during processing. In order to maintain its green property, the seasoned fresh tea leaves should be fried at 100C to 200C. Due to different drying methods, green tea can be divided into roasted green tea, frying green tea, steaming green tea and sun dried green tea In China, most tea-drinkers drink their green tea in higher quality from glass cups to enjoy the crispy green color while they savor the tea .

Black Tea

Black tea, known as”red tea”(Hong Cha ) in China, is a kind of fully fermented tea. It is a later variety developed onthe basis of the green tea. The degree of fermentation is above 80%o. After the fermentation, the tea is changed into red com pound. Part of this compound can be dissolved in water while part of it can not but accumulating in the leaves. Then the red soup and red leaves are formed. This is why it is called Red tea Black tea mainly includes souchong, congou and fannings.

Wulong Tea

Wulong tea is a kind of semi fermented tea between green tea and black tea. Its process procedures are most complicated In the process, the leaves become slight red. The leaf is greenin center and red in edge. It is called”green leaf with red rim Making Wulong tea needs 7 steps to ensure tea with a bracing and lasting aroma Put Wulong tea leaves into the teapot about six or seven tenths full Pour boiling water over the leaves and cover the teapot with its cap tightly .

Pour hot water over the capped teapot to retain the heat Brew for about half a minute Pour the tea liquid into cups usually four cups from each teapot .

Pour again until the cups filled about three fourths full Wulong tea comes from Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan.

White Tea

White tea needs no sauteing and kneading. It is basically manufactured through sun drying or the weak fire without damaging the white villi. White tea has a good taste, nice ap pearance and fine fragrance White tea is mainly produced in Fujian Province Typical White Tea: Yinzhen; Baimudan; Gongmei Shoumei.

Yellow Tea

Yellow tea has the similar processing with that of green tea. The yellow leaves and yellow soup are formed through obturating in bulk. It is classified as yellow Bud tea, Small Yellow tea and Big Yellow tea Heneiya Bud of Heshan in Anhui Province Mengding Yellow Bud of Ya an Minshan in Sichuang Province .

Junshan Yinya of hunan Dongting Lake Pingyang Yellow Soup of Zhejiang Province.

Scented tea

Scented tea is processed from green tea scented with fresh sweet-smelling jasmine, sweet-scented osmanthus and magno lia flowers, jasmine with the largest number. Jasmine tea is a well-known favourite with the northerners of china and with a growing number of foreigners. Having savored the Chinese jasmine tea, a foreign poet wrote a verse, saying: “I feel the flavor of spring, when I sip the tea of jasmine.

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