Chinese Habit of Drinking Tea

In China drinking tea has a long history of 4,000 years. It has become a special phenomenon and a form of art.
It is a indispensable beverage in daily lives of Chinese people.

You can see teahouses scattered on street similar to the ways that coffeehouses are often see in the West. It has such a close relationship with Chinese that in recent years, a new "Tea Culture" is rising up in China, which has a pleasant name of. It includes the articles, customs, poems, pictures about tea, as well as the art of making and drinking tea.

In the Song dynasty, Lu You, who is known as "Tea Sage" wrote Tea Scripture, and meticulously described the process of planting, harvesting, preparing, and making tea. Other famous poets such as Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai Juyi once created a large number of poems about tea. Tang Bohu and Wen Zhengming even drew many pictures about tea.

Although there are hundreds of varieties of Chinese tea, they can be mainly classified into five categories, which are, green tea, black tea, brick tea, scented tea, and Oolong tea.

Chinese people are very critical about tea. They have high requirements about tea quality, and tea ware. Normally, the finest tea is grown at altitudes of 3,000 to 7,000 feet (910 to 2,124m). People often use spring water as well as rain and snow water to make tea. Among the three spring and rain water in autumn are considered to be the best, besides rainwater in rain seasons is also perfect. The most emphasis is on water quality and taste. Fine water must be pure, cool, and clean flowing.

Chinese prefer pottery wares to others. The purple clay wares made from the Yixing, Jiangsu province and Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province are the best choices.

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. It signifies respect and the sharing of something enjoyable with visitors. To not take at least a sip might be considered rude in some areas. In previous times, if the host held his teacup and said, "please have tea", the guest will take this gesture as a suggestion to leave.

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