For many, China is synonymous with tea.

There are a few special circumstances in which tea is made and consumed in China:
preparing and serving tea at weddings or visiting tea restaurants during holidays is a
traditional way for younger generations to show respect to older generations.
Chinese people also drink tea to celebrate family gatherings and meet ups - for example,
when a child leaves home to go to the university or to form their family.
For New Year celebrations, it is tradition to drink a sweet red tea since this type of tea
symbolises hope that the following year will also be sweet!

The Chinese tea ceremony remains one of the most significant traditions in some modern
weddings, where the newlyweds show their respect to the elders in their families, and
they in turn show their acceptance of the marriage. In Chinese, the expression “drinking a
daughter-in-law’s tea”—which references the tea ceremony—often represents a wedding,
which goes to show just how important this tradition is to this day.

The origins of the tea ceremony go back to the Tang dynasty in China (618-907). This is
hardly a surprise with tea being such a big part of Chinese culture, but there’s more to this
elegant ceremony than just a love of the infusions. When a woman married and brought
tea as part of her dowry, people could see she is or would be loyal to her husband. From
this passage, we get a glimpse of what tea used to symbolize in unions in those days:
faithfulness from a woman to her betrothed.

Today, however, most people see the tea ceremony as a symbol of the families’
welcoming the bride or groom into the family. To Chinese people, drinking that tea
symbolizes the parents not only recognizing but also accepting a new person into the
family.

This ceremony has a particular procedure that involves a lot of things to have into
account. Firstly, the tea ceremony must be started by the bride’s side at her family home
in the morning. After that, the tradition calls for the groom and his groomsmen to go and
pick her up, it is then conducted for the groom’s family at his home. There is no set time
for this ceremony, because in case there was a big family with 50 relatives participating,
then it is something you can't really rush.
TYPES OF TEA
Longjing tea
It is a pan-roasted green tea from Lonjing Village that is located in Zhejian province and is
a valuable one. Currently, its leaves are picked and auctioned for a questionable price
every year thanks to the bushes that are still existing. One gram of it is more valuable than
one of gold. A fact generated through his imperial status granted by the Qing dynasty
(1644-1911). His name means “Dragon Well Tea”.

Tieguanyin
It is a premium variety of oolong tea that originated in the Fujian province, the process for
creating this tea is very complex, it requires nine steps from plucking to drying. It is
famous for its warm aroma and its deliciously intricate taste. His name means “iron
goddess” and is named after the Chinese goddess of mercy.

Green tea
One of the most, if not the most famous tea in China, it has many varieties in the country.
His popularity is attributed to his benefits in health. With properties like antioxidant, anti-
inflammatory, anticarcinogen and anti-radiation in its leaves, and normally consist of
99.9% water, it is one of the most consumed in the Asian country.

Huangshan Maofen
It is a variety of green tea and obviously a famous one, it is grown in the foothills of Anhui
province’s Yellow Mountain. In China, people said that it helps to maintain beautiful skin
tightness and liver health. It counts with a special flavour like an earthy and full-bodied
one as a result of its leaves that are covered in small white hairs and looks like orchid
buds.

Da Hong Pao
It’s a variety of oolong tea that is grown in Fujian province’s Wuyi mountains. There is one
legend that said that the mother of an emperor (Ming Dynasty) was cured by the leaves
from the Da Hong Pao bushes. Is characterized because is darker and heavily oxidized
compared to other oolong varieties and also because six of the original bushes of the
legend remain today, and one kilogram of tea can be sold for$1,025,000.

Bai Mudan
A floral white tea and a full-bodied one, it is made from two young leaves and one pluck of
the leaf shoot. It can be found in tea plantations throughout Fujian province. The brew
leaves a lingering fresh fragrance and it is coloured pale green or golden. The name means
“White Peony”.

Chrysanthemum tea
His origins remount to Song Dynasty. It has a strange but special preparation, made by
steeping dried chrysanthemum flowers and boiling water, usually accompanied by goji
berries and ingredients like cane sugar. It tastes good and looks good. It is supported by
the idea of medicinal uses like the prevention of sore throats.

Junshan Silver Needle

Originating in Junshan Island in the province of Hunan, it is a yellow tea. His flavour is
vegetal, round and very subtle. The tea is grown on the one square km of Junshan island in
the middle of Dongting lake, which makes him a tea preferred on special occasions. The
preparation is special thanks to the visual effect that happens with the leaves, they bob up
and down in the water. As an additional fact, it was supposed to be the favourite tea of
Mao Zedong.

Keemun black tea

One of the most favourite teas in China, produced in the Quime region of Anhui province
since the 19th century. It is a special tea because reminiscent of unsweetened cocoa; a
light tea with smoky notes. It has a characteristic preparation; the leaves are engaged by
the tea makers in prolonged oxidation and withering process to get the characteristic
nuanced flavours.

Pu-er-tea
It is a peculiar but wildly popular tea in China. It is unusual compared to traditional tea,
because is typically packaged as a pressed brick in contrast with the normal loose leaves. It
is a fermented black tea, produced in China’s southern Yunnan Province. Some people say
that has contributed to weight loss, but that is not confirmed by science, in fact, tea has
documented effects on lowering cholesterol.

PREPARATION
The ingredients that are required for the preparation of such an important tea are as
follows: 200 ml of water and 3 tsp tea leaves or 2 tea bags.

Now here we have the proper steps to successfully make Chinese tea:

1. She begins by presenting all the elements with elegance, while smiling gently at the
audience, moving them from left to right and at the end she looks up and looks again at
the audience.

2. Start washing the instruments in a special way, pour hot water into the teapot and
transfer it to the tea pitcher or a large glass, from there pour some into each cup of tea.
To wash it, take the tea tongs and grab a cup of tea and made water in another cup of tea,
with the empty cup begins to rotate it slowly to wash it. Repeat the process until all tea
cups are clean and empty.

3. Use the instruments to serve tea inside the teapot, then add hot water, use the teapot
to serve hot water in the tea pitcher or a larger glass which you use to serve water into
the teacups, then use the tea tongs to grab the tea cups and pour the water you made
recently. Again, use the teapot to serve hot water in the tea pitcher or a larger glass which
you use to serve tea in the teacups and finish the ceremony by showing the tea coups to
the public and placing them in saucers.