An Overview of China's Tea Tradition

Welcome back to Hutong School’s website. This is the second post of the China’s Tea Culture series. We hope you had a good time enjoying a cup of tea while learning Chinese and knowing more about China’s everyday life! Today we are going to learn more about the origins of China’s tea tradition, the special events where tea plays a central role, and the most famous teas in China.

Tea has a long history in China. The Chinese emperor Shennong in 2737 BCE discovered Chinese tea when a leaf of tea fell into water the emperor was boiling. From that moment, tea has been deeply rooted in the history and culture of China. Tea was extensively used since the Tang, Song and Ming dynasties.

Chinese tea culture uses different methods to prepare tea. In both casual and formal occasions, tea is consumed regularly. In China, there are several special circumstances in which tea is prepared and consumed, for example as a sign of respect, for a family gathering, to apologize, to express thanks to your elders on one’s wedding day, to connect large families on wedding days, to pass on the tradition, among others. There are many ways of brewing tea depending on the occasion and the kind of tea that is being brewed. The main varieties of Chinese tea are classified as green tea, red tea, Wulong tea, white tea, yellow tea and scented tea.

Thank you very much for reading this fascinating series. Now that you know the basics of this ancient tradition in the Chinese culture, you can explore more about it the next time you go to a teahouse. Hutong School’s staff wishes you a great week and an amazing experience in Beijing! And good luck with learning Chinese!

Discover China & Chinese Culture Yourself