Tea-Drinking Customs in China

Of the three major beverages of the world-- tea, coffee and cocoa-- tea is consumed by the largest number of people.

China is the home of tea, and drinking tea is a national obsession. The Chinese are the most likely to delight in drinking tea as well as being the most discriminating in the way tea is made and served.

Tea is indispensable in the life of the Chinese people. It is not simply a type of drink, but a transmitter of culture, representing the philosophy, aesthetic views and way of life of Chinese people, from which the spiritual world of the Chinese can be discerned.

The tea-drinking tradition from the Ming and Qing dynasties, which features infused tea, has been inherited in most of China. But people from different areas favor different teas. Generally, people in northern China, northeastern China and Sichuan Province, love jasmine tea; those living in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces favor green tea; and along the southeast coast, Oolong tea is preferred. People from Hunan Province have an interesting habit: they chew and swallow the tea leaves after drinking the infusion.

Distinct customs in different areas and minorities compose the variety of China's tea-drinking tradition.