Every year in March and April, spring comes back in China.When it gets warmer with gentle rains and sunshine, new tea buds shoot out. The tea farmers start to greet the harvest time of the year. Chinese people have begun to grow, pick, process and drink tea since ancient times. Tea related customs which reflect the Chinese values of humility, harmony, courtesy and respect have been widely spread throughout the country, and play an important role in the sustainable development of society.The “Traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China”was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2022. It actually involves a total of 44 national-level intangible cultural heritage elements from 15 provinces,suchasWuyi Rock Tea, Green Tea, FuchunTea refreshments, Chaozhou Gongfu Tea Art, etc., which is the "largest volume" of China's applications.
China is the first country in the world to plant tea trees and process tea.The most famous teas are Wuyi Rock Tea, West Lake Longjing, Dongting Biluochun, Anxi Tieguanyin, etc. These poetic tea names can always remind people the fragrance of tea left in the lips. The core skills include withering, leaves shaking and cooling, enzyme inactivation, yellowing, piling, fermentation and scenting.The Chinese people have developedsix categories of tea: green tea, yellow tea, dark tea, white tea, oolong tea and black tea. When added to reprocessed teas, such as flower-scented teas, the result is over 2,000 tea products.
Tea refreshments which are developed in the process of drinking tea are delicate and beautiful snacks with a variety of flavors. Refreshments and tea match harmoniously, focusing not only on flavor and taste, but also on regional habits and culture. Founded in the Qing Dynasty, Fuchun Tea House in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province is well-known in China for its original "Kui Longzhu" tea andic refreshments such as Sanding Bun and Jade Shaomai, etc.
Tea is very popular in Chinese people’s daily life in places of home, workplace, tea house, restaurant and temple. It is an important part of social activities and ceremonies such as weddings and sacrifices.Chaozhou Gongfu Tea Art is a unique traditional tea drinking custom in the Chaoshan area of Guangdong Province. The procedure of tea serving which is called the "Chinese Tea Ceremony" is regarded as the best ritual for hospitality. Recently, "Oven around tea cooking" has become much popular among young people.It originates from the intangible cultural heritage "fire-pond roasted tea" in Yunnan Province. Sitting around the firein winter, laying refreshments besides tea pot, the tea leaves are slowly boiled on the stove. With the fragrance of tea coming to the face, everyone drinks tea and chats, and all the troubles are forgotten.
Through the Silk Road, the Ancient Tea-Horse Road and the Thousands Miles Tea Road, etc., Chinese tea has crossed history and country borders. It is so deeply loved to become an important media for people in China and the world to know each other. It promotes the mutual communication and learning between Chinese and other civilizations in the world. Tea has become the common wealth of humanity.
