The Chinese art : Gong Fu Cha 1,What is the meaning of "Kung Fu Cha"?

The Chinese art of tea drinking dates from Ming dynasty (16th century), thus it has a 400 year old history. It's a tea brewing process. In Chinese, Cha is "tea". For "Kung Fu", you might be familiar with one of it's meanings - martial arts. But it has more meanings in Chinese - hard work, labor, level of achievement, skill, free time, etc. Kung Fu Cha is the Chinese tea brewing process that has a little bit of ALL these meanings - you will find out why when you go through the whole process yourself. 2. What classes of tea are appropriate for Kung Fu Cha? Oolong class . Kung Fu Cha uses YiXing teapots that retain a high temperature during brewing. High temperature is what it takes to extract flavor from Oolong. However, tender tea classes like green tea should NOT be brewed with Kung Fu Cha. 3.What gadgets do you need? (1)YiXing teapot (must) - YiXing teapot is slow in losing heat. Small (personal preference is below 6 oz) and deep teapot is preferable for best result. For convenience, bigger teapots can be used (the trade off is a lesser degree of control over flavor). (2)Teacups or Gai wan (must) - that is, if you don't want to drink direct from the teapot. 3-4 cups of about 1 oz each is fine, depending on the size of the teapot. (3)Tea Boat (not a must) - quite a bit of spill and waste water is produced during the process. The tea tray holds

such water so you don't have to wipe it off the table. It might seem to be just for convenience but it's BIG convenience. (4)Tea Tools (optional) - in the tool set, there are tea shuffle, funnel, tongs, digger, tea needle. You won't get into much trouble though if you brew without the tool set. (5)Tea (must) - need no expert to tell tea is a must. (6)Faircup (optional) - transitional container when teacups are full but tea in teapot has to be emptied to avoid overbrewing. (7)Strainer (optional) - screens out small pieces of tea leaves. (8)A pair of hands (must), and perhaps your mouth too. (9)Source of hot water (must) - You can use a variety of source, say, a pot heated on stove, an electronic heating pot, etc. Just make sure whatever you use can give you boiling water.

4, What is the Ritual detail? Heating the teapot When the water begins to simmer, a small amount is poured into the yixing teapot which is set on a large deep dish known as a 'tea boat'. The teapot is covered with its lid, then emptied into a reserve teapot. Preparing the leaves

Leaves are placed inside the teapot: It should be half full with water and leaves. A little water is added to rinse the leaves, then poured into the reserve pot. Preparing the cups The water from the reserve pot is poured into the tea boat around the teapot. Two cups made from Yi Xing clay - one small and one large - are turned over and set in this water to warm. First infusion The teapot is filled to overflowing to expel the scum. The teapot remains in the boat, covered with its lid, and water from the kettle is poured over it. The drop that remains on the spout of the teapot is observed until it disappears, this indicates that the infusion is ready. First tasting The two warmed cups are set on their saucers. The large cup, which is used to inhale the tea's aroma, is filled and emptied into the small cup. The drinker inhales deeply from the large cup in order to appreciate the tea's aroma, and then drinks from the small cup, sipping slowly. The process can be repeated three times using the same leaves and procedure. In this case, the tea boat must be emptied regularly to avoid the water cooling. After three infusions, the wet leaves are replaced by fresh ones. Prepared in this way, the tea is quite strong and must be savoured as a liquor in very small quantities. 5,What meaning about Host and Guest

The concept of Host and Guest is a metaphor in Buddhism relating to the relationship between people. Knowledge, effort, work, craft, art, expression, flow from one individual (the Host) to another individual (the Guest). This natural flow may be reversed at different times, so that the Host and Guest trade places. In serving Tea, the Host provides for the Guest and in so doing experiences caring for another, subduing the ego and honoring another. The Guest in turn, learns to accept kindness and benefit from another and discovers ways to show appreciation and gratitude. At the very heart of Cha Tao, is training in regard for one another. Social grace, etiquette, and good manners are merely and expression of this regard. Cha Tao is not a ceremony or ritual, rather it is a vehicle to express care for another. 6,About Mood to use Gong Fu Cha In traditional Chinese culture, meditative states are achieved through activities other than formal sitting meditation. Tai Chi Chuan is often referred to as "moving meditation" because of the intense concentration and slow detailed movements performed with the entire body, which develops the same kind of heightened aware states of mind as meditation. The practice of Chinese Calligraphy also develops this heightened aware state and uses a free unconscious mind to write natural, organic characters free of contrivance. In Gong Fu Cha, the slow, deliberate, fully involved state present in the practice of Tai Chi Chuan and the natural, smooth, uncontrived and elegant brushstrokes of Chinese Calligraphy both are present, propelling the practitioner into a special meditative state open to the appreciation of

the beauty that surrounds the Art of Tea. The tea preparation is not fixed. There are no formulas or recipes for proper tea preparation. Each tea, each session, each group of guests all affect and change the tea experience. No two teas are alike and even with the same tea, you will experience a unique aroma, taste and ambiance each time you perform Gong Fu Cha. This is the fascination of the Art of Tea. 7,About Gong Fu Chas Lesson The Gong Fu Cha experience is actually a series of lessons in the development of the senses and a quieting of the mind, greatly influenced by Buddhism, which spread the art of tea drinking throughout Asia. In the preparation of and serving of very fine teas, the host develops his listening and sensitivity skills in regard to his guests. The guests learn how to be in the moment and develop, heighten, and refine their ability to smell, taste, hear, and see, as well as expand their awareness with a pervasive mind. The host begins long before the guests arrive by preparing the space in which the tea is to be served. As is a common Buddhist practice, clean lovingly the floor, table, objects, and environment in which the tea lesson will take place. Use a fine wooden table or use a fine, dark, tablecloth over a common table. Heat very good spring water in the glass or ceramic kettle to the point of a very low rolling boil and maintain the temperature with a low heat setting. Arrange the tea tray, select and arrange the pots and cups, the tea scoop, tea utensils, and waste water vase on the tea table. Be artful and mindful (concentrated) in your arrangement, but remember not to be too contrived (don use a

symmetrical formula), rather, create a pleasant, organized layout that is ergonomically convenient for you to use. The quality of the objects will express a natural beauty. These actions will prepare your mind to receive your guests with gracious elegance. When the guests arrive, greet each one warmly and show them where you would like them to sit, assigning seats that make them feel relaxed and cared for. Tell them that you have prepared an oasis from the mundane world outside the tearoom. Ask that they relax and think only of the experience they are about to have and leave their dayto-day cares and concerns outside of this room. They can pick them up again when they reenter the ordinary world. Explain that like meditation, this is a special place and time in which the mundane world does not exist. Turn off the ringer to your phone and ask your guests to shut down their cell phones. When the guests are seated, immediately begin by choosing a pot and tea. Discuss why you chose this particular pot and tea and explain what they are to expect from this tea: its fragrance, its taste, where it is grown, what is its classification, introduce the tea like a good friend, whom you would like the guests to get to know. Talk about the Yixing pot and why you use it: very fine clay grains so that it holds water without a glaze; the seasoning of fine teas in the pot over many years that enhance the flavor of teas served in this pot. Place the pot and the tall cups into the tray arranging them so that the cups are touching one another, explain that when you pour water into them you are going to pour continuously over them, filling each one in turn without a

break, very much like a Tai Chi Chuan player moves continuously from movement to movement or a calligrapher draws a character smoothly, blending lines, joints, curves and strokes so that it cannot be determined where the brush touched down on the paper. This action heats the pot and cups so that the water temperature does not drop when the tea steeps and is served. Give each guest a tall cup filled with hot water by placing one on each of the guests tea tray settings next to their short cups. Take your own tall cup and place it next to your short cup on the tea tray. Ask the guests to take the tall cup and pour the hot water into their short cups, emptying their tall cups. The hot water in the short cups can be drunk as a palate wash to neutralize their palate for the tea to come. Do the same with yours. Empty the pot of hot water by pouring off the water into the waste-water vase. Take the selected tea and pour some into the tea scoop, enough to equal one third the volume of the number of cups, ie: two cups of dry tea volume for six cups of water. Smell the dry leaves and pass the tea scoop to your guests to also smell the dry leaves. Discuss the aromas sensed. Open the pot lid and place the tea collar over the opening. Pour the dry leaves into the pot. Cover the pot and shake the leaves in the pot. This will hydrate the dry leaves somewhat because of the residual water left in the pot. Open the pot lid and smell the slightly hydrated leaves; the fragrance will be distinctly different than the dry leaves fragrances. Pass the pot around for your guests to smell the pot and ask each guest to describe what they smell. Suggest some language to describe the aromas, like: musty, toasty, green, sweet, nutty, fruity, etc. Ask the guests to return their tall cups to

the tea tray and arrange them in a circle with the sides of the cups touching. Ask that they remember which cup is theirs. When the pot returns, hold the pot over the waste-water vase and fill the pot with the heated water from the kettle. If bubbles form, tilt the pot slightly to pour off the bubbles into the waste-water vase. Cover the pot, let your internal sense tell you when the tea is ready, just a few seconds will do. Quickly pour the tea into the tall cups arranged in a circle in the tea tray holding the teapot handle and cap down by the small knob at the top of the lid. Keep the teapot close to the cups so that the water does not cool too much. Use a circular pouring motion called: "General Kuan Reviews His Troops", filling each cup partly and thereby controlling the strength of the steep for each guest. For a stronger steep pour later, a lighter steep, use a earlier pour. For an equal steep, divide the early pour with a later pour. If you know your guests preferences, you can cater to each accordingly. Ask your guests to take their tall cups back to their tea trays by grasping the tall cups from the top sides with thumb and forefinger and with a finger under the tall cups foot for support and to avoid burning their hands. Invite them to smell the tea broth in the tall cups and then pour the tea broth into their short cups, emptying the tall cups. Ask them to smell the tall cups with an inhalation at the mouth of the tall cup. Caution them to breathe out away from the cup so as not to adulterate the aroma of the tall cups with their breath. A smooth motion of bringing the tall cup to the nose to inhale and then away from the face to exhale crates a rhythm like waves flowing in and out from the shore. Do the same with your cup and have a

discussion about the aromas that can be discerned. Explain that this first steep is just a wash of the tea leaves that have not really opened. Treat this steep as a prelude to the rich intense aromas to come in the subsequent steepings. When there is no longer any aroma in the tall cups to smell, place the tall cups back on the tea tray in a circle with the sides touching once again and pick up the short cups to drink the tea broth. Ask your guests to sip a small amount of the tea into their mouths and push and pull their tongues against the roof of their mouths while exhaling through their noses. This action will enhance their taste of the tea since we taste through our sense of smell. They may swallow the tea broth after a few tongue movements and try to pick out and describe as many tastes as they can. Direct your guests to continue to sip and taste the tea broth from the short cups until the cups are emptied of their broth. Do the same with your short cup demonstrating and explaining as you go along. After everyone has finished their tea, ask each guest to continue to tap their tongues on the roof of their mouths while opening and closing their mouths. Explain that although unusual, this action is not gauche or impolite, just the best way to taste. They should find that their mouths are coated with a residual flavor of the tea. This is known as "Lau Mei", remaining flavor and only occurs in very fine teas. Now open the pot lid and smell the leaves in the pot and then the lid. They should smell distinctly different. The leaves will smell pungent and harsh, almost irritating to the nose, while the pot cover will smell sweet, floral, and quite pleasant. Pass the pot and lid to your guests and explain that very good tea must possess the

characteristics of wonderful smelling pot lid and strong pungent leaves. This is because very good tea keeps its most harsh qualities in its leaves while releasing the most delicate pleasant scents. Explain that the short steep times keep the pungent and bitter elements in the tea leaves from emerging into the broth. Flavored or adulterated teas that may be fakes or copies will have the characteristic of the leaves, cap and broth smelling the same. After the teapot returns to you, refill the pot with hot water from the kettle. The three variables in steeping tea are: Amount of leaves, Water temperature and Time of steep. Since the amount of leaves are now fixed in the pot you can only control the remaining two variables: Water temperature, and time of steep. Steep times must change as you go through the subsequent rounds of steeps, from quick in the first round to longer steeps in subsequent rounds. If you allow the water in the kettle to cool naturally, you must adjust the steep times accordingly. Use longer steep times with cooler water. Delicate less oxidized, greener teas are best with cooler water. All timing and measurements should not be by clock or thermometer. This is an Art practice and must be done with our natural, internal senses. It will take years of steeping many different kinds of fine teas to be able to truly maximize each teas excellent qualities. Be patient and keep trying. Explain all this to your guests and if you have experienced guests, invite them to time a brew or pour the tea. This is now the second steep, allow more time for the tea leaves to release their essence into the water, perhaps twenty seconds will do. Quickly pour the tea broth into the waiting cups in the "General Kwan Reviews His Troops"

pattern once again, remembering each guest preference in strength of steep. Invite your guests to pick up their cups and smell the broth once again. Ask them to pour out the tea broth from the tall cups to their short cups and again continuously smell the tall cups and exhale away from the cups in a rhythmic wave. Discuss the aromas and return the tall cups to the tea tray in a circle pattern once again with the sides of the cups touching. Invite your guests to drink the tea broth from their short cups and discuss the flavors. Remind them to tap their tongues and exhale as before. Open the pot lid and smell the tea leaves and the pot lid and pass the pot around to the guests as before. Ask your guests to note any changes in the aromas of the cap and the leaves. The tall sniffing cups, the tea leaves, and the pot lid should all smell different from each other and different in each successive steep. The fragrances are related but unique. The tea broth should taste similar but different from before. When the pot returns to you, refill with hot water from the kettle and time the steep. When you think it is ready pour the tea broth into the tall cups once again and serve. The guests should know what to do by now but will be reminded by your doing the same action with your cups; Smelling the tall sniffing cups and sipping from the short cups. This time when you pass the teapot around, ask your guests to examine the leaves in the pot and take one out for them to look at on a white background, an extra tea tray will be a good backdrop to examine the leaf. Explain that different teas use different leaves. Some use the larger lower leaves and some the small growing tips. When the growing tips are used, they are often in clusters of three. Note the color of the leaves. Greener leaves have

very little oxidation and hydrate to almost their original shape and color. Oxidized teas will have brown withered leaves. This is a good time to talk about the rarity of whole leaf teas which must be picked by hand in the early hours of the day before the sun beats down on the leaves, prematurely oxidizing and shriveling the tender, new leaves. Machines would cut and break the leaves. Broken leaves release their essence all at once and often release their bitter essences as well as their sweet floral elements, making them useless for this kind of tea drinking experience. At the next steep, invite your guests to smell your sniffing cup without touching it. Then smell theirs while they hold their cup out for you to smell. The cups should smell different. Invite them to do this with each other and discuss the experience. Explain that very fine teas have the ability to interact and change with fragrances and essences around it. Each persons?body chemistry alters the tea fragrance into a unique fragrance for that person, that environment, and that time. Each time you have tea, the experience will be distinctly unique. The same tea will taste uniquely different each time you drink it, creating a fascinating, infinitely variable experience. Continue the rounds of steeps until you can taste the water through the broth and the fragrance in the sniffing cups become faint. The exhausted tea can be saved to steep up to five minutes in a large pot and drunk as a very good "ordinary " tea at another time. If you want to change teas, you may do so somewhere around the fourth or fifth steeping to compare different teas. If you choose to do so, choose contrasting teas for

your guests to experience. Compose a pageant of different teas for your guests to compare and contrast. This is your opportunity to be an artist and compose wonderful, unique tea experiences for yourself and your honored tea guests. Try reading or composing poetry about tea or look through art books. This will enhance the enjoyment of the tea experience. When you are finished serving tea, boil the cups in a clean pot of water and remove to air dry. Scrape out the tea leaves and dry them. Allow the pots to air dry. Put everything away. As you get better at the Art of Tea you can choose different environments like outdoor settings in the woods, mountains, river, ocean or lakeside, or different teahouses you may find. You might steep two teas simultaneously and compare them as you drink them together. Have fun being creative. When the tea leaves are truly exhausted, you can dry them and stuff them into small pillows whose fragrances will remind you of your wonderful tea experiences with good friends.

Drinking Gongfu Tea

It is a Chinese custom to treat guests with tea. However, people in east Guangdong and south Fujian have a special way of preparing tea, called gongfu tea. The tea sets from making gongfu tea are very small. The pottery teapot is as big as a fist and the white and transparent teacups are as small as tiny liqueur glasses. In

addition they use a small charcoal stove, a small water kettle and a porcelain base for holding tea sets. Spring or well water is the best for making gongfu tea. Water is boiled with olive stones, which give out high flames and the delicate fragrance of olives. Before making tea, first the teapot is cleaned with boiled water to get rid of the remaining tea flavor in the pot and make better tea with a warm teapot. Then a big handful of tealeaves is put into the teapot till they almost reach its rim. After the water is boiled, one must lift the kettle high to pour hot water into the teapot. The water is continually poured even when it overflows, so as to get rid of impure materials and foam, and to make mellow tea. After the lid is put on the teapot, boiling water is poured onto the teapot. In this way, the tea will swell in no time. A few minutes later, the tea can be poured into the cups, which are arranged in a circle. The way to pour tea is special. It is poured with a circular motion into each cup. In this way, the color and consistency of the tea in all the cups are the same. To avoid creating foam and scattering the fragrance of tea, the teapot should be held close to the teacups. When the tea is ready, the teacups are presented to guests and elders with both hands. It is mentally refreshing to see the yellow and limpid tea and smell its delicate fragrance. The first sip seems slightly bitter, but a while later, the sweetness of the tea can be savored. Wulong (black dragon) tea is the best variety for making gongfu tea. Half fermented, Wulong tea is as mellow as black tea and as refreshing and sweet as green tea, complete with lingering

aftertaste. According to research, Wulong tea helps prevent and cure illnesses, prolong life and prevent arteriosclerosis and cancer. Guangdong's Wulong tea comes from Anxi in Fujian Province. Legend has it that the first cultivator of the tea as named Wu Liang. One day, Wu Liang went home after he had picked several pounds of mountain tea and caught a river deer. In the evening, he was busy with killing the river deer, and didn't have enough time to dry the green tea. The next day, he found the tea in the basket had fermented on the way back and after having been stored in the basket the whole night. He fried the tea at once. To his surprise, he found that the tea tasted very mellow, with no bitter and astringent taste. Soon Wu Liang taught his fellow villagers how to make the tea. Almost everyone in his village liked the fermented tea and they named it Wu Liang tea. In the south Fujian dialect, liang and long are two homophonic words. As time went by the tea was called Wulong tea by later generations.

Chinese Tea Guide Tea is made from the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant, native to China and parts of India. Tea was supposedly discovered by Shen Nong (the Divine Farmer), sometime around 2700 BC. First mention of tea is found in the famous herbalist's "Book of Plants," which says: "When the Divine Farmer was tasting the plants of the kingdom, each day he would eat 72 kinds which were poisonous, but when he had tea, he was cured."

Tea was used as offerings in the West Zhou, vegetables in the Spring and Autumn period, and medicine in the Warring period. Later in the West Han dynasty, it became a main commodity. During 300 years between the Three Kingdoms period and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, especially latter, Buddhism was popular and Buddhists applied tea to relieve sleep in Za-zen, so tea trees spread along valleys around temples. That is why people say tea and Buddhism accompanied each other in their development. Till the Tang dynasty tea became popular in ordinary people. In the Ming dynasty, tea trade began to play an important role in the social economy, the "Tea and Horse Bureau" was set up to supervise the tea trade. In the 6th century, a Buddhist monk introduced tea to Japan and in the 16th century to Europe by a Portuguese missionary. And tea became an international drink. Now in China, tea family not only consists of traditional tea, but also tea beverage, tea food, tea medicine and other tea products.

Chinese Tea It is said that a Chinese emperor was sitting under a tree when leaves fell into the pot of water he was boiling. He drank the water and found, to his surprise, that it made him feel uplifted and revitalized. He concluded that the leaves had caused this and so brought some back for further experimentation. This small incident triggered the beginning of tea drinking in China and in the world. According to another legend, tea was discovered by a poor woodcutter who was chopping trees in the hills when he

saw several monkeys plucking leaves off a tree and chewing them. He tasted some of the leaves, liked it and brought some back to the village. He told others of his discovery and soon, everyone was adding leaves from the tree to their drinks. Tea history and culture According to Lu Yu, the writer of the book Tea Classics in the Tang dynasty, Chinese tea enjoyed a more than 4000 years history. Tea was used as offerings in the West Zhou, vegetables in the Spring and Autumn period, and medicine in the Warring period. Later in the West Han dynasty, it became a main commodity. During 300 years between the Three Kingdoms period and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, especially latter, Buddhism was popular and Buddhists applied tea to relieve sleep in Za-zen, so tea trees planted along valleys around temples. Till the Tang dynasty tea became popular in ordinary people. In the Ming dynasty, tea trade began to play an important role in the government economy, the "Tea and Horse Bureau" was set up to supervise the tea trade. In the 6th century, a Buddhist monk introduced tea to Japan and in the 16th century to Europe by a Portuguese missionary. And tea became an international drink. Now in China, tea family not only consists of traditional tea, but also tea beverage, tea food, tea medicine and other tea products. Just as coffee in the West, tea became a part of daily life in China. You can see teahouses scattered on streets like cafes in the west. It has such a close relationship with

Chinese that in recent years, a new branch of culture related to tea is rising up in China, which has a pleasant name of "Tea Culture". It includes the articles, poems, pictures about tea, the art of making and drinking tea, and some customs about tea. In the Song dynasty, Lu You, who is known as "Tea Sage" wrote Tea Scripture, and detailed described the process of planting, harvesting, preparing, and making tea. Other famous poets such as Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai Juyi once created large number of poems about tea. Tang Bohu and Wen Zhengming even drew many pictures about tea. Chinese are very critical about tea. People have high requirements about tea quality, water and tea wares. Normally, the finest tea is grown at altitudes of 3,000 to 7,000 feet (910 to 2,124m). People often use spring water, rain and snow water to make tea, among them the spring water and the rainwater in autumn are considered to be the best, besides rainwater in rain seasons is also perfect. Usually, Chinese will emphasis on water quality and water taste. Fine water must feature pure, sweet, cool, clean and flowing. Chinese prefer pottery wares to others. The purple clay wares made from the Yixing, Jiangsu province and Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province are the best choice. 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, a sharing of something enjoyable and a way of showing respect to visitors. To not take at least a sip might be considered rude in some areas. In previous time, if the host held his teacup and said "please have tea", the guest will take his conge upon the suggestion to leave. In China, people think different teas prefer different tea wares. Green tea prefers glass tea ware, scented tea porcelain ware while Oolong tea performs best in purple clay tea ware. In its long history, tea wares not only improve tea quality but also by-produce a tea art. Skilled artisans bestow them artistic beauty. Tea wares consist of mainly teapots, cups, tea bowls and trays etc. Tea wares had been used for a long time in China. The unglazed earthenware, used in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces for baking tea today, reminds us the earliest utensils used in ancient China. Tea drinking became more popular in the Tang dynasty when tea wares made of metals were served for noblesse and civilians commonly used porcelain ware and earthenware. In the Song dynasty tea bowls, like upturned bell, became common. They were glazed in black, dark-brown, gray, gray/white and white colors. Gray/white porcelain tea wares predominated in the Yuan dynasty and white glazed tea wares became popular in the Ming dynasty. Teapots made of porcelain and purple clay were very much in vogue during the middle of the Ming dynasty. Gilded multicolored porcelain produced in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province and the

bodiless lacquer wares of Fujian Province emerged in the Qing dynasty. Among various kinds of tea wares, porcelain wares made in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province and purple clay wares made in Yixing, Jiangsu Province occupied the top places. Nowadays, tea wares made of gold, silver, copper, purple clay, porcelain, glass, lacquer and other materials are available.

Category Although there are hundreds of varieties of Chinese tea, they can be mainly classified into five categories, that is, green tea, black tea, brick tea, scented tea, and Oolong tea. With its natural fragrance, green tea, as the oldest kind of tea, is widely welcomed by different people. It is baked immediately after picking. According to the different ways of processing, it can be divided to many kinds. Among various green tea, Longjing (Dragon Well) Tea around the West Lake in Hangzhou, HuangshanMaofeng Tea from Mt. Huangshan, Yinzhen (Silver Needle) Tea from Mt. Junshan and Yunwu (Cloud and Mist) Tea from Mt. Lushan are most famous. Black tea is much more favored by foreigners. Different from green tea, black tea is a kind of fermented tea. After the fermentation, its color changes from green to black. The most famous black teas in China are " Qi Hong (originated in Anhui), "Dian Hong"(originated in Yunnan), and "Ying Hong" (originated in Guangdong).

Oolong tea, with an excellent combination of the freshness of green tea and the fragrance of black tea, become popular with more and more people. It has a good function in helping body building and dieting. Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan are the major producing areas of this kind of tea. Oolong tea grows on cliffs, the hard picking process make it the most precious tea. Scented tea, which is very popular in Northern China, in fact is a mixture of green tea with flower petals of rose, jasmine, orchid and plum through an elaborate process. Among this type, jasmine tea is common. Brick tea, usually pressed into brick shape, is mainly produced in Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Brick tea is made from black tea or green tea and is pressed into blocks. This kind of tea is popular with minority people in border regions. The most famous one is "Pu'er Tea" made in Yunnan province. There are other kinds of tea. Among them white tea is special and is not very familiar to most people. Just as its name suggests, this kind of tea is as white as silver. It is mainly produced in Zhenhe and Fuding in Fujian Province, but popular in Southeast Asia. Famous varieties include "Silver Needle" and "White Peony". Best Ten Chinese teas Longjing (Dragon Well): Produced at Longjing village near the West Lake, Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Biluochun: Produced at Wu County, Jiangsu. Huangshanmaofeng: Produced at Mt. Huangshan in Anhui.

Junshan Silver Needle: Produced at Qingluo Island on Dongting Lake. Qimen Black Tea: Produced at Qimen County in Anhui. Liuan Guapian: Produced at Liuan County in Henan. Xinyang Maojian: Produced at Xinyang, Henan. Duyun Maojian: Produced at Duyun Mountain, Guizhou. Wuyi Rock Tea: Produced at Wuyi Mountain, Fujian. Tieguanyin: Produced at Anxi County, Fujian.

Teahouse Experience When I was in Chengdu, I saw teahouses everywhere on the streets. There is a saying,"China has the best teahouses in the world and Chengdu has the best teahouses in China." It really has a well-deserved reputation, not only because of the numerous teahouses, but also because the special way of serving From ancient times to today, tea has been an indispensable part of the life of a Chinese. A Chinese saying identifies the seven basic daily necessities as fuel, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea. The custom of drinking tea is deeply ingrained in almost all Chinese and has been for over a thousand years. During the mid-Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), a man named Lu Yu entered the Buddhist monkhood early in life but returned when older, to secular life. He was later best known for summarizing the knowledge and experience of his predecessors and

contemporaries into the first compendium in the world on tea--the Tea Classic (Cha Jing). This work helped to popularize the art of tea drinking all across China, making avid tea drinkers of everyone from emperor and minister to street hawker and soldier. Even neighboring countries-Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia came to adopt the tea drinking custom. Tea is made from the young, tender leaves of the tea tree. The differences among the many kinds of tea available are based on the particular methods used to process the leaves. The key to the whole process is the roasting and fermentation. Through fermentation, the originally deep green leaves become reddish-brown in color. The longer the fermentation, the darker the color. Depending on the length of the roasting and degree of fermentation, the fragrance can range from floral, to fruity, to malty. Tea that has not been fermented is called "green tea". Tea steeped from green tea leaves is jade green to yellowgreen in color and gives off the fragrance of fresh vegetables. Examples of green tea are "Dragon Well" (Long Jing) and "Green Snail Spring" (Biluochun). The Chinese call tea that undergoes full fermentation "red tea" (Hong Cha). In the West, it is known as "black tea". Tea made from black tea leaves is reddish-brown in color and has a malt-like aroma. Wulong, or "Black Dragon" (Wu-Long) tea is an example of a partially-fermented tea. This tea is unique to China. To make a good pot of tea, special attention must be paid to the quality of the water, water temperature, the amount of tea leaves used and the type of teapot. Soft water (water with a low mineral content) that is clear and fresh

is required to steep tea. Hard water should, by all means, be avoided. The correct water temperature varies from tea to tea. For most fully fermented and moderately fermented kinds, it should be near boiling (100 or 212); however, it may be low as 90 (194) or less for lightly fermented or green teas. Of the three major beverages of the world-- tea, coffee and cocoa-- tea is consumed by the largest number of people. At present, more than forty countries in the world grow tea with Asian countries producing 90% of the world's total output. The origin of all tea trees in other countries, either directly or indirectly, is China. The words for tea leaves or tea as a drink in many countries are derivatives from the Chinese character "cha". The Russians call it "cha'i", which sounds like "chaye" (tea leaves) as pronounced in northern China. The English word "tea" sounds similar to the pronunciation of its counterpart in Xiamen (Amoy). The Japanese character for tea is written exactly the same as it is in Chinese, though pronounced slightly different. The habit of tea drinking spread to Japan in the 6th century but was not introduced to Europe and America till the 17th and 18th centuries. Now, the number of tea drinkers in the world is legion and still increasing. The Categories of Tea Chinese tea may be classified into five categories according to the different methods of processing. 1) Green Tea: Green tea is the variety which keeps the original color of the tea leaves without fermentation during processing. This category consists mainly of Longjing tea of Zhejiang Province, Maofeng of Huangshan

Mountain in Anhui Province and Biluochun produced in Jiangsu. 2) Black Tea: Black tea, known as "red tea" (hong cha) in China, is the category which is fermented before baking. It is a later variety developed on the basis of the green tea. The best brands of black tea are Qihong of Anhui , Dianhong of Yunnan, Suhong of Jiangsu, Chuanhong of Sichuan and Huhong of Hunan. 3) Wulong Tea: This represents a variety half way between the green and the blackteas, being made after partial fermentation. It is a specialty from the provinces on China's southeast coast: Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan. 4) Compressed Tea: This is the kind of tea which is compressed and hardened into a certain shape. It is good for transporting and storage and is mainly supplied to ethnic minorities living in the border areas of the country. As compressed tea is black in color in its commercial form, it is also known in China as "black tea". Most of the compressed tea is in the form of bricks; therefore, generally called "brick tea" though it is sometimes found in the form of cakes and bowls. It is mainly produced in Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. 5) Scented Tea: This kind of tea is made by mixing fragrant flowers in the tea leaves in the course of processing. Flowers commonly used for this purpose are jasmine and magnolia, among others. Jasmine tea is a well-known favorite with the northerners of China and with a growing number of foreigners. Tea Production

A new tea plant must grow for five years before its leaves can be picked. At 30 years of age, it will be too old to be productive. The trunk of the old plant must then be cut off to force new stems to grow out of the roots in the coming year. By repeated rehabilitation in this way, a plant may serve for about l00 years . To fertilize tea gardens, soybean cakes or other varieties of organic manure are generally used; seldom chemical fertilizers. When pests are discovered, the affected plants will be removed to prevent spreading and also to avoid the use of pesticides. The season of tea-picking depends on local climate and varies from area to area. On the shores of West Lake in Hangzhou, where the famous green tea Longjing (Dragon Well) comes from, picking starts at the end of March and lasts through October, with a total of 2030 pickings from the same plants at intervals of seven to ten days. Longer interval cause the quality of the tea to deteriorate. A skilled picker can gather only 600 grams (a little over a pound) of green tea leaves in a day. The new leaves must be parched in tea cauldrons. This work , which used to be done manually, has been largely mechanized. Top-grade Dragon Well tea, however, still has to be stir-parched by hand, doing only 250 grams every half hour. The tea-cauldrons are heated electrically to a temperature of about 25 degrees C. or 74 degrees F. It takes four pounds of fresh leaves to produce one pound of parched tea. The best Dragon Well tea is gathered several days before Qingming (Pure Brightness, 5th solar term) when new twigs have just begun to grow and carry "one leaf and a

bud." To make one kilogram (2.2 lbs) of finished tea, 60,000 tender leaves have to be plucked. In old days, Dragon Well tea of this grade was meant solely for the imperial household and therefore known as "tribute tea". For the processes of grinding, parching, rolling, shaping and drying other grades of tea, various machines have been developed, turning out about 100 kilograms of finished tea an hour and relieving the workers from much of the drudgery. Areas in China where tea grows 1) The Jiangnan area: Lies south of the mid and lower reaches of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River and is the most prolific of China's tea-growing areas. Most of its output is the green variety. Some black tea is also produced. 2) The Jiangbei area: Refers to a large area north of the same river, where the average temperature is 2-3 degrees Centigrade lower than in the Jiangnan area. Green tea is the principal variety turned out there. Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, which are also parts of this area, produce compressed tea to supply the minority areas in the Northwest. 3) The Southwest area: Embraces Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Tibet, producing black, green as well as compressed teas. Pu'er tea of Yunnan Province enjoys a good sale in China and abroad. 4) The Lingnan area: This area, consisting of the southern provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Taiwan, produces Wulong tea, which is renowned both at home and abroad. Advantages of Tea-Drinking Tea has been one of the daily necessities in China since time immemorial.

Countless numbers of people like to have their after-meal cup of tea. In summer or in warm climates, tea seems to dispel the heat and bring on instant cool together with a feeling of relaxation. For this reason, tea-houses abound in towns and market villages in South China and provide elderly retirees with the locales to meet and chat over a cup of tea. Medically, the tea leaf contains a number of chemicals, of which 20-30% is tannic acid, known for its antiinflammatory and germicidal properties. It also contains an alkaloid (5%, mainly caffeine), a stimulant for the nerve center and the process of metabolism. Tea with aromatics in it may help resolve meat and fat and thus promote digestion. It is therefore, of special importance to people who live mainly on meat, like many of the ethnic minorities in China. A popular proverb among them says, "Rather go without salt for three days than without tea for a single day". Tea is also rich in various vitamins and helps smokers discharge nicotine from their systems. After "wining", strong tea may prove to be a sobering pick-me-up. However, this does not mean that the stronger the tea, the more advantages it will yield. Too much tannic acid will affect the secretion of gastric juice, irritate the membrane of the stomach and cause indigestion or constipation. Strong tea taken just before bedtime will give rise to occasional insomnia. Constant drinking of overly strong tea may induce heart and blood-pressure disorders in some people, reduce the milk of a breast-feeding mother and put a brown color on the teeth of young people. It's

not difficult, however, to ward off these undesirable effects-simply don't make your tea too strong.