A Nation’s Age-Old Fancy for Tea

Wherever the Chinese go, tea follows. Take to any bystreet of Beijing, Guangzhou or Xi’an, you’re likely to see elderly citizens seated in twos and threes, gathering around a teapot for to enjoy some authentic Chinese tea.

For thousands of years, the Chinese keeps a ceaseless passion for tea, emperors and commoners alike. This obsession was most obvious over 1,000 years ago in the Tang dynasty.

It’s no coincidence that the Chinese Tea Classics – ‘the bible of tea’- was compiled this time.

Tea and the Tang Dynasty Emperors

During Tang dynasty, imperial China was at its peak. With its military keeping the nomadic invaders at bay, and the economy prospering, Tang’s influence was felt far beyond its territory. Without much to worry, The Tang emperor believed it was time to slow down a little.

So the emperors went to enjoy themselves, with tea!

The Grand Event of Chinese Tea Drinking

In the fourth month of each lunar year, a grand banquet would be held in the imperial palace. Invited are only those eminent figures: royal members, high-ranking officials, and foreign ambassadors. No one hoped to miss the best part of the banquet: some of the best Chinese tea China could possibly offer would be served.

Each year, imperial tea plantations several thousand miles away in southern China supply the tea for the grand banquet. Local officials were entrusted to oversee the picking and processing of the Chinese tea. They had to make sure everything was perfect so the best tea could be made.

Once the tea was made ready, it would be on its way for the capital where the grand banquet known as ‘Qingming Banquet’ was to be held.’

Natural spring water fetched from local Zhejiang province streams also travelled with the tea. Only this water could brew the best tea, and the emperor knew it all too well.

The Chinese tea leaves arrived unfermented. So first the tea leaves were baked as workers prepared for the banquet. This helped to extract the moisture out of tea so it would have the refreshing and delicate aroma. Bakers would have to be extremely careful, as the heat could easily destroy the flavor of the tea.

Next, workers grinded the dried leaves, and selected only the smoothest powder for the next step. As strange as it sounds, people of Tang dynasty would actually eat instead of drink tea!

As the water was boiling in the pot, salt was added, and then the powder from the tea leaves. Brew for a few more minutes and the tea was finally ready. Now it was more like a thick soup than a clear Chinese tea brew!

As the Chinese tea was served, and if anyone was hoping to make a request from his emperor, he couldn’t find a better time than this. The tea would be an excellent topic to start from!

Chinese Tea Etiquette: Finger Tapping

Tea has been around in China for over 5,000 years. And ancient Chinese tea customs are still often followed.

Of those the finger tapping is probably the most interesting for those new to the world of Chinese tea. The gesture indicates your respect to your host.

The Chinese, by their tea customs, shall thank their host as the tea is served. Interestingly, they don’t say it, but instead, they simply tap the table with three fingers (the middle, index, and ring fingers). Each time you get your cup refilled, you repeat the gesture.

The gesture isn’t superstitious at all. In fact, the story of finger tapping dates back over 200 years to the Qing dynasty.

The Qing emperor was travelling throughout China in disguise so he could observe the day to day life of his subjects unnoticed. Wherever the emperor went, the one place he would never miss is the local teahouse.

One day, the emperor and his two companions stopped by a teahouse, where he became amazed by the way the waiters leaned across the table and poured tea without spilling a single drop. So he decided to try it out and pour Chinese tea for his companions.

Custom demanded that people bow before their emperor, not to say the emperor just poured you tea! So they had to thank him in some way. However, bowing to the emperor would ruin his disguise.

With a flash of wit, one of the companions tapped three of his fingers on the table to symbolize a bow to his emperor.

Thus, the finger tapping gesture was born! Soon the story spread from one Chinese tea lover to another. After a time, finger tapping was incoporated into Chinese tea custom as a remebrance to the emperor.  

Next time you visit a Chinese tea house, try to observe the interesting finger tapping technique to quietly thank your host for their delicious Chinese tea!

While modern medicine remains skeptical about oolong tea’s healing powers, there are adequate reasons to continue research on the benefits oolong tea and what makes it a prized commodity in many eastern cultures. Thousands of years of Chinese history can back up the many claims about the health benefits of oolong tea.

Tea has certain ingredients that give healthy remedies. The amount of specific ingredients may vary depending on the degree of fermentation during the processing stage. Green tea, which is unfermented and has the antioxidant catechin, claims to be helpful in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Oolong tea predominantly contains polyphenol which is known to promote health and beauty. Polyphenol is also the ingredient that gives oolong tea a unique flavor.

As people age, the free radicals in the body and the skin become more abundant. Free radicals frequently form on the skin from any number of sources and if not removed, cause the skin to age more rapidly. In additional to the polyphenols in oolong tea, it also contains antioxidant characteristics which cling to the free radicals and help them find their way out of the body.

Same Source, Different Types

You may be surprised to learn that green tea, oolong tea, and black tea all come from the same plant. What makes them different is the fermentation process of the leaves that changes the taste and benefits of these different teas. Black tea is fully fermented during its process while white and green tea are not fermented at all. For oolong tea, the fermentation process lies somewhere in between, depending on the manufacturer processing the leaves.

Drinking oolong tea, which was brewed in extremely small teapots and drank from small teacups, was considered an art in China. Only in the 1990’s did brewed oolong tea become readily available to drink and thus its use quickly spread to Japan and eventually into the Western world. Oolong tea is a native of the Fujian Province in China and these products are shipped globally, maintaining the strict growing culture that has made this tea popular in China for generations.

Aside from the health benefits of oolong tea, it is one of a few beverages that can compliment any type of meal. Tea lovers can enjoy its flavor and claim that they do not lose the fondness for the taste regardless of the quantity consumed each day.