The Chinese tea guide

Did you know that tea was discovered in China? This is why, as a homeland of tea, China still has a strong culture of tea today. For the Chinese, tea is not only a popular drink very beneficial for health, but a real ancestral art. Tea is therefore a central element of Chinese culture, which encompasses a lot of customs. This culture is so important that nowadays China has 60% of tea plantations in the world, which are spread over more than 20 provinces in the country.

The different types of Chinese tea

Chinese green tea

China green tea is certainly most famous Things in the world, but also that with the longest history. It is an unfilmed tea, which has many virtues: antioxidant, anti-aging, weight loss ... It would even act against cancer! With all these assets, we understand why it is the most consumed tea by the Chinese. Among the most popular Chinese Greengoes are the Longjing, the Huangshan Maofeng, the Biluochun, and the Xinyang Maojian. Also note that Matcha, famous Japanese tea, is a fine powder of green tea crushed between two stone wheels, and invented in China.

Chinese black tea

Black tea, sometimes also called red tea, is a completely fermented tea, which has powerful aromas. Among the best -known Chinese Chinese teas, we find Keemun, Lapsang Souchong, or Yunnan.

Chinese oolong tea

Oolong tea, sometimes also called Wulong tea, is a little less known in the West. It's a shame, because this semi-fermented tea mixes a light taste of green tea and notes of black tea. Among the most popular, we find the Anxi Tieguanyin or the Wuyi.

Chinese white tea

White tea is very slightly fermented. It is produced from young tea and bud shoots. It is so named due to its very light color and the light white film which often appears on top. He is slightly scented compared to black tea. To taste great Chinese white tea wines, try the Baihao Yinzhen or the Baiduman. Tea at Jasmine is also often a white tea to which jasmine flowers have been added.

Chinese yellow tea

Yellow tea is a very high quality Chinese tea. The tea leaves undergo fermentation, then are roasted. The process of making yellow tea resembles that of green tea, closely that the leaves are piled up in bulk for 20 hours in a very humid environment, to allow oxidation, and that the leaves turn yellow. To taste the best Chinese yellow teas, try the famous Mengding Huangya or Junshan Yinzhen.

The history of Chinese tea

Historians believe that Chinese has been consuming tea for over 4000 years! The legends say that it was the Emperor Yandi who would have discovered it by tasteing all kinds of herbs, so as to find medical remedies. One day, when he was poisoned by one of these herbs, he accidentally ingested a drop of tea with a tea tree, which heals him, and he would have discovered tea.

 For a long time, tea was used as medicinal plant. During the western Zhou dynasty (1046 - 77 & before J.C.), tea was also used as a religious offer. But the oldest written trace that historians have found on tea date of the Western Hans dynasty (202 BC - 9).

Chinese tea culture has all the more prospered during the Tang dynasty (618 - 907), thanks to a famous thinker, read yu. He is indeed the author of the book The classic tea, Posted in 780. This book is a real tea encyclopedia, detailing its history, the different processes of culture and fermentation, the planting method, earthenware having to be used to promote flavor, infusion times, and even the tasting process.

Later, during the Song dynasty, Arab merchants exported tea from Quanzhou, in the province of Fujian. It was then sold in southern Africa and South East Asia, before arriving, in 1610, in Europe. A Dutch ship then imported it from Macao, officially making tea a worldly appreciated drink.

It is this method of export in two stages, which explains that even today, in the world, there is only two words To designate tea: tea and its drifts, and cha and its derivatives. When tea was imported by the land, he came from Chinese regions in which "cha" tea was called, while by sea, tea always came from the port of Macao, where tea was called "te". Even today, you can easily know in which countries has been imported by the sea or by the land by learning the word!

Chinese tea benefits

According to numerous scientific studies, the various varieties of Chinese tea have more than 450 types of beneficial substances for health, such as chlorophyll, vitamins of all kinds, lipids, caffeine, also called theine, and polyphenols. Thus, depending on the chosen tea, different benefits can be felt on health. Here are some:

• Weight loss : Green tea and oolong tea are very effective in losing weight. Green tea, in particular, contains a wide range of vitamins and category, promoting thinning.
• Reduction in the risk of cardiovascular diseases : Polyphenols contained in tea help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. In addition, Théaflavines contained in black tea have an important effect on heart disease.
• Anti-aging : Research shows that tea being very rich in antioxidants, it is an excellent anti-aging. Indeed, it would promote a slowdown in aging of the skin.
• Diabetes risk reduction : A long -term study carried out on 17,000 men and women between 40 and 65 years old, demonstrated that those who drank more than six cups of tea per day had 33% less chance of developing diabetes.

To taste these delicious Chinese teas in turn, discover the superb Chinese teapotss of our partner Around tea.