|
When you was in Chengdu, you will see 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 and drinking tea.
As soon as the guests enter the teahouse, the waiters or waitresses greet them with a smile on their faces and with teapots and cups in their hands. After the guests have sat down they set the cups on the table and pour the water from behind the guests or from above their heads. When the cups are almost full, the waiters or waitresses raise their hands high suddenly, but not a drop of water is spilled.
The cups which look like antiques have covers and saucers. The cup sitting on the saucer looks like a boat 
floating on the water, hence the name of "the tea-boat." The cover keeps the water warm and also adjusts the steeping speed of the tea. If you want to drink it immediately after the tea has been made, you can use the cover to strain the tea. So the tea can be soaked well quickly and then it can be drunk. Or the tea can be drunk with the cover on the cup. In this way the tea leaves won't go into the mouth.
People who go to the teahouses are not really thirsty. Retired people pay 20 cents to go to the teahouse and sit there all day long to chat with each other. Sometimes, people bring guests to the teahouses. They eat melon or sunflower seeds while they chat and return home when they are tired of sitting there.
Teahouses are also places for people from various businesses and organizations to get together to hold trade talks or make deals. In recent years, more and more people go to teahouses for business talks.
Some of the teahouses also have theatrical performances, such as storytelling, crosstalk (comic dialogue) and Sichuan opera. In addition, sometimes when people quarrel a mediator will bring them to the teahouse. When their dispute is settled, the person who is in the wrong will pay for the tea. It is interesting that as soon as the quarrellers enter the teahouse and sit down to drink tea, they almost always cool down. With the help of the mediator their disputes can be easily settled. So the teahouses in sichuan also have special social functions.
Of hundreds of varieties of Chinese tea, there are six major types. They are green tea, black tea, oolong tea, white tea, scented tea and tightly pressed tea lumps.
Green tea has the longest history and still ranks first in output and varieties today. People like its freshness and natural fragrance. Famous green tea includes Longjin (Dragon Well ) Tea from the West Lake in Hangzhou, Maofeng Tea from Huangshan Mountain. Yinzhen Tea from Junshan Mountains and Yunwu Tea from Lushan Montain.
Black tea also enjoys a good reputation both at home and abraod. Different from green tea, black tea is thoroughly fermented. In the fermentation, the tea leaves turn from green to black.
Oolong tea possesses the freshness of green tea and the fragrance of black. In recent years, it has become popular with more and more people for its properties in helping body building and dieting. The producing areas of oolong tea are scattered in Jujian, Guangdong and Taiwan. Because the tea grows on cliffs which people rarely reach, it is difficult to pick. For this reason, oolong tea is considered the most precious.
White tea is as white as silver and its water is clear. The major producing areas are Fujian's Zhenghe and Fuding. Famous varieties include " silver needle" and White Peony.
Scented tea is a variety unique to China and smells of flowers. Sweet osmanthus, jasmine, rose orchid and plum floweres can all be used.
Another special tea is called tightly-pressed tea lumps. The black tea or green tea is pressed into brick, cake or ball shapes. The tea lump is convenient to store and transport and is suitable for minority people in border regions. The major producing areas of tea lumps are scattered in Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
In recent yeas, newly appeared bag Tea, instant tea, and medical tea have brightened the world of tea.
The ancestors of the Chinese people were the first to find tea as well as the first to find its medical and health preserving function.
According to modern scientific analysis, tea contains many mineral elements such as iron, manganese, aluminum, potassium, sodium calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. It also contains such organic compounds as phenol, alkaloid, sugar, proteein, amino acid, aromatic, pigment, vitamin and enzyme. They constitute the unique colour, smell and taste of tea and are good for people's health.
Water is very important for making tea because too many foreign substances in the water will spoil the tea. Spring water is ideal. Other good-quality water includes unpolluted snow water, water from flowing wells or from rivers far from habitation. Nowadays, more than 50 countries produce tea in the world, a sure sign of its popularity.
1) Longjin Green Tea
The Longjin Green tea gets its name from a nearby beauty spot called Longjin (Dragon Well). The tea is famous both at home and abroad. It has four traditional traits: Its leaves are fresh green in colour, fragrant in aroma, full in taste, and smooth and even in appearance.
The farmers in Zhejiang Province gather three crops of the tea a year-in spring, summer, and sutumn. The picking of tea leaves, done on more than 25 occasions at intervals of about a week, lasts from the beginning of April to mid-October. Spring tea is the best tasting. As a matter of fact, the earlier the tea is picked, the better its quality. In spring, when the leaves grow astonishingly fast, they have to be picked at exactly the right time, otherwise, they would grow old and the quality would suffer. The farmers always race against the clock. Longjin Green Tea is classified into 11 grades, yet only spring tea falls into the top few grades.
A local saying goes: "Best tea from the hills and best flowers from the plain." This saying reflects credit on Longjin Green Tea. Tea bushes grow best where the climate is mild, and there is plentiful rainfall, with little accumulation of water in the soil. The earth must be slightly acidic. From planting to harvesting takes a 3-year cycle. They keep on picking for 25 to 30 years and ten chop the tea bushes at the roots. Two years later, they will yield again, and continue to produce for another 25 to 30 years. This process of recycling makes some tea bushes grow for several hundred years.
Both black tea and green tea com from the same bushes; Only the methods of processing are different. While leaves for black tea have to be fermented, green tea is made by simpley but carefully hearting the leaves. The leaves must be dept green and unbroken while they are being fired.
The picking of tea is mostly done by women for they are more skillful at the job. They pick the tender green leaves only.The old ones are left on the bushes as a shield against the summer heat or winter cold.
Classic China tours | Travel tips | Useful Maps | Sitemap (xml) | Sitemap (html) | Links | All tour packages
| Gateway to learn China | China news of today | Tibetan news of today | Learning Chinese |
Rental Service: | Sleeping Gears | Medical Oxygen | Walkie Talkie | Car Types |
Copyrights@tibetmap.net and tour arrangement all legally reserved by Work Team of www.tibetmap.net
Travel Operator ::: China TAK Travel Service