Chinese tea can be a good travel souvenir in your Guilin tour. The elaborate package of Chinese tea can show your carefulness to your friends. Tea is food for people’s health. And drinking tea is also an activity to calm down your mood. Find a teashop with a good reputation and you will be shown how to brew and drink tea properly to experience the full flavour; you will soon realise the pleasure and health benefits of the Chinese tea culture.
♦ Types of Chinese Tea
Chinese tea can be divided into
► Green Tea: Green tea has the longest history and still ranks first in production and variety in China.
► Black Tea: Black tea also enjoys a good reputation both at home and abroad. Different from green tea, black tea is thoroughly fermented.
► Oolong Tea: Oolong tea possesses the freshness of green tea and the fragrance of black tea.
► White Tea: White tea is as white as silver.
► Scented Tea: Scented tea (also called Flower Tea) is a variety unique to China, having the smells of flowers.
► Leicha and Oil Tea: Besides the famous brands of tea in China, there are special kinds of tea among the minority people- Leicha( Pounded Tea) in Hunan and Oil Tea in Guangxi.
♦ Tea-drinking Art in China
Tea-drinking is a nation-wide custom in China. It is a daily necessity for the Chinese to have three meals and tea a day. When any guest comes, it is a rite to present a cup of tea to him/her. There are numerous teahouses in every town and city.
Tea-drinking is an art, a skill in China. In some places the way of making tea is very complicated. And the tea utensils-the teacup, tea saucer, teapot, tea tray-are works of art. Diansin(pastry), which goes with tea, both tasty and appealing, is loved not only by the Chinese but also by the people all over the world. There are hundreds of famous teas in China and there are a great many famous springs and streams to provide water to make tea. And the tea fields or tea mountains are also marvelous sights to add beauty to the scenery.
