Explore The Tea Making Techniques Of China

When you visit China, make sure you experience the techniques of tea making, an intangible cultural heritage form the far East

A Chinese tea ceremony Fabio Nodari

Updated on:

26 Aug 2024, 2:30 am

3 min read

Tea is all pervasive in Chinese culture. It plays a significant role in rituals like marriages and sacrifices as well as on social occasions. Tea-related events are used as the custom of introducing people to visitors, and for fostering relationships between neighbours and family members, thus giving communities a sense of continuity and shared identity. The information, skills, and traditions of tea making are passed down through families and apprenticeships.

These traditional Chinese tea-making techniques have been included in the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The tea-making techniques include the Yuhua Tea Technique, Biluochun Tea Technique and Fuchun Tea Dessert Technique from Jiangsu. It is through the rich charm of Chinese tea that people may experience the profound history and culture of the country.

Jiangsu And Its Heritage

Jiangsu province in East China is a region rich in resources. It is home to a number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, like as the Classical Gardens of Suzhou, and the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum in Nanjing. Jiangsu province's tea culture is also in the spotlight as a result of the traditional tea processing methods (and the social activities that go along with them) being listed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Chinese painting illustrating a mother and a son plucking tea sprouts (ca.1800–1899) from the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Art & Architecture Collection. Original from the New York Public Library. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.Rawpixel

Yuhua Tea Technique

Yuhua tea comes from Nanjing in Jiangsu province. It is a variety of green tea. Farmers gather the fragile shoots in the spring, and after a number of processing stages, the tea is ready for sale. These tea leaves resemble pine needles, and have a distinctive flavour and scent.

A Chinese tea plantation with workers cleaning the racks on which the leaves are laid. Coloured etching, early 19th century. Wellcome Collection

Biluochun Tea Technique

Biluochun means "Green Snail Spring." It gets its name from the way the early-spring-harvested green tea is coiled into a tight spiral that resembles a snail. It was first grown in the Dongting mountain region, in Jiangsu province. In order to curl the fresh green tea leaves, the leaves are cooked in a tiny wok using deft rotating hand movements. The tea has a distinctive fruity aroma due to companion planting, which involves letting the tea grow alongside fruit trees like loquat and waxberry trees.

Tea making techniques are intangible cultural heritageUnsplash

Fuchun Tea Dessert Technique

In an alleyway in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, lies the Fuchun teahouse. It was originally a flower shop when it was founded in 1885 and later evolved into a teahouse. They are known for the variety of delicate pastries that not only perfectly complement traditional Chinese tea but also display a high level of culinary talent.&nbspIt is important to note that Fuchun tea has a special place in the history of Chinese tea and was considered as the gold standard for tea blending as early as more than 100 years ago.

Unesco