Tea for Global Friendship

On an October morning in 2010， tea experts and scholars from seven tea organizations of China， Japan and Korea met on the West Lake in Hangzhou and presented their respective tea performances. The shows displayed the shared value of the tea culture and spirit: a way to seek peace， elegance， harmony， and perfection. It was a scene of the Hangzhou Conference of China， Japan and Korea Tea Culture Exchanges.

Zhou Guofu， president of Zhejiang People’s Political Consultative Committee and president of China International Tea Culture Research Association， spoke at the conference.

He first mentioned that tea originated in China and then spread all over Asia before it became a global beverage. Tea as a culture flourishes in China， Japan and Korea. Cultural exchanges among the three neighbors highlight exchanges in tea culture. It is of significance that tea experts and scholars make contributions to the peace and prosperity of Asia and to friendship， exchanges and cooperation among the peoples of the three countries.

In the speech， Zhou also recalled the 17-year history of the China International Tea Culture Research Association. Wang Jiayang， the first president of the association， championed the idea that all the people of the tea under the sun are actually of one family. He did his best to unite people in the spirit of tea. Wang is widely respected by people of the tea circles at home and abroad. Liu Feng， who succeeded to the presidency of the association， successfully lifted tea up to the status of the national beverage of China.

In the speech， Zhou revealed that the latest archaeological find might trace the origin of tea back to more than 5，000 years. Archaeologists have discovered rows of tea trees in Mount Tianluo， which is near Hemudu， a very ancient architectural site in Zhejiang. Some experts say that the tidy rows of tea trees suggest that they were artificially planted there. If this is true， the tea culture of China may go back to over 6，000 years and more.

If the Hangzhou Conference of China， Japan and Korea Tea Culture Exchanges held in October， 2010 in Hangzhou is part of the flourishing tea culture exchanges between China and Japan and Korea， then the World O-Cha Festival in Shizuoka Prefecture， Japan is a more influential event in the world’s tea cultural activities.

The festival has been held in the prefecture for four times since 2001. The fourth was held in 2010， attended by more than 500 representatives from 28 countries and regions such as Japan， China， Korea， UK， USA， India， Sri Lanka， Morocco， Kenya and Mexico. Japanese Sado professionals representing three major Sado schools in Japan performed their ancient tea ceremonies respectively. Everything they used in their rituals was special. A typical classical tea ceremony is usually a gathering of three to nine people. Attendees sit on the ground， sipping tea and engaging themselves in soul-touching conversations.

Xu Hongdao， a senior government official engaged in foreign affairs for years and now executive vice president of the China International Tea Culture Research Association， has made personal contributions to the establishment and development of the sister relations between Zhejiang Province and Shizuoka Prefecture. Fully aware that Zhejiang and Shizuoka play an important role in their own country’s tea industry and tea culture undertakings， Xu believes that Zhejiang and Shizuoka should further strengthen exchanges and cooperation in tea.

Xu Hongdao attended the fourth World O-Cha Festival in Shizuoka Prefecture. He found the experience unnerving. He met other guests at the festival and every attendee spared no efforts to praise Japanese tea culture. Somehow China where tea originated and flourished as a daily beverage went unnoticed and unmentioned. Now back home， Xu vows that the International Tea Culture Research Association will take it upon itself to making further efforts to promote Chinese tea culture.

Xu Hongdao knows how the association should make breakthroughs. Zhejiang is by no means great at tea processing and brand strategy. In tea culture exchanges， Zhejiang should draw upon other countries’ advantages and improve tea processing techniques and marketing. Moreover， Zhejiang wishes to boost its tea export. Tea is both a commodity and a culture. Without export of tea as a commodity， how can tea as a culture go international? The association wishes to promote both the export of tea and the export of tea culture. The association president Zhou Guofu says the organization should take steps to promote China’s tea industry.

Tea culture is a key part of Zhejiang’s strategy to turn itself into a powerhouse of cultural undertakings. It is also a key medium for promoting cultural exchanges and boosting the development of culture as a soft power of the province. It is believed that the progress of science and technology in tea production and processing and the growth of the country’s tea industry will definitely help boost our national tea culture as a whole. □