Tea Culture in China and Abroad

Shimei Zhu

【Abstract】 In 21st century， it is becoming more and more popular to drink tea and people all over the world are paying more attention to tea culture， which is the accumulation of both material and spiritual treasure relating to tea through a long period of development. There are over 30 billions tea drinkers in 160 countries and areas. This article aims at exploring essence of tea culture in China and abroad through comparison.

【Key Words】China; western; tea culture; comparison

【作者簡介】Shimei Zhu，Rizhao Polytechnic.

Ⅰ. Origin of Chinese tea culture

The common saying， opening door， seven thing are ahead： firewood; rice; oil; salt; sauce，vinegar and tea， which shows that tea plays a very important part in humans life. Tea ， is not only a cup of drinks， but a splendid culture with long history in China， which is also the home and origin of tea. The tea culture has strong Chinese specialties influenced by traditional culture.

From the Wei and Jin Dynasties， tea culture first integrated the Confucius idea advocating that it can be used to coordinate interpersonal relationships to achieve the idea of mutual love， mutual respect and mutual help. Secondly， tea originally comes from the forest， which combined the idea of Taoist that man is an integral part of nature. Meanwhile， Buddhist thought tea can make people calm and restraint. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties， tea appeared to represent the pursuit of original simplicity.

Ⅱ.Spreading of tea and tea culture

Tea as well as its derived tea culture originates from China， which has been deeply influencing the world. For thousands of years， Chinese tea-drinking utensils and tea-making technology are spreading all over the world along with traditional Chinese tea culture and its unique oriental philosophy. The ancient China traded tea with other countries mainly through the following routes：

1.the Tea-Horse Road. This road is southward spreading to Tibet and India. In extremely cold region， people need to eat high calorie fat. But without vegetables， too much fat is hard to decompose in human body， while tea can decompose fat and prevent from hotness.

2.the Silk Road. This road is westward from Xinjiang in China to Central Asia. The commodities exported through this long road are mainly silk， porcelain and tea. Tea as a special product of ancient China， is gradually known and spread to all over the world.

Ⅲ.Western Perception of Tea Culture

With the differences in human history and environmental conditions， it is varied from tea drinking time to cultural behavior. People in different countries maintain different customs and habits when drinking tea.

The United States is called “Coffee Kingdom”， but about half of the people drink tea and create their own tea culture. The majority of Americans who advocate fast pace are fond of drinking ice tea. Most of them are instant tea different from Chinese tea. The Germans love drinking flower tea， which is in fact not the same as Chinese Jasmine and orchid tea， but made of all kinds of flower petals with apple， hawthorn and other dried fruit. They like to pour boiling water onto the mental sieve where tea is placed first， so there is not any tea in their cups finally.

In Britain， it is the custom to drink afternoon tea at 5 oclock in the afternoon. This is the best time in a day full of warmth and joy. British are the worlds largest tea drinkers and Britain is one of the worlds largest seller of tea. A person can consume about 2 kilograms tea one year， which is three times of that in China.

Ⅳ. Comparison between Chinese and Western tea culture

（a） Different ways of tasting. There are two types of tea in China. One is pure tea without any addition. The other type is “mixed drink”， which adds salt， sugar， milk or others into the tea according to personal preferences. At present， this latter one mainly appears in minority areas. The British add milk and sugar to tea to remove theophylline and change bitter tea into a sweet drink for their taste.

（b） Different tea etiquette. For most Chinese people， drinking tea can be done at any time. But for the British people， it is much more complicated. A typical British family drinks tea at least five times a day. In the morning， the host will wake up with a cup of morning tea in bed. If there is a guest， morning tea is the best way for greeting. Then it is black tea with dessert at around 11 oclock . When lunch comes， they drink milk tea in accompany. After that， it is time for the famous afternoon tea at around 5 oclock. At last， they may drink goodbye tea before sleeping.

In all， tea is a great invention and brings lots of benefits for people all over the word .

References：

[1]Xianling Xu， Chinese Tea Culture， Chinese Drama Press， Beijing， China， 2005.