Cultural China Series

Chinese Tea
中国茶

ISBN 7-5085-0835-1

Tea is a friend of meditation, keeping the heart immerged in profound tranquility. Tea is wings of imagination, lifting people above the mundane world while remaining clear minded, getting people nearer wisdom rather than losing sanity. Therefore in nearly every Eastern country people have the same habit of drinking tea, because people in the east need this simple but not insipid drink. This is a tradition of life as well as of culture, just like the Eastern wisdom that they admire, which is featured in the spirit of self-reflection.

Because of their different producing techniques, Chinese tea is divided into six major types - green tea, black tea, oolong tea, dark tea, yellow tea and white tea. Some people say that green tea, simple and light, stands for the scholasticity of south China; black tea, mild and reserved, is quite ladylike; oolong tea, warm and persistent, resembles the perseverance of gymnosophists; dark tea, with lingering aftertaste, symbolizes the wisdom of the elderly, and so on and so forth.

China is the homeland of tea, taking a leading position in the planting, producing and drinking of tea. The discovery and usage of tea has had a history of four or five thousand years in China. From the earliest fresh-boiled tea taken as a kind of soup to later dried-and-preserved tea, from the simple green tea to the blooming of six major kinds of tea, tea, which started catching on in the Tang (618-906) and Song (960-1279) dynasties, has carried itself to the contemporary times. The flavor of tea, which is sometimes thin and sometimes thick, seemingly bitter but actually sweet, has flown throughout the long history from ancient times up to now. What is more, with its unique appeal, tea has broken the bound of fields and been brought to all parts of the world.

中国是茶的故乡，茶的种植、烹制、品饮均为天下先。本书介绍中国茶的起源、中国茶的种类、中国名茶的主要产地、饮茶的习俗、茶文化与当代生活、茶马古道，以及航海时代开始的中外茶叶贸易等。全书约5万字，图片约100幅。

Best.Nr. 50.0018