Green Tea in China

Green Tea is particularly popular in Asia in countries such as China and Japan.
Green tea has a long Chinese history.
It is said that Green Tea was discovered over 5000 years ago in China.

There are 2 legends surrounding this discovery.
The first, a man accidentally tasted the juice from a tea plant leaf, he liked the flavour and thought it was a healthy drink. He then mixed the leaf juice with water to create a drink. The beginnings of a Chinese green tea drink

The second legend states that blossom from a tea plant fell into an Emperors cup of hot water accidentally one day, after he always added the tea blossom to his drink.

For a long time the only type of tea drunk was Green Tea.

Being simple to make aided its popularity and by many it was seen as a refreshing tonic.

The “Cha Jing” or “Tea Classic” books were written somewhere around 600AD by Lu Yu and are considered 'The tea manual' – explaining how to make perfect tea and when to drink it.

Later (sometime around the 1600’s) came different types of green tea Confusing to some, Black Tea which is fermented Green Tea and Oolong which is partly fermented.

Japanese monks travelling to China often returned with tea.

It is said that the Japanese turned drinking tea into a ritual and in both China and Japan they take very special care with the presentation of the tea – in an almost artistic manner.