The unique and mesmerizing with its leisurely and inner harmony tea ceremony makes thousands of tourists from all over the world flock to China every year. Taking part in tea drinking and touching the centuries-old culture of the people is worth a lot.
China is rightly considered the birthplace of tea. Historians discovered the first mention of Chinese tea almost 5 thousand years ago. A variety of teas are grown in China, including black, green, red, white and yellow.
The Chinese drink tea all year round, as this drink tones the body and quenches thirst, especially in the hot season. The special attitude of the Chinese people to tea gave rise to a whole national ceremony.
Tea tradition
In ancient times, tea was the privilege of the noble Chinese, for the rest of the population it was available only as a medicine. Later, thanks to its high yield, tea became one of the most common drinks. At the same time, the ceremony of brewing and receiving tea was born.
The essence of the tea ceremony is to brew the collected and carefully preserved leaves in such a way as to reveal all their flavoring and aromatic notes. The tea tradition is also meditation. So, you need to brew tea with a special mood and complete inner harmony. The tea ceremony is distinguished by its leisurely and gracefulness.
Ceremony items
A tea ceremony is held to the sound of soft, pleasant Chinese music, which resembles the melodic play of bells. In the tradition of brewing tea, special clay items of tea decoration take part: a teapot, cups and a chahai.
The latter is an intermediate link between the teapot and the cup. Before the drink gets into the cup, the tea is necessarily poured into the chahai, which in shape resembles a small decanter without a lid. Chahai is designed to make the tea homogeneous, that is, the color and taste of the drink will not differ in the first and last cups.
Procedure
The Chinese ritual of tea drinking begins with boiling water. Water must certainly come from a spring. As soon as the water begins to boil, it is immediately removed from the heat. Then a pinch of tea leaves is taken, which is placed in a special box.
Before pouring the tea leaves, the clay teapot is heated over a fire. After adding boiling water, the kettle must be covered with a lid and wrapped in a towel. Then they begin to slowly swing it until the drink in the kettle begins to emit a pleasant aroma.
The Chinese do not take the first sample of tea. They use this liquid to rinse tea leaves and warm up tea cups. Now the tea ceremony can be considered completed, and the tea drinking process itself begins.
Taking a deep breath of the aroma of the tea leaves should be in tune.
Few people know and understand that the secret of the Chinese tea ceremony is not at all in the special tea and the technology of its preparation, but in the very process of drinking tea, pacifying the body and spirit, unhurried contemplation and meditation with a mug of life-giving drink.
