- Tea has been consumed in China since at least the Han dynasty, first as medicine and later as an everyday drink.
- All true tea comes from one plant, Camellia sinensis; differences between white, green, oolong, black, and pu'er tea come from processing, not the leaf.
- Chinese teas are classified by their level of fermentation (oxidation), known as 发酵 (fājiào).
- The gongfu tea ceremony, or 功夫茶 (gōngfūchá), remains the heart of modern Chinese tea culture.
- Coffee is rising fast among young urban Chinese, pushing traditional tea brands to modernize.
China is synonymous with tea, and tea with China. In fact, the history of tea in China is almost as long as the history of China itself.
Despite the recent rise of coffee, Chinese tea culture continues to enjoy great popularity. Read on to discover the past, present, and future of Chinese tea.
Tea touches almost every corner of Chinese life, from festivals like Chinese New Year to business meetings and wedding rituals. Understanding it is one of the best windows into Chinese culture as a whole.
It is also a fantastic topic for language learners, since tea vocabulary appears constantly in daily conversation. If you choose to Learn Chinese in China, sharing tea with locals will quickly become one of your favorite ways to practice.
01 The History of Tea in China: From Shennong to the Opium Wars
Who invented tea? The legend of Shennong
The history of Chinese tea, 茶 (chá), begins with Shennong (神农 Shénnóng), a mythical figure said to be the father of Chinese agriculture and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Legend has it that Shennong accidentally discovered tea while boiling drinking water beneath a Camellia sinensis tree. A few leaves drifted into his pot, he took a sip of the fragrant infusion, and tea was born.
When did people in China start drinking tea?
Chinese mythology aside, archeological evidence indicates that tea was used as a medicine by the elite as early as the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE).
Tea didn't achieve widespread popularity as an everyday beverage until the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE). Chinese Buddhist monks were among the first habitual tea drinkers, as the caffeine helped them concentrate during long hours of prayer and meditation.
The Classic of Tea (茶经) by Lu Yu
Much of what we know about early Chinese tea culture comes from The Classic of Tea (茶经 Chájīng), written around 760 CE by Lu Yu (陆羽 Lù Yǔ). Lu Yu was an orphan who grew up cultivating and drinking tea in a Buddhist monastery.
The Classic of Tea describes early Tang dynasty tea culture and explains how to grow and prepare tea. It remains the world's first known monograph on tea.
In Lu Yu's day, tea leaves were compressed into tea bricks, which were sometimes even used as currency. When it was time to drink, the brick was ground into powder and whisked with hot water into a frothy beverage.
This powdered style of tea is no longer common in China. It was carried to Japan during the Tang dynasty, however, and lives on today as Japanese matcha.
Chinese tea in the Ming and Qing dynasties
During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 CE), tea bricks were replaced with loose leaf tea by imperial decree. The change was meant to ease the burden on farmers, since pressing tea bricks was extremely labor intensive.
Loose leaf tea is still the most common form of tea in China today.
Tea reached Britain in the mid-1600s, and booming British demand soon created a trade imbalance with China. To correct it, Britain began exporting opium to China.
When China tried to ban opium, Britain launched the mid-19th century Opium Wars to force the trade to continue.
Robert Fortune and the great British tea heist
Although the wars achieved their stated goal, British merchants worried about relying so heavily on Chinese tea. The East India Company sent Robert Fortune, a Scottish botanist and adventurer, to steal the secrets of tea-making from China.
Fortune's stolen knowledge, plants, and seeds were used to launch large-scale tea production in India. Indian output quickly outstripped China's, and China lost its long-standing monopoly on the international tea trade.
The Chinese tea industry went into a long decline. Only recently has China regained its status as the world's leading tea exporter.
02 Types of Chinese Tea: Green, White, Oolong, Black, and Pu'er
Today, most Chinese tea is loose leaf tea steeped in boiling water, either in a teapot (茶壶 cháhú) or directly in a thermos or glass. Drinking tea made from tea bags is uncommon in China.
What counts as real tea? It all starts with Camellia sinensis
In the West, "tea" is used as a catch-all term for many different herbal brews. In the strictest sense, however, the word only applies to drinks made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant.
Contrary to popular belief, the differences in taste and color between Chinese teas are not caused by different kinds of tea leaves. They come from differences in the production and manufacturing process.
The 5 main types of Chinese tea, classified by fermentation
The type of tea produced is determined by how much oxidation the leaves undergo before the process is stopped by heating. Chinese tea merchants usually refer to this oxidation as fermentation, or 发酵 (fājiào).
Chinese teas are classified according to their level of fermentation. The general rule: the more fermented the tea, the stronger its taste.
| Type of tea | Chinese | Fermentation level | Flavor profile |
|---|---|---|---|
| White tea | 白茶 (báichá) | Unfermented (不发酵 bù fājiào) | Delicate, subtle, lightly sweet |
| Green tea | 绿茶 (lǜchá) | Lightly fermented (微发酵 wēi fājiào) | Fresh, grassy, vegetal |
| Oolong tea | 乌龙茶 (wūlóng chá) | Half fermented (半发酵 bàn fājiào) | Floral to toasty, complex |
| Black tea | 红茶 (hóngchá) | Fully fermented (全发酵 quán fājiào) | Bold, malty, robust |
| Pu'er tea | 普洱茶 (pǔ'ěrchá) | Post-fermented (后发酵 hòu fājiào) | Dark, earthy, strong |
In Chinese, black tea is literally called "red tea" (红茶 hóngchá), named for the reddish color of the brewed liquid rather than the dark color of the dried leaves.
Famous regional Chinese teas: Dahongpao and Biluochun
Certain regions of China are known for producing and consuming special types of tea. Wuyi Mountain in Fujian Province, for example, is particularly famous for fine oolong teas such as dahongpao (大红袍 dàhóngpáo).
Green teas such as biluochun (碧螺春 bìluóchūn), grown in Jiangsu Province, are popular in the region around Shanghai. Hangzhou's longjing (Dragon Well) green tea is another nationally beloved classic.
Popular Chinese herbal "teas": jasmine and barley tea
Other beverages referred to as "tea" also exist in China, although some contain no Camellia sinensis leaves at all.
One popular example is jasmine tea (茉莉花茶 mòlìhuāchá), made from a mixture of green tea and jasmine flowers. Barley tea (大麦茶 dàmàichá), made from roasted barley grains, contains no tea leaves whatsoever.
Milk tea and bubble tea (奶茶): China's modern favorites
Other types of "tea" enjoying immense popularity among younger generations are milk tea (奶茶 nǎichá) and bubble tea (珍珠奶茶 zhēnzhū nǎichá).
These sugary drinks, which often contain little (if any) actual tea, come in a huge variety of flavors. They are a staple of street corners and shopping malls across China.
03 The Chinese Tea Ceremony: What Is Gongfu Cha (功夫茶)?
Chinese teahouses and tea culture today
Tea culture in China is most intact in the south, where the bulk of China's tea is produced.
Tea can be consumed at home or in teahouses (茶馆 cháguǎn), many of which offer private rooms for drinking tea with friends or business partners. Although tea is consumed by people from every sector of society, most connoisseurs tend to be middle-aged business people, intellectuals, or artists.
Much of modern Chinese tea culture revolves around the gongfu tea ceremony (功夫茶 gōngfūchá). Thought to have originated in Fujian or Guangdong Province, it usually features black, oolong, or pu'er tea.
At its most basic, the ceremony uses tiny tea cups (茶杯 chábēi), a brewing vessel such as a gaiwan (盖碗 gàiwǎn) or an Yixing purple clay teapot (紫砂壶 zǐshāhú), a tea strainer, a tea pitcher, and a tea table or tray. The more elaborate the ceremony, the more utensils are likely to appear, including whimsical tea pets (茶宠 cháchǒng).
How to perform a Chinese tea ceremony, step by step
Tea ceremonies are normally run by a host, who begins by steeping loose leaf tea in a gaiwan or teapot. The tea is then poured through a strainer into a tea pitcher to filter out bits of leaf.
Next, the host pours tea from the pitcher into the teacups. Instead of serving this first batch, the host generally pours it out onto the tea table, allowing it to drain into a bucket underneath.
This first pour washes the cups and is also considered too strong to drink. The process is then repeated, and this time the tea is served to the guests.
Why do Chinese people tap the table when served tea?
After being served, guests should either thank the host verbally or tap their bent index and middle fingers on the tea table. This custom is most common in southern China.
The gesture is said to date from the Qing dynasty (1636–1912 CE), when the Qianlong Emperor, traveling in disguise, poured tea for a servant. Unable to kneel without revealing the emperor's identity, the servant tapped the table with two bent fingers to mimic a kowtow instead.
Tea customs follow the rhythm of traditional festivals, many of which are dated by the Chinese calendar. Sharing tea with elders during Chinese New Year, for example, is an important gesture of respect.
Expensive teas and Yixing teapots as status symbols
It is possible to spend a great deal of money collecting rare tea leaves and fine tea accessories, especially Yixing teapots. In some affluent circles, tea culture is used to flaunt wealth and invest savings, much like wine culture in the United States.
It's also common for expensive teas to be given as gifts on important occasions. Fine tea is a classic present during Mid-Autumn Festival visits and business banquets alike.
That said, not everyone you meet in China will be a tea connoisseur, and many won't be familiar with the gongfu ceremony. Some families don't drink tea at all, while others simply sip it from a thermos carried throughout the day.
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04 Tea vs. Coffee in China: The Rise of Coffee Culture
China has been a nation of tea drinkers for millennia, and coffee (咖啡 kāfēi) was rare until recently. Over the past 20 years, coffee's popularity has steadily increased, especially among urban millennials.
How much coffee do people drink in China?
Per capita Chinese coffee consumption is still only around 5 cups per year, compared to roughly 400 cups in the United States. Demand has nonetheless grown exponentially since the first Starbucks opened in Beijing in 1999.
Coffee shops (咖啡馆 kāfēiguǎn) are now everywhere in China's major cities. Coffee is especially popular with students and young white-collar workers, who associate it with an aspirational Western lifestyle.
Starbucks prices in China are quite high compared to those in the U.S. Rather than deterring customers, this only adds to the brand's allure as a status symbol for the new middle class.
05 The Future of the Chinese Tea Industry
For now, tea drinking is firmly entrenched in Chinese culture. Coffee's increasing popularity poses a real challenge to the Chinese tea industry, however.
Traditional teahouses are nowhere near as popular with younger generations as coffee shops are. This is perhaps because traditional Chinese tea suffers from a branding problem.
While large coffee chains like Starbucks have sophisticated brand images that attract young consumers, no traditional Chinese tea brand with comparable appeal has emerged.
How the Chinese tea industry is adapting
Recently, some traditional tea companies have responded by opening trendy cafes and offering new products such as fruit-flavored teas, tea bags, and instant tea. Such changes may be necessary if China's tea industry wants to compete with coffee in the long run.
Considering its strong record of adapting to wars, intellectual property theft, and imperial decrees, the Chinese tea industry seems likely to overcome its current challenges. Tea will almost certainly remain at the heart of Chinese life for many years to come.
06 Chinese Tea Vocabulary: Essential Words and Phrases
The following terms will help you talk about tea in Chinese, order with confidence in teahouses, and understand tea-related conversations.
Tea vocabulary is a great addition to any Chinese study plan, since these words come up constantly in daily life.
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 茶 | Tea | |
| 茶叶 | Tea leaves | |
| 白茶 | White tea | |
| 绿茶 | Green tea | |
| 乌龙茶 | Oolong tea | |
| 红茶 | Black tea (literally "red tea") | |
| 普洱茶 | Pu'er tea | |
| 茉莉花茶 | Jasmine tea | |
| 大麦茶 | Barley tea | |
| 奶茶 | Milk tea | |
| 珍珠奶茶 | Bubble tea; pearl milk tea | |
| 茶馆 | Teahouse | |
| 茶壶 | Teapot | |
| 茶杯 | Teacup | |
| 功夫茶 | Gongfu tea ceremony | |
| 盖碗 | Gaiwan; lidded tea-brewing bowl | |
| 紫砂壶 | Yixing purple clay teapot | |
| 茶宠 | Tea pet | |
| 发酵 | Fermentation; oxidation (of tea) | |
| 咖啡 | Coffee |
07 FAQ
What are the main types of Chinese tea?
The five main types are white, green, oolong, black, and pu'er tea. All come from the Camellia sinensis plant and differ only in their level of fermentation (oxidation).
Who discovered tea in China?
According to legend, tea was discovered by the mythical emperor Shennong when leaves fell into his boiling water. Historically, archeological evidence shows tea was used as a medicine by the Han dynasty elite over 2,000 years ago.
What is a gongfu tea ceremony?
Gongfu cha (功夫茶) is the traditional Chinese method of brewing tea with great skill and care, using small cups, a gaiwan or Yixing teapot, and multiple short infusions. The first pour is typically discarded to rinse the leaves and warm the cups.
Why do Chinese people tap two fingers on the table when served tea?
Tapping bent index and middle fingers on the table is a silent way of thanking the person pouring your tea. The custom is said to date back to the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty.
Is bubble tea real tea?
Not really. Bubble tea (珍珠奶茶) is a sweet milk-based drink that often contains little or no actual Camellia sinensis tea, though it remains hugely popular with younger generations.
Do people in China drink more tea or coffee?
Tea is still far more widely consumed, but coffee is growing rapidly in popularity, especially among students and young urban professionals. Per capita coffee consumption remains a small fraction of that in Western countries.
08 Final thoughts
Chinese tea is far more than a beverage. It brings together mythology, medicine, trade, ritual, art, and everyday hospitality in a single cup.
For Chinese learners, tea culture is one of the most rewarding doorways into the language. Knowing why tea is poured the way it is, what to say when served, and how to talk about your favorite varieties will enrich every visit to China, from a teahouse in Chengdu to a family table during Chinese holidays.
09 Selected References
- South China Morning Post: how Robert Fortune and the East India Company took China's tea secrets. View source →
- Culture Trip: how the East India Company undermined China's tea trade. View source →
- USC US-China Institute: the evolution of China's coffee industry. View source →
- World History Encyclopedia: overviews of the Han and Ming dynasties. View source →
- Note: Tea production figures, consumption statistics, and market trends change over time. Always confirm current data with up-to-date industry sources.