Tea

BY | 08-11-2016
(Chinese Social Sciences Today)

龙井茶,虎跑水。
Tiger Spring makes superior Longjing Tea.
Longjing Tea and Tiger Spring are known as “double superb in Hangzhou.” The water from Tiger Spring is said to ensure that the color, taste and aroma of Longjing Tea last longer. This is due to the mineral elements in Tiger Spring’s water.

 

饭后茶消食,酒后茶解醉。
Drinking tea after dinner can improve digestion, and drinking tea after drinking alcohol can help overcome a hangover.
This proverb comes from Hanzhong, southwestern Shaanxi Province. Hanzhong is a good place for growing tea plants and has been one of the most important tea growing locations since ancient times. Hanzhong locals attach importance to drinking tea after dinner because of its advantages for human health. It is also said that drinking tea can help people refresh and sober up after drinking too much alcohol.   

 

平地有好花,高山有好茶。
Flat ground grows good flowers and high mountains cultivate good tea.
This proverb comes from Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. The priority of growing tea plants is to choose appropriate and advantageous place for tea. Zhejiang locals in the past accumulated a lot of experience choosing locations for tea gardens. From the perspective of modern science and technology, this proverb seems outdated, but placed within the context of limited agricultural resources, it makes a lot of sense and guided local tea-growers.

 

宁可一日无食,不可一日无茶。
Better to eat nothing in a day, as one cannot live a day without tea.
This is a proverb from a Mongolian ethnic group. The tea in the proverb refers to milk tea or Mongolian tea, which is an indispensable beverage for Mongolian nomads. Drinking milk tea is regarded as a historical and cultural symbol of Mongolian ethnic groups.