Pu-erh Tea

For many people, nothing beats greeting the morning with a nice cup of tea. Its refreshing, clean taste evokes a feeling of calmness and mindfulness. For more than four millennia, tea has delighted, inspired, and satisfied countless drinkers in all corners of the world. Olivia Yang, the author of The Art of Drinking Tea, said that “the Chinese are, without any doubt, the right people to understand everything about tea.” For thousands of years, the Chinese have practiced and maintained the art of tea cultivation, preparation, and consumption. As tea is deeply ingrained in Chinese culture, it is best to learn about it from them. Keep reading to know more about the utterly rich Chinese tea culture. Traditional Chinese Tea: The Basics There are several main types of Chinese tea, each one with distinct characteristics. Though all tea came from the same plant source - Camellia sinensis - they can be easily referred to as green tea, yellow tea, white tea, oolong tea, black tea, and dark tea. Here’s a brief description of each tea. Green Tea When you hear the word "tea," green tea is probably what first comes to your mind. After all, this is not just the oldest…

Pu-erh TeaTime for a cup of Pu-erh tea in China?The Pu-erh Tea treesDating back to the Cenozoic period of about 65 million years ago, the Pu-erh tea trees are possibly the oldest tea trees in China and even the world.The Chinese Pu-erh tea trees are growing in the subtropical zones in the South China provinces. They are also found in northern Vietnam, Burma, Thailand and India. However, they grow best in the moist valleys between the elevations of 1200-1400m above sea level, primarily in the forest in the South Yunnan Province of China.The trees are an evergreen woody plant growing as trees in arbors or as bushes. The bushes are mostly cultivated but trees can grow up to 5 to 15 meters tall with a diameter of over 1 meter. The leaves measure 4 – 15cm. Because of tis leaf size they also called "big leave tea trees" in comparison with smaller leaved trees and bushes.The oldest tea tree (No.01) found in the wilderness in Yunnan is 2700yrs old, located in Qianjiazhai, Zhenyuan. It was discovered in 1991 and measures 25m tall and 1m in diameter. It was awarded the "oldest tea tree". The surrounding area is dominated by other…