(simplified Chinese: 绿茶; traditional Chinese: 綠茶; pinyin: lǜchá; Japanese: 緑茶; ryokucha) is a “true” tea, meaning it is made solely with the leaves of Camellia sinensis, that has undergone minimal oxidation during processing. Green tea originates from China and has become associated with many cultures in Asia from Japan to the Middle East. Recently, it has become more widespread in the West, where black tea is traditionally consumed. Many varieties of green tea have been created in countries where it is grown that can differ substantially due to variable growing conditions, processing and harvesting time. Over the last few decades green tea has begun to be subjected to many scientific and medical studies to determine the extent of its long-purported health benefits, with some evidence suggesting regular green tea drinkers may have lower chances of heart disease and developing certain types of cancer.

Zhejiang Province

Zhejiang is home to the most famous of all teas, Xi Hu Longjing, as well as many other high-quality green teas.

Longjing

The most well-known of famous Chinese teas from Hangzhou, its name in Chinese means dragon well. It is pan-fried and has a distinctive flat appearance. Falsification of Longjing is very common, and most of the tea on the market is in fact produced in SichuanProvince^{[citation needed]} and hence not authentic Longjing.

Hui Ming

Named after a temple in Zhejiang.

Long Ding

A tea from Kaihua County known as Dragon Mountain.

Hua Ding

A tea from Tiantai County and named after a peak in the Tiantai mountain range.

Qing Ding

A tea from Tian Mu, also known as Green Top.

Gunpowder

A popular tea also known as zhuchá. It originated in Zhejiang but is now grown elsewhere in China.

Jiangsu Province

 

A plate of Bi Luo Chun tea, from Jiangsu Province in China.

Bi Luo Chun

A Chinese famous tea also known as Green Snail Spring, from Dong Ting. As with Longjing, falsification is common and most of the tea marketed under this name may, in fact, be grown in Sichuan.

Rain FlowerA tea from Nanjing.

Shui Xi Cui Bo

Hubei Province

Yu Lu

A steamed tea known as Gyokuro (Jade Dew) made in the Japanese style.

Henan Province

Xin Yang Mao Jian

A Chinese famous tea also known as Green Tip, or Tippy Green.

Jiangxi Province

Chun Mee

Name means “precious eyebrows“; from Jiangxi, it is now grown elsewhere.

Gou Gu Nao

A well-known tea within China and recipient of numerous national awards.

Yun Wu

A tea also known as Cloud and Mist.

Anhui Province

Anhui Province is home to three Chinese famous teas.

Da Fang

A tea from Mount Huangshan also known as Big Square.

Huangshan Mao Feng

A Chinese famous tea from Mount Huangshan.

Lu An Guapian

A Chinese famous tea also known as Melon Seed.

Hou Kui

A Chinese famous tea also known as Monkey tea.

Tun Lu

A tea from Tunxi District.

Huo Qing

A tea from Jing County, also known as Fire Green.

Hyson

A medium-quality tea from many provinces, an early-harvested tea.

Qualities of the teas in Taiwan are usually affected by the year and season, growers and areas of production. Different areas have different weather patterns, temperatures, altitudes and soil that ultimately result in the differences of teas. In some mountain areas, teas have been cultivated at ever higher elevations to produce a unique sweet taste that fetches a price premium.

There is usually an extremely wide variation in the prices of Taiwan tea. Affordable teas usually cost around dozens of dollars per kilogram, while quality teas produced by reputed grower and superior areas can cost up to several hundreds dollars. Some very rare awarded teas–also called “champion tea”, which are graded as best selections in official contests, may reach thousands dollars in auctions.

Dòng Dǐng (凍頂)

A pelleted tea known as Cold Summit. Dong Ding is a mountain in Nantou County of central Taiwan. It was the original tea growing area and produces some of the most prized tea in Taiwan. Alishan (Mt. Ali) and Li Shan (Mt. Pear) are higher mountain teas with lower yields and even more sought after for the velvety smooth clean “qing xiang” light fragrance. This fragrance is almost addictive and no other oolong teas except for the Taiwan high mountain varieties have it. The prices range between US$40 and $100 (Mt. Ali and Mt. Pear respectively) per 600 g (taizhin unit) for decent grades. Prize winning grades are exorbitant in price, and merely opening a pouch or canister of these prize-winning teas can fill a house with their fragrance.

Dong Fang Mei Ren (東方美人茶)

Also known as Bai Hao Oolong tea or Oriental Beauty. This tea is a tippy tea, with natural fruity aromas that produces a sweet tasting bright red tea liquor.

Alishan (阿里山茶)

This has large rolled leaves that have a purple-green appearance when dry. It is grown in Chiayi County, Taiwan at an elevation of from 3000 to 4500 feet. There is a short period of the day with full sun and this produces a sweeter and less astringent brew. It produces a golden yellow liquid which has a unique fruity aroma.

Pouchong

The lightest and most floral Oolong, originally grown in Fujian it is now widely cultivated and produced in Pinglin Township near Taipei, Taiwan.

Wǔ-Yí mountain (武夷山茶) Fújiàn province

Wuyi Huang Guan Yin tea leaves

Wuyi Qi Lan Oolong tea leaves

The most famous and expensive Oolong teas are made here but the production is still usually accredited as organic. Falsification is rare as the teas generally have a very distinctive aroma, but Shui Hsien is mostly grown elsewhere in Fujian.

Da Hong Pao

Also known as Big Red Robe, a highly prized tea and a Si Da Ming Cong (四大名樅, literally: The Four Great Firs). This tea is also one of the two Oolongs that make it to the list of Chinese famous teas.

Shui Jin Gui

Also known as Golden Marine Turtle, a Si Da Ming Cong.

Tieluohan

Also known as Iron Arhat, a Si Da Ming Cong.

Bai Ji Guan

Also known as White Cockscomb,a Si Da Ming Cong. A special light tea with very distinctive lightly colored leaves.

Rou Gui

Also known as Cinnamon, a dark tea with a spicy aroma.

Shui Hsien

Also known as Water Sprite, a very dark tea, often grown elsewhere.

Jin Fo

Also known as Golden Buddha this is a very new tea that produces a light brew.

Huang Guanyin

Also known as Yellow Goddess of Mercy, this is a very new but already famous tea. Guan Yin (Avalokitesvara) is a goddess of mercy and the household.

Huang Mei Gui

Also known as Yellow Rose, this is a very new tea that produces a floral infusion with a very light taste.

Qi Lan

Also known as Rare Orchid is a popular light tea.

Jin Suo Chi

Also known as Golden Key.

Ban Tian Yao

Also known as Waist Halfway to the Sky.

Fo Shou

Also known as Buddha Hands.

Bu Zhi Chun

Also known as Knows Not of Spring.

Fújiàn province

Tiě Guān Yīn

Tiě Guān Yīn or Ti Kuan Yin (鐵觀音)

Also known as ‘Iron Goddess’ this is a tea from Anxi in South Fujian. It is very famous, in fact a Chinese famous tea and very popular, hence there are many other teas that resemble its tight pelleted form.

Huang Jin Gui: A tightly curled tea from Anxi in South Fujian.

Guangdong province

Dān-Cōng (单枞)

A highly floral flat tea with large undamaged leaves that is often scented with various aromas.

It has a taste more akin to green tea than to black tea: it lacks the rosy, sweet aroma of black tea but it does not have the stridently grassy vegetal notes that typify green tea. The best Oolong has a nuanced flavor profile. It is commonly brewed to be strong, with the bitterness leaving a sweet and pleasant aftertaste. Oolongs produced in the Wuyi Mountains of Fujian Province and in the Central Mountains of Taiwan, are world famous.

Oolong tea leaves are often processed and rolled into long curly leaves or into ball-like form similar to gunpowder tea.^[1] It is commonly served in Chinese restaurants, to accompany dim sum and other Chinese food.

After picking appropriate tender leaves, the first step in making raw or ripened pu-erh is converting the leaf to máochá (青毛茶 or 毛茶; literally, “light green rough tea” or “rough tea” respectively). Plucked leaves are handled gingerly to prevent bruising and unwanted oxidation. Weather permitting, the leaves are then spread out in the sun or a ventilated space to wilt and remove some of the water content^[3]. On overcast or rainy days, the leaves will be wilted by light heating, a slight difference in processing that will affect the quality of the resulting maocha and pu-erh. The wilting process may be skipped altogether depending on the tea processor.

Relatively young Raw pu-erh. Note the grey and dark green tones.

The leaves are then dry pan-fried using a large wok in a process called “kill green” (殺青; pinyin: shā qīng), which arrests enzyme activity in the leaf and prevents further oxidation. With enzymatic oxidation halted, the leaves can then be rolled, rubbed, and shaped through several steps into strands. The shaped leaves are then ideally dried in the sun and then manually picked through to remove bad leaves^[3]. Once dry, máochá can be sent directly to the factory to be pressed into raw pu-erh, or to undergo further processing to make ripened pu-erh.^[4]. Sometimes maocha is aged uncompressed and sold at its maturity as aged loose-leaf raw pu-erh.

Raw pu-erh tea (Chinese: 生 茶; pinyin: shēngchá or Chinese: 青 茶; pinyin: qīngchá), also known as “uncooked pu-erh” or “green pu-erh,” is simply máochá tea leaves that have been compressed into its final form without additional processing.

Ripened pu-erh

Ripened pu-erh. Note the orange-brown tone of the lighter leaves due to oxidation/fermentation.

Ripened pu-erh tea (Chinese: 熟 茶; pinyin: shoúchá) is pressed maocha that has been specially processed to imitate aged raw pu-erh. Although it is more commonly known as “cooked pu-erh,” the process does not actually employ cooking to imitate the aging process. The term may come about due to inaccurate transliteration due to the dual meaning of “shoú” (熟) as both “fully cooked” and “fully ripened” .

The process used to convert máochá into ripened pu-erh is a recent invention that manipulates conditions to approximate the result of the aging process by prolonged bacterial and fungal fermentation in a warm humid environment under controlled conditions, a technique called wòdūi (渥 堆, “wet piling” in English), which involves piling, dampening, and turning the tea leaves in a manner much akin to composting^[5].

The piling, wetting, and mixing of the piled máochá ensures even fermentation^[5]. The bacterial and fungal cultures found in the fermenting piles were found to vary widely from factory to factory throughout Yunnan, consisting of multiple strains of Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp., yeasts, as well as wide range of other microflora. Control over the multiple variables in the ripening process, particularly humidity and the growth of Aspergillus spp., is key in producing ripened pu-erh of high quality^[6]. Poor control in fermentation/oxidation process can result in bad ripened pu-erh, characterized by badly decomposed leaves and a flavour and texture reminiscent of compost. The ripening process typically takes anywhere from half a year to one year after it has begun. As such, a ripened pu-erh produced in early 2004 will be pressed in the winter of 2004/2005, and appear on the market between late 2005 or early 2006.

This process was first developed in 1972 by Menghai Tea Factory and Kunming Tea Factory^[7] to imitate the flavor and color of aged raw pu-erh. This technique was an adaptation of “wet storage” techniques that were being used by merchants to falsify the age of their teas. Mass production of ripened pu-erh began in 1975. It can be consumed without further aging, though it can also be stored to “air out” some of the less savory flavors and aromas acquired during fermentation. The tea is often compressed but is also common in loose form. Some collectors of pu-erh believe that ripened pu-erh should not be aged for more than a decade.

Pu-erh is well known for the fact that it is a compressed tea and also that it typically ages well to produce a pleasant drink. Through storage, the tea typically takes on a darker colour and mellower flavour characteristics. Often pu-erh leaves are compressed into tea cakes or bricks, and are wrapped in various materials, which when stored away from excessive moisture, heat, and sunlight mature the tea. Pressing of pu-erh into cakes and aging the tea cakes possibly originated from the natural aging process that happened in the storerooms of tea drinkers and merchants, as well as on horseback caravans on the Ancient tea route (茶馬古道; pinyin: chámǎ gǔdaò) that was used in ancient Yunnan to trade tea to Tibet and more northern parts of China^[2]. Compression of the tea into dense bulky objects likely eased horseback transport and reduced damage to the tea.

The tea leaves from China was then imported to various countries like England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland and the Southeast Asian countries.

These countries imported the item via the sea route and hence in English, it is known as TEA, In Spain it’s TE. In Netherlands, it is called THEE and in Malaysia it is affectionately known as ‘TEH‘

In Japan, the tea leaves are known as CHA, In the Arabian world, they call it ‘CHAI‘. The Turkish called it ‘CHAY‘ and in Russia, it is known as ‘CHAI‘

Origins of the tea leaves:
In China, tea leaves are planted in four regions. they are the the following:

1. Southwestern District
This region produces the earliest form of Tea. It includes Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Southeastern part of Tibet. The tea produced here are: Black Tea, Green Tea, Tuo Tea, Pu Erh and Compressed Tea.

2. The Southern District
This regions covers Guangdong, GuangXi, Fujian and Hainan Island. These area produced Black Tea, Oolong Tea, Flower Scented Tea, White Tea dn Liu Bao Tea.

3. The South Yangtze District
This region lies on the south of the river at the central and lower reaches like Zhejiang, Hunan, JiangXi, Southern parts of Anhui, Jiangsu and Hubei. This region produces Green Tea, Black Tea, Red Tea, Flower scented tea such as Xihu Long Jing, HuangShan Mao Feng, Dong Ding Bi Luo Chun, Junshan Yin Shen, Lushan Yun Wu.

4. The North Yangtze District
This area covers the northern basins of the central and lower reaches of the mighty river. These includes Henan, ShanXi, Gansu, Shandong, Northern parts of Anhui, Jiangsu and Hubei. These regions produced mainly green teas like Liu An Gua Pian and Xinyang Mao Jian.

In Taiwan island, tea is mainly grown in the northern districts, Tau Zhu Miao (Tauyuan, Xinzhu, Miaoli); the Mid-Southern districts and Northern Districts. These areas produce Green Tea, Oolong Tea, Bao Zhong Tea and Black Tea.

To the Chinese, Tea is a part of their ancient culture. It is also used in traditional and ceremonial occasions. It is offered as a sacred beverages to the Gods and appease the ancestral spirits. Tea is also served as a mode of respect, goodwill, acceptance, blessing and friendship. It is presented at births, weddings and burial ceremonies. In every Chinese household, it is an accepted courtesy to serve tea to visitors and honored guests on entering houses.

In the Tang Dynasty, tea was brewed with other ingredients, as a result; they lose their original flavour. Later upon the advice of LU YU, the great sage of Tea; compressed tea leaves were crushed before brewing which resulted in discovering its true essence.

Later in the Sung Dynasty, Curing techniques were refined and tea leaves were crushd and placed in bowls before boiling water was poured over it. This infusion of heat and tea leaves brought out the distinctive taste of the tea.

During the Yuan & Ming Dynasties, tea was produced in loose form instead of the old compressed cake form. Crushing the leaves became unneccesary. Tea was brewed directly using the loose leaves.

From the Ming to Qing Dynasty, tea was brewed in small clay teapots, which continues to this day.