When researching where to find and buy Tea in China one can get quite lost. In China, Tea is mainly produced in 17 regions: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi Zhuang, Guizhou, Hainan, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Szechwan, Yunnan, and Zhejiang.
The most famous Green Teas in China include Longjing tea produced in the Zhejiang Province, Maofeng from the Anhui Province and Biluochun produced in Jiangsu.
Some known types of black Tea (named Red Tea in China ) are Qihong of Anhui , Dianhong of Yunnan, Suhong of Jiangsu, Chuanhong of Sichuan and Huhong of Hunan.
Oolong Tea is a specialty from the provinces on China’s southeast coast: Fujian and Guangdong.
Each Region also developed their own Tea drinking habits. In Northern China you fill find
Scented Tea with rose petals
that scented Tea, the process of infusing Tea with flowers is very popular but Green Tea is still the nation´s number one choice.
I visited Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang, home to the Longjing (Dragon Well) Tea Plantations and to the National Museum of Tea. . The first harvesting season goes from Mid March to early May so I was lucky to see the Tea harvesters manually picking the leaves. The whole journey was quite an experience and an adventure which I will share with you in detail in the next post.
Happy Tea Break.
Tania
