Chinese custom and history

China, the Homeland of Tea

The three major beverages of the world-- tea, and cocoa-- tea is consumed by the largest number of people.

China is the homeland of tea. It is believed that China has tea- shrubs as early as five to six thousand years ago, and human cultivation of teaplants dates back two thousand years. Tea from China, along with her silk and porcelain, began to be known the world over more than a thousand years ago and has since always been an important Chinese export. At present more than forty countries in the world grow tea with Asian countries producing 90% of the world's total output. All tea trees in other countries have their origin directly or indirectly in China. The word for tea leaves or tea as a drink in many countries are derivatives from the Chinese character "cha." The Russians call it "cha'i", which sounds like "chaye" (tea leaves) as it is pronounced in northern China, and the English word "tea" sounds similar to the pronunciation of its counterpart in Xiamen (Amoy). The Japanese character for tea is written exactly the same as it is in Chinese, though pronounced with a slight difference. The habit of tea drinking spread to in the 6th century, but it was not introduced to Europe and America till the 17th and 18th centuries. Now the number of tea drinkers in the world is legion and is still on the increase.

The Categories of Tea

Chinese tea may be classified into five categories according to the different methods by which it is processed.

1) : Green tea is the variety which keeps the original colour of the tea leaves without fermentation during processing. This category consists mainly of of Zhejiang Province, Maofeng of Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province and produced in Jiangsu.

2) : Black tea, known as "red tea" (hong cha) in China, is the category which is fermented before baking; it is a later variety developed on the basis of the green tea. The best brands of black tea are Qihong of Anhui , of , Suhong of Jiangsu, Chuanhong of Sichuan and Huhong of Hunan.

3) Wulong tea: This represents a variety half way between the green and the black , being made after partial fermentation. It is a specialty from the provinces on China's southeast coast: Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan.

4) : This is the kind of tea which is compressed and hardened into a certain shape. It is good for transport and storage and is mainly supplied to the ethnic minorities living in the border areas of the country. As compressed tea is black in colour in its commercial form, so it is also known in China as "black tea". Most of the compressed tea is in the form of bricks; it is, therefore, generally called "brick tea", though it is sometimes also in the form of cakes and bowls. It is mainly produced in , Hunan, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

5) Scented tea: This kind of tea is made by mixing fragrant flowers in the tea leaves in the course of processing. The flowers commonly used for this purpose are jasmine and magnolia among others. is a well-known favourite with the northerners of China and with a growing number of foreigners. Tea Production

A new tea-plant must grow for five years before its leaves can be picked and, at 30 years of age, it will be too old to be productive. The trunk of the old plant must then be cut off to force new stems to grow out of the roots in the coming year. By repeated rehabilitation in this way, a plant may serve for about l00 years.

For the fertilization of tea gardens, soya-bean cakes or other varieties of organic manure are generally used, and seldom chemical fertilizers. When pests are discovered, the affected plants will be removed to prevent their spread, and also to avoid the use of pesticides.

The season of tea-picking depends on local climate and varies from area to area. On the shores of West Lake in Hangzhou, where the famous green tea Longjing (Dragon Well) comes from, picking starts from the end of March and lasts through October, altogether 20-30 times from the same plants at intervals of seven to ten days. With a longer interval, the quality of the tea will deteriorate.

A skilled woman picker can only gather 600 grams (a little over a pound) of green tea leaves in a day.

The new leaves must be parched in tea cauldrons. This work , which used to be done manually, has been largely mechanized. Top-grade Dragon Well tea, however, still has to be stir-parched by hand, doing only 250 grams every half hour. The tea-cauldrons are heated electrically to a temperature of about 25oC or 74oF. It takes four pounds of fresh leaves to produce one pound of parched tea.

The best Dragon Well tea is gathered several days before Qingming (Pure Brightness, 5th solar term) when new twigs have just begun to grow and carry "one leaf and a bud." To make one kilogram (2.2 lbs) of finished tea, 60, 000 tender leaves have to be plucked. In the old days Dragon Well tea of this grade was meant solely for the imperial household; it was, therefore, known as "tribute tea".

For the processes of grinding, parching, rolling, shaping and drying other grades of tea various machines have been developed and built, turning out about 100 kilograms of finished tea an hour and relieving the workers from much of their drudgery. China's Tea-Producing Areas

Tea is produced in vast areas of China from Hainan lsland down in the extreme south to Shandong Province in the north, from in the southwest to Taiwan across the Straits, totalling more than 20 provinces. These may be divided into four major areas:

1) The Jiangnan area: It is the most prolific of China's tea-growing areas. Most of its output is the green variety; some black tea is also produced.

2) The Jiangbei area: Green tea is the principal variety turned out there, but Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, which are also parts of this area. produce compressed tea for supply to the minority areas in the Northwest.

3) The Southwest area: It produces black, green as well as compressed teas. Pu'er tea of Yunnan Province enjoys a good sale in China and abroad.

4) The Lingnan area: This area produces Wulong tea, which is renowned both at home and abroad.

Advantages of Tea-Drinking

Tea has been one of the daily necessities in China since time immemorial. Countless numbers of people like to have their aftermeal cup of tea.

In summer or warm climate, tea seems to dispel the heat and bring on instant cool together with a feeling of relaxation. For this reason, tea - houses abound in towns and market villages in South China and provide elderly retirees with the locales to meet and chat over a cup of tea.

Medically, the tea leaf contains a number of chemicals, of which 20-30% is tannic acid, known for its anti-inflammatory and germicidal properties. It also contains an alkaloid (5%, mainly ), a stimulant for the nerve centre and the process of metabolism. Tea with the aromatics in it may help resolve meat and fat and thus promote digestion. It is, therefore, of special importance to people who live mainly on meat, like many of the ethnic minorities in China. A popular proverb among them says, "Rather go without salt for three days than without tea for a single day."

Tea is also rich in various vitamins and, for smokers, it helps to discharge nicotine out of the system. After wining, strong tea may prove to be a sobering pick-me-up.

The above, however, does not go to say that the stronger the tea, the more advantages it will yield. Too much tannic acid will affect the secretion of the gastric juice, irritate the membrane of the stomach and cause indigestion or constipation. Strong tea taken just before bedtime will give rise to occasional insomnia. Constant drinking of over -strong tea may induce heart and blood-pressure disorders in some people, reduce the milk of a breast-feeding mother, and put a brown colour on the teeth of young people. But it is not difficult to ward off these undesirable effects: just don't make your tea too strong.

Post – reading questions

Choose the best answer.

1. The passage tells us that______.

a. coffee is consumed by the largest number of people.

b. Japan is the homeland for tea.

c. tea is the major beverage of the world.

d. the three major beverages of the world are tea, coffee and cola.

2. The writer does not indicate that ______.

a. tea, silk and porcelain are important Chinese export items

b. more than 40 countries in the world grow tea.

c. the habit of tea drinking spread to Japan in the 6th century.

d. the Japanese character for tea is similar to that in Chinese.

3. According to the writer, has been classified into many categories because______.

a. it has different production processes.

b. it has different quality.

c. it has different tastes and colours.

d. it has different producing areas.

4. The season of tea – picking depends on ______.

a. the categories of tea

b. local climate which varies from area to area

c. the skilled picker

d. the quantity of the tea collected in each season

5. The tea production includes the following processes except ______.

a. grinding

b. parching

c. sharpening

d. freezing

6. Wulong tea is produced in______.

a. the Jiangnan area

b. the Southwest area

c. the Lingnan area

d. the Jiangbei area

7. Strong tea drinking can ______.

a. give rise to occasional insomnia

b. induce heart and blood – pressure disorders

c. reduce the milk of a breast – feeding mother

d. yield anti – oxidant substance Finding details

Write T in front of the correct statements and F in front of the incorrect

statements.

___ 1. Tannic acid can counteract venereal diseases and inflammation.

___ 2. Tea helps to discharge nicotine out of the system.

___ 3. Tea will give rise to occasional insomnia.

___ 4. Drinking strong tea may heal heart and blood - pressure disorders.

___ 5. Compressed tea is also known in China as “black tea”.

Summary cloze

Complete the following passage by choosing the correct answers from the choices given.

grow fertilization depends on

picked varieties through

productive affected altogether

force prevent deteriorate

rehabilitation pesticides gather

A new tea-plant must ______for five years before its leaves can be _____ and, at 30 years of age, it will be too old to be ______. The trunk of the old plant must then be cut off to _____ new stems to grow out of the roots in the coming year. By repeated ______in this way, a plant may serve for about l00 years.

For the ______of tea gardens, soya-bean cakes or other ______of organic manure are generally used, and seldom chemical fertilizers. When pests are discovered, the ______plants will be removed to ______their spread, and also to avoid the use of ______.

The season of tea-picking ______local climate and varies from area to area. On the shores of West Lake in Hangzhou, where the famous green tea Longjing (Dragon Well) comes from, picking starts from the end of March and lasts ______October, ______20-30 times from the same plants at intervals of seven to ten days. With a longer interval, the quality of the tea will ______.

A skilled woman picker can only ______600 grams (a little over a pound) of green tea leaves in a day.

Crossword

Fill in the blanks using the cues given.

p _ s ______

_ d ______

_ _ a _ _ _ _

_ _ c ______

r _ _ o _ _ _

e _ _ _ i _ _ _ e ______

_ _ p _ r _ _

_ _ y _ _ _ _

Vertical

1. making you feel serious 2. to exist in large numbers 3. hard and uninteresting work Horizontal

1. a chemical substance that is used for killing animals or insects that eat food crops 2. to become worse 3. to come together in a group 4. preparing and using land for growing crops 5. well-known, famous 6. the study of what is right and wrong in human behavior 7. copied from sth or influenced by sth and therefore not new or original or a form of sth (especially a word) that was developed from the original form 8. to make sth very hot, dry or thirsty 9. to produce crops, profit or results, to stop resisting sth

Identifying references

1. The word “ it ” (paragraph 2, line 15, China, the Homeland of tea) refers to______

2. The word “ its ” (paragraph 1, line 1, Tea production) refers to______

3. The word “ their ” (paragraph 2, line 4, Tea production) refers to______Vocabulary

Choose the synonyms for the underlined words.

1. Wulong tea which is renowned both at home and abroad, ______

a. famous b. sold c. transported

2. Tea has been one of the daily necessities in China.

a. ingredients b. essentials c. custom

3. advantages of tea – drinking

a. benefits b. advances c. derivatives

4. This represents a variety half way between the green and the black tea.

a. responds to b. transforms c. stands for

5. The quality of the tea will deteriorate.

a. become well b. become worse c. become appropriate Answer key

Post – reading question 1) c 2) d 3) a 4) b 5) d 6) c 7) d

Finding detail 1) F 2) T 3) T 4) F 5) T

Identifying references 1) the habit of tea drinking

2) tea’s leaves

3) pests’

Vocabulary 1) a 2) b 3) a 4) c 5) b

Summary cloze

1. grow 6. fertilization 11. depends on

2. picked 7. varieties 12. through

3. productive 8. affected 13. altogether

4. force 9. prevent 14. deteriorate

5. rehabilitation 10. pesticides 15. gather Crossword

p e s t i c i d e

o d e t e r i o r a t e

b g a t h e r

e b c u l t i v a t i o n

r e n o w n g

e t h n i c u d e r i v a t i v e

n n p a r c h

g d y i e l d

Vocabulary cultivation (n.) - preparing and using land for growing crops output (n.) - the amount that a person or machine produces derivative - (adj.) copied from sth or influenced by sth and therefore not new or original (n.) a form of sth (especially a word) that was developed from the original form pesticide (n.) - a chemical substance that is used for killing animals or insects that eat food crops fertilization (n.) - putting a male seed into an egg deteriorate (v.) - to become worse gather (v.) - to come together in a group parch (v.) - to make sth very hot, dry or thirsty drudgery (adj.) - hard and uninteresting work necessity (adj.) - being necessary, heed, essential dispel (v.) - to make sth disappear, to remove sth form sb’s mind abound (v.) - to exist in large numbers inflammatory (adj.) - redness and swelling in a part of the body because of infection ethnic (n.) - the study of what is right and wrong in human behavior sobering (n.) - making you feel serious yield (v.) - to produce crops, profit or results, to stop resisting sth irritate (v.) - to make sb angry, to annoy constipated (v.) - not able to pass waste material easily from the bowels compress (v.) - to press sth together so that it takes up less space renown (adj.) - well-known, famous presented by

1. Somkiat Nakkarerk 2. Leela Deechaiyasiat 3. Sitichok Neukvent 4. Nithi

Editor:

Antikar Rongsa-ard