GIVEAWAY DAY 2: China (Part II)

International Tea Day Giveaway ✨ CHINA (PART II) 🇨🇳

There is a popular saying in China “Drink tea, make friends.” Serving tea is customary among many circles – household, commerce and even government. An aromatic tea is prepared to show respect for guests. Tea is also gifted to express and communicate friendship, forgiveness, and initiation of partnership. China is home to great diversity and tea offers a way to find lines of connection. Tea is an important part of coming together.

Chinese tea ceremony is rooted in unity, and tea is known as the great connector: to self, to community and to nature. The atmosphere for tea ceremony is carefully created. Ceremony may be held in nature, under a tree, by a body of water, or on a rock. Built environments which integrate natural elements also create ceremonial tea spaces like monasteries, pavilions, water features. The Teahouse is most well-known for tea ceremony activities, with beautiful courtyard gardens and rooms decorated with paintings, floral arrangements, plants, and antiques.

One tea that highlights the craft and care that surrounds tea in China is the aromatic and exquisite Oolong - known as wulong or black dragon tea for the long and twisted, almost serpentine rolled leaves. Oolong is the most intricate tea to produce - believed to promote good digestion and longevity.

One of the most internationally recognized Oolongs is ‘Ti Kwan Yin’, named for Kwan Yin: the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion. Legend has it that emperor Kangxi prayed to Kwan Yin to restore his health. The goddess answered his prayers and later appeared in a dream, where she brought him to a mountainous area and showed him the tea slopes and the poor living conditions of the farmers there. She asked that the emperor help the farmers gain prosperity by officially establishing the region as a tea-growing one. Thus, emperor Kangxi declared the tea from these slopes to be famed, and the area’s tea industry, along with Ti Kwan Yin’s flavour, blossomed.

Each tea has many stories to tell, and China provides many beautiful teas for the world. We love the creative names for Chinese Teas like Monkey Picked and Hairy Crab!

When you purchase in-store or online today, enjoy a complimentary gift pouch with a tea from China!