Tea Ceremony In China

Significantly linked to the Chinese traditions, drinking tea became necessary for self –assessment during the Tang Regime.After that the popularity of Tea started.Now here the Chinese tea ceremony refers to the process of getting tea prepared for special occasions such as social gatherings as well as other types of events. The tea ceremony in China means Cha wenhua. The word cha means the drink made from the Camellia Sinensis plant. Popularly known for curing diseases such as cough and cold.

For preparing Chinese tea, special teapot significant during social gatherings are used. Since the Green teas are tender than the black and oolong teas, so they gets prepared in cold water. The most simplest Chinese method making tea is by adding herbal leaves to the teapot containing warm water which is mostly followed in households and restaurants. Depending on the varied regions of China, the brewing procedures as well as the tools used vary accordingly. The tea drinking occurred in the ‘Teahouses’ consisting of elite classes where they discussed day to day events and thank the tea server by lightly knocking with the forefinger and middle finger bent indicating thankfulness. The forefinger symbolizes head and the middle finger symbolizing arms.

There are several different reasons for preparing tea in the Chinese culture.

A Sign of Gratitude– In the ethnic Chinese culture, younger generations show gratitude to the older generations by offering them tea. But in modern Chinese society, this principle gets faded. Now parents make tea for their kids to show their attachment towards them. However informally it has been found that the boss prepares tea for their juniors in order to promote more harmony, integrity in the workplace.

Family Get Together– After leaving home for the upliftment of their career, professional growth , Children hardly spend time with their parents; so visiting restaurants and drinking tea together at family gatherings becomes significant for rebonding. On Sunday’s, the Chinese restaurants gets filled up with families. This occurrence reflects the significance of tea in Chinese family traditions.

Symbolises Weddings- In the Chinese marriage, the bride and groom crouch in front of their parents, serving them with tea, thanking for upbringing them in a standardised way . The groom sometimes serves tea to the bride’s family and the bride sometimes serves the groom’s family. This symbolizes integration between two families.

Symbolises Apology- In Chinese society, tea are considered to be a symbol of submission for the youngsters. That is whenever the child misbehaves, they serve their parents tea as a sign of mourning and yielding.