Tea Travel Tips

• Best Time to Visit: Spring the right time for Tea Culture tour in Fujian, March for Green Tea, April and May are good time for rock tea.
• Where to Visit: Wuyi Shan UNESCO World Heritage Site: daily from 7:30 a.m.; admission RMB 235 ($38) for a two-day pass. Royal Tea Garden in Wuyi Mountain, Fujian and Fujian Fuding Diantou Tea Garden  are also best places to experience Fujian tea culture. 
• Transportation:  Wuyi Shan has its own airport with daily flights to and from major Chinese cities.

Southern Yunnan: Pu’er tea

Pu’er, a fermented and aged black tea with a complex, earthy taste, is considered the pinnacle of all Chinese teas. Usually pressed into cakes, it’s allowed to age so that its complexity and depth of flavor increase over time (as does the price), again drawing comparisons to wine.

• Best Time to Visit: Spring is also the best time for Yunnan Pu’er tea culture tour, followed by Autumn. Yunnan Pu’er tea culture tour in April will encounter the Water Splashing Festival in Xishuangbanna. 
• Where to Visit: Nannuo Mountain Tea Plantations, Yiwu Mountain Tea Plantations, Xibanshan Mountain Tea Plantation, Yunnan Jingmai Tea Mountain and Top Ancient Puer Tea Mountains in Yunnan are the best choices.
• Transportation: There are daily flights to the regional capital, Jinghong, from all major Chinese cities, or you can fly directly into the smaller Pu’er Simao airport.

Read More: Yunnan Tea Culture Travel

Top 10 China Tea Gardens to Visit

Chinese tea gardens are must-visit sites for your China Tea Culture Travel. The tea plantations in China are generally in mountains and hills in south China. Some of the tea gradens provide interactive activities like tea-making, tea ceremony, and tea processing display. Top 10 most beautiful tea gardens in China are as follows:

• Yunnan Wuliang Mountain Tea Garden
• Yunnan Jingmai Tea Mountain
• Guangdong Yingde Tea Garden
• Anhui Yaoxi Tea Garden
• Chongqing Tea and Bamboo Garden
• Fujian Fuding Diantou Tea Garden
• Guangxi Liubao Tea Garden
• Zhejiang Qianzhang Yougu Tea Garden
• Longjing Tea Village in Hangzhou
• Zhejiang Jingshan Tea Garden

Read more about Top Tea Plantations in China

Tasting Tea

There are several special circumstances in which tea is prepared and consumed in Chinese culture:

• As a sign of respect: In Chinese society, the younger generation always shows their respect to the older generation by offering a cup of tea.  In the past, people of a lower social class served tea to the upper class in society. Today, with the increasing liberalization of Chinese society, this rule and its connotations have become blurred.
• To apologize: In Chinese culture, tea may be offered as part of a formal apology. For example, children who have misbehaved may serve tea to their parents as a sign of regret and submission.
• To show gratitude and celebrate weddings: In the traditional Chinese marriage ceremony, the bride and groom kneel in front of their respective parents and serve them tea and then thank them, together which represents an expression of their gratitude and respect.

Read More: Chinese Drinking Game

Join Tea Festivlas and Expositions

Tea festivals and expositions are good time for you to learn and experience tea culture. At these events, you can expect to meet tea producers and raw material suppliers, tea processing equipment manufacturers, importers, exporters, retailers, distributors, packaging and branding companies, even tea space interior designers and tea culture promoters. You can engage in numerous tea tastings, tea cultural events, listen to dozens on dozens of noted speakers from all corners of the tea industry in China, and of course, make connections with the biggest players in the country. They also host numerous tea competitions, special exhibits, pop-up tea spaces, museums, and more. It’s a tea industry unto itself.

Tea Festivals:

• Longjing (Gragon Well) Tea Festival
• International Tea Culture Festival
• China International Puer Tea Festival
• Yunnan-Sichuan Tea Culture Tourism Festival

Major Tea Expositions:

• China Tea Expo
• Suzhou Tea Expo
• Guangzhou International Tea Industry Expo
• Cross-strait Tea Industry Expo
• Xi’an International Tea Expo
• Hong Kong International Tea Fair
• Shanghai International Tea Trade Expo
• Nanjing International Tea Culture Exhibition 
• North China International Tea Industry Expo & Fair
• Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area International Tea Industry Expo

Read More:

• Yunnan Tea Culture
• China Tea Expositions

Other Tea Travel Tips

How to Drink Chinese Tea?

After you have tasted the cup of tea made by the tea master, maybe you will want to try to make a cup of tea on your own. There are no hard and fast rules for brewing tea because there are so many taste preferences and drinking habits. Also, each tea has its own characteristics. Remember though, these are only guidelines, so feel free to make the tea your own and steep to YOUR liking. The following are rough guides for browing Chinese tea.

Tips:

• 1. Use the same amount of leaf. About 1 level teaspoon for small grades (you may want to get a caddy spoon) for an 8 oz. cup.
• 2. Use the appropriate water temperature for the tea you are using. For Dark Oolongs, Blacks, Compressed, Flavored Blacks, and Tisanes use fresh cold water brought to a rolling boil. For Greens, Whites, Yellows, Green Oolongs and Flavored Greens bring the kettle to about 185° F. If you’re sharp, you can hear the water get quiet before it boils. More delicate teas will perform their best with slightly cooler water.
• 3. Steep for the appropriate brew time for the tea you are using. Remember, some teas can be brewed several times and brew time changes for each brewing. For the first brew: 2-3 min. for Greens, Whites, Yellows and Compressed; 30-90 sec. for good Oolongs though some like 3-5 minutes; 3-4 min. for Blacks and Flavors; 5-8 min. for Tisanes.
• 4. Remove the leaves from the tea liquor when finished brewing. For stronger tea use more leaf.
• 5. For iced tea, use double the amount of leaf but use the same brew time. Pouring it warm over ice dilutes it perfectly.

Read More:

• How to Brew Chinese Teas
• How to Drink Puer Tea
• How to Make Chinese Gongfu Tea
• Tips and Notes for Tea Making and Drinking

Where to Buy Chinese Tea

With the booming e-commerce, consumers can buy Chinses Teas online. However, we still suggest buying on site, as you can taste and know exactly whether the tea worth your money or not. Try to buy the teas in its place of origin, for example, you should buy Puer tea in Yunnan, Oolong tea in Fujian and Green tea like Longjing in Hangzhou, etc. There are lots of tea houses and tea markets in the tea production regions, if you have enough time, tea markets are recommended for its wide choice of tea products for customers.

Top 10 Tea Markets in China

Besides the following named ones, Anhui Huangshan Tea City, E Qiao Tea Wholesale Market and Henan Zhengzhou Tea Wholesale Market are also well-known in inland cities. 

Southern China

• Guangzhou Fangcun Tea Wholesale Market
• Dongfang International Tea Wholesale Market
• Tea Wholesale Market of Jiangnan Tea Expo
• Anxi Tea Wholesale Market in Quanzhou
• Wuliting Tea Wholesale Market in Fuzhou
• Southwest Tea Wholesale Market in Guangxi
• China Tea Market in Zhejiang 
• Yunnan Tea Wholesale Market

Northern China

• Beijing Maliandao Tea Market/Street
• Shanghai Datong Road Tea Wholesale Market
• Jinan Tea Wholesale Market

Read more about Where and How to Buy Chinese Tea

Things to Know before China Tea Culture Travel

To learn some Chinese tea facts before you start the China Tea Culture tours is helpful to the tea tour plan and will make you feel at easy when tasting the tea with the Chinese, as you have already kept some tea facts and tea drinking customs in mind.

• Tea is the second most consumed beverage in china.
• Tea grown in different areas has different flavors.
• The longer some teas are stored the more expensive they are.
• Serving tea to elders or guests is a sign of respect.
• Chinese people believe tea is good for weight loss.
• Tea is a great social media.
• Chinese people think a tea set is very important for a good cup of tea.
• The planet’s most ancient grown tea tree is over 3,200 years old and is located in Fengqing County, south-west China’s Yunnan province.
• China produces the most tea in the world and supplies around 30 percent of total tea demands to the world. India is the close second producer.
• The world’s most high-priced tea can be found in the mountain ranges of Ya’An in China’s southwest Sichuan province. 

Read More:  Chinese Tea Facts

Keep Reading

• Chinese Tea Culture
• Famous Tea Houses
• Tea Factories in China
• Chinses Tea
• Chinese Tea Cooking Class
• The Ancient Tea Horse Road
• Where and How to Buy Chinese Tea
• Where to Buy Puer Tea in Yunnan