Tea Travel Tips

China Tea Travel Tips and Advice provide some practical tea travel tips such as Famous Tea in China, Popular China Tea Tours, Best Places for Your China Tea Culture Travel, Tips and FAQs of China Tea Travel, which can help you make a better plan before departure, and deal with emergencies or anything unpredictable while traveling.

Best China Tea Culture Tours

China Tea Culture Tours by Region

Best Places for China Tea Culture Travel

For those interested in taking a tea tour, below are three starting points, corresponding to three of China’s most well known teas, each different in climate, geography and taste.

Hangzhou: Longjing (Dragon Well) Green Tea

Located just south of Hangzhou province’s beautiful West Lake, Longjing is home to China’s most celebrated green tea, which is the color of jade and has the fresh aroma of chestnuts and cut grass.

Best Time to Visit: During China’s Qing Ming Festival (usually April) when most picking and roasting take place.
Where to Visit: Longjing’s tea villages and plantations — many are open to the public — are connected by a cycle pathway and bus route. China National Tea Museum, 88 Longjing Road, West Lake, Hangzhou; +86 571 8796 4221; open 9 a.m.-5 p.m., May-October 7; 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., October 8-April 30. Among the temples, pagodas and gardens lining the shores of nearby West Lake sit many small tea houses where longjing tea can be enjoyed in a relaxed atmosphere.
Transportation: Hangzhou is reached by high-speed train from Shanghai’s Hongqiao Railway Station. Trains run every 30 minutes and take one hour.

Fujian: Wuyi Mountain Oolong Tea

Oolong tea, a fragrant partially oxidized tea midway between green teas like longjing and black teas like pu’er, has its origins in southern China’s Fujian province. The most famous of Fujian’s Oolongs, Da Hong pao or “big red robe” tea comes from Wuyi Mountain, a UNESCO-protected natural heritage site rich with rare and animal life, centered around the pristine Nine Twists River.

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.

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:

Read more about Top Tea Plantations in China

Top Things to Do during China Tea Culture Travel

Besides visiting the tea museums and tea plantations, there are other things recommended to you during the trip, some of them, however, may already be included to the trip to tea plantations.

Tea Brewing

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. The brewing method various a little based on the type of the tea you are going to make, such as the water temperature, choose of tea sets, etc. Remember though, these are only guidelines, so feel free to make the tea your own and steep to YOUR liking.

Read More:

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:

Major Tea Expositions:

Read More:

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:

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

Northern China

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.

Keep Reading

Chinese Tea Cooking Class

Chinese Tea Cooking Class is a good choice for you China Tea Tours, from which you can learn how to brew Chinese teas, like Green tea, Oolong tea and...

Chinese Tea Culture Veiw

How to Plan a Tea Culture Tour in Yunnan?

How to Plan a Tea Culture Tour in Yunnan? Yunnan Tea Culture Travel Tips Page introduces tour guides for Puer Tea Tours in Yunnan, such as the best places...

Chinese Tea Culture Veiw

How to make Puer Tea in Yunnan?

How to make Puer Teas? China Tea Travel Tips page introduces Chinese Tea Customs and Chinese Tea Making Method, including tips for how to brew Puer tea and how...

Chinese Tea Culture Veiw

Chinese Tea Classification

Chinese tea classification is a comprehensive system that categorizes teas based on various factors such as processing methods, growing conditions, and regional characteristics. Here are the main categories of...

Chinese Tea Culture Veiw