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The tea journal

Chinese Tea: Stories & Guides

Every tea has something to tell. Explore the places and craft behind jasmine tea, Chinese green tea, pu-erh and liu bao, with clear guides to choosing and brewing your next cup.

AI-created tea culture illustration of loose leaves, white jasmine flowers and a cup of pale golden tea.

Jasmine tea

Follow a flower's fragrance into the craft of jasmine tea.

AI-created tea culture illustration of green tea leaves in an ivory dish beside a cup of pale green tea.

Chinese green tea

From Longjing's flat leaves to Biluochun's curls, begin a green tea story.

AI-created tea culture illustration of a pu-erh tea cake, loose dark leaves and a cup of amber tea.

Pu-erh tea

Raw or ripe, loose or pressed: find your way into pu-erh.

AI-created tea culture illustration of loose dark liu bao leaves, a bamboo basket and a cup of amber tea.

Liu bao tea

Meet liu bao through Guangxi's tea traditions and your first cup.

Tea in everyday life · 茶事

A cup that begins a conversation

There is a quiet way to begin exploring Chinese tea: make room for a cup and someone to share it with. Tea belongs to everyday life as well as to formal occasions. A welcome, a pause and a conversation are part of its cultural story.

In 2022, UNESCO inscribed China’s traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices on its Representative List. The entry includes growing, picking, making, drinking and sharing tea. It also describes knowledge passed through families and apprenticeships.

Begin with one of the four guides above. Notice the leaves, the fragrance and what changes as you brew. Understanding can start with one cup, rather than a complete vocabulary.

Read the UNESCO cultural heritage entry
Tea garden, jasmine and brewing scenes, edited into a short cultural film.

A short cultural film follows misty tea gardens, jasmine blossoms and tea being poured from a gaiwan.

Watch: From garden to cup
AI-created Beijing culture illustration of a grey brick courtyard, open wooden doors and a tea cup on a table.

Beijing journal

Beijing Tea Culture: Jasmine Tea and Zhang Yiyuan

Follow jasmine tea through Beijing's everyday rituals and familiar tea names, including Zhang Yiyuan. Read the stories, then explore independent sourcing of tea and local finds.

Read the Beijing tea journal

Cultural illustrations created with AI.

Follow a story, learn a little, then find your next cup.

Explore the four tea categories

Why does jasmine tea have no jasmine flowers?

Fresh jasmine blossoms lend their fragrance to tea during scenting. The spent flowers are usually sifted out afterward, so fragrant jasmine tea does not need visible petals. Some styles do retain blossoms.