Why do Chinese people love drinking tea?

In China, since the Tang Dynasty, tea has been regarded as the national beverage of the Chinese people. Drinking tea in China also reflects the Chinese culture. Whenever Chinese people have a quest, they will serve hot tea as well. There is a belief that drinking tea has a long history of more than 2700 years B.C. 

Another legend on why Chinese people like drinking tea is because there was once a pandemic that caused thousands of people to die because they drank unclean water. Therefore, there was a campaign encouraging people to drink boiled water. They boil water with leaves to make it have a good scent, making drinking tea very popular. Also, diseases eventually disappeared. Thus, Chinese people believe that drinking hot tea will make them healthy. In addition to making your body healthy, drinking tea makes you feel relaxed because it smells good and contains nerve stimulants.

Apart from taking good care of the body, Chinese people believe that drinking tea means making friends. It can be seen that in important events such as wedding day, New Year’s Day, or doing business, tea will be served and drunk to show goodwill and friendliness. 

Tea drinking in each season is different to suit the health condition. For example, green tea will be drunk in summer since the body can lose water due to hot temperatures. It is believed that drinking green tea will replace the water that the body loses during the day. 

In spring, flower tea is a popular tea since the chill weather may weaken your body. Drinking flower tea will make you feel relaxed. In autumn when the skin and lips dry, Chinese people drink oolong tea which has the properties to nourish the skin and relieve thirst. In winter, which is freezing cold, Chinese people drink black tea since it contains high protein and sugar. It not only relieves the cold but also helps in digestion because the human body will reduce digestion when it is cold. 

No wonder why Chinese people love drinking tea because not only it maintain good health but also reflects the way of life of the people living in the country as well. Drinking tea has both the benefits and meticulousness of culture. It’s a really interesting drink.