Chinese Tea History

The history of Chinese tea is a long and slow story of refinement. Generations of growers and producers have perfected the Chinese way of producing tea, along with its many unique regional variations.

The original idea is credited to the Emperor Shen Nong. His far-sighted edicts required, among other things, that all drinking water be boiled as a hygienic precaution. One summer day while visiting a distant region of his realm, he and the court stopped to rest. In accordance with his ruling, the servants began to boil water for the court to drink. Dried leaves from the near by bush fell into the boiling water, and a brown liquid was infused into the water. As a scientist, the Emperor was interested in the new liquid, drank some, and found it very refreshing. And so, according to legend, tea was created.