En Jie continues her introductory series. En Jie is a Sydney (Australia) based Chinese tea specialist, with a passion to share the modern rediscovery of an ancient beverage. She sells tea online at Valley Green Tea

Chinese tea houses

In China, tea houses serve as a venue for people to meet informally and socialise, similar to the café tradition in the west. They open all day and night, with young people being the main clientèle.

Characteristics of teas such as its inertness and ability to repeatedly infuse by topping up a teapot with hot water allow for informal chats that can last longer then a cup of coffee. A serve of tea leaves is generally subject to repeat to up to 4 infusions.

Aiding this is the ambiance created through layout of the tea house, comfortable setting, background music, and availability of a variety of small food dishes that can compliment the tea, and sometimes entertainment. Some tea houses also offer the option of a private room or cubicle.

Tea is ordered by price (eg. a serve of 10 Yuan Tie Guan Yin up to 200 Yuan Tie Guan Yin). Affordability and importance/status of the guests are determinants of what quality to order.

Teas are also consumed at restaurants – but the emphasis here is on the food rather than the tea.

En Jie, an Australian based Chinese tea specialist, has a passion to share the modern rediscovery of an ancient beverage; Chinese tea. “a source of life enjoyment and good health”. En Jie sell’s online at Valley Green Tea

Tea, well established in China with discerning well informed customers, is universally consumed at restaurants, work, home and in specialist tea houses. There is a strong tradition of drinking the locally produced tea. For example in the An Xi area, which produces 95% of China’s Tie Guan Yin tea, local people drink this local tea exclusively.

Tea shops in this area are also highly specialised in the local teas ( Outside a tea producing region tea shops will typically offer a wider variety of teas) and different qualities are easily differentiated by price. There is a great emphasis on quality and acceptance of these price differentials, for a top quality tea can be up to 1,000 times that of a base quality tea of the same type.

Most Chinese will regularly consume a medium to high quality tea. They may buy one tea quality for ordinary consumption and a higher quality for special occasions. Top quality teas are also often sold as collectables or gifts; Companies give them to clients as a demonstration of their wealth and prestige in being able to obtain rare and valued goods and China tends not to export their very top quality teas as they are able to fetch higher prices locally due to the appreciation within their local markets.