Drinking and serving tea plays an important of Chinese culture. It inspired a lot of artists to write and sing about the Chinese tea ceremonies. The ritual of preparing and serving tea has even held a special place in the hearts and minds of the Chinese aristocracy, court officials, intellectual, poets, and even the common people.

Chinese tea ceremonies primarily emphasize around the tea itself, rather than the ceremony. It focuses on what the tea tastes like, smells like, and how one tea tastes compared to the previous tea, or in inclusive rounds of drinking. Not all servers will use all these in the ceremony. Every step that is taken is meant to develop a sensory exploration and appreciation.

How to conduct a Chinese tea ceremony is easy enough. However, it is important to note the steps to assure the finest tasting tea is very exact and precise. As often said, if done properly you can extract the finest flavor a tea has to offer.

The Teapot and Tea Cup Preparation

The Chinese tea ceremony and Chinese culture mandates the use of small cups to match the small and unglazed clay teapots. Each cup is just large enough to hold about two small swallows of tea. These miniature sized cups are very important to people and are widely used in Chiujao and Fujian, while in Shanghai and Beijing, large cups are employed.

Curing the teapot and cups is one essential step in Chinese tea ceremony. When you receive your teapot and cups, they have to be cured. The teapot used is usually made from red clay, and to seal the inside layer of a teapot and the cups, you first need to place loose tea into the pot and fill it with boiling water. Let it sit for three hours to a day.

Some tea masters advise to do it for a week before curing of the teapot, cups and pouring pitcher. This technique is said to seal the inside area of the teapot. Also, oils from the tea leaves fill in all the tiny pours of the new clap teapot.

In a Chinese tea ceremony, washing bowls are also needed. You need to pour the hot tea that has been brewing for 5 minutes and fill the washing bowl with hot tea. Let the tea cups also sit in the tea. This is also done to seal the tea cups with the resins of the tea. And, once the teapot, tea cups and pouring pitcher have been cured, the next step is to get ready for the ceremony.

Tea Preparation

Make sure that the teapot and cups are now on the tea washing tray. Then you need to prepare the water that has been boiled, and cautiously place the tea into the teapot until it is about a third full. After, pour the hot water into the teapot until it is overflowing. Place the lid on, and continue to pour the hot water over the teapot–this is done to allow the entire teapot to be hot.

Afterward, pour the second brewed tea into the tea cups and pouring pitcher. This is to allow the flavor of the tea to penetrate the tea cups and pitcher. Then, pour the boiling water into the teapot for the third time and cover. Place the tea strainer over the pouring pitcher and wait patiently for the tea to brew.

After three minutes pour hot water into the pouring pitcher to assure that it is hot and pour that into the teacups. When ready, empty the tea cups and pitcher and then pour the tea into the pitcher through a tea strainer. Pour the tea into the cups, making sure you never stop to fill a cup at a time, but by passing the tea over each cup so they fill equally.

The Importance of Water

The water that is needed and used in the ceremony may be of more importance than the tea actually is. Water needs to be filtered for Chlorine and Fluoride as it can contain both and may harm the flavor of the tea. Distilled water is said to make flat tea, and thus should be avoided. The ideal water should have an alkaline pH around 7.9.

In the Chinese tea ceremony, the fragrance of the tea is what most seek in vain. When using the small tea cups never drink or gulp the tea. Instead, sip the tea through the lips and teeth making a hissing sound. The parties involved, will commence to drink and sniff the tea during the Chinese tea ceremony which may take over one hour and many fine conversations will ensure. The sign of the tea master is to insure that every round of tea tastes exactly the same.

The Chinese wedding tradition is as varied and complex as China is vast. Throughout the ages, it has evolved and changed due to a myriad of regional and cultural influences. However, as more Chinese choose modern day practices, the most popular Chinese wedding tea ceremony still exists and is still practiced by the Han Chinese in the south of the country.

The Chinese wedding tea ceremony is usually started when the bride arrives in the groom’s home. The bride and the groom will gather before the parents and the immediate relatives and the bride will serve tea for her in-laws.

The type of tea that can be used during the Chinese wedding tea ceremony usually range from oolong tea to jasmine. This ceremony takes place on the day of the wedding itself. After the serving of the tea, the guests (usually the parents first) would then give their approval to the couple and they would respond by giving them red packets. These red packets contain money to wish the couple a blissful life ahead.

Importance of the Tea Type

Tea is served during Chinese weddings because it is the national drink of China and by serving it your are demonstrating your respect. Also, it is somewhat practical as not everyone can drink alcohol.

During the Chinese wedding tea ceremony, lotus seeds and two red dates are used in the tea for two main reasons. The first reason lies on the fact that the words “lotus” and “year”, “seed” and “child” and “date” and “early” are homophones in Chinese, that is, they have the same sound but different meanings. Secondly, it is an ancient Chinese belief that placing lotus seeds and two red dates in the tea would help the newly weds produce children early in their marriage and every year, which would ensure many grandchildren for their parents. Also, the sweetness of the special tea used in the Chinese wedding tea ceremony is a wish for sweet relations between the bride and her new family.

Serving of the Tea

On the wedding day, the bride serves the tea by holding the tea cup with both hands. The tea is served to her parents at home before the groom arrives. According to Chinese belief, this is done out of respect and to thank the bride’s parents for raising her. The tea currently does not need to have the lotus seeds or dates, and there is no need for the bride to ask for an assistance of a “lucky woman”. She serves the tea by herself without the groom.

After the wedding ceremony, it is a tradition in China that the newlyweds serve tea by holding the tea cups with both hands. This then ssignals the Chinese wedding tea ceremony. During this event, the newlyweds invite the groom’s elders to drink tea by way of addressing them by formal title.

There is one general rule applied during the Chinese wedding tea ceremony, that is, to have the woman on the left side and the man on the right side. The people being served will sit in chairs, while the newlyweds kneel. For instance, when they serve tea to the groom’s parents, the bride would kneel in front of her father in-law, while the groom would kneel in front of his mother.

It is further worth noting that the newlyweds serve tea in order. The serving will start with the groom’s parents then proceeding from the oldest members of the family to the youngest. In return, the newlyweds welcome lucky red envelopes that are stuffed with jewelry or money. The helpers, who are usually women, are the ones who blessed with a happy marriage or wealth. They are also chosen by the fortune teller or the bride’s mother, and they get lucky red envelopes stuffed with money from those who are served. The envelopes are usually placed on the platter which holds the tea cups.