chinese culture of tea—优秀英文短文阅读(适合大学四六级水平)

ChineseTeaCulture

Ofthethreemajorbeveragesoftheworld--tea,coffeeandcocoa--teaisconsumedbythelargestnumberofpeople.

Chinaisthehomelandoftea.ItisbelievedthatChinahastea-shrubsasearlyasfivetosixthousandyearsago,andhumancultivationofteaplantsdatesbacktwothousandyears.TeafromChina,alongwithhersilkandporcelain,begantobeknowntheworldovermorethanathousandyearsagoandhassincealwaysbeenanimportantChineseexport.AtpresentmorethanfortycountriesintheworldgrowteawithAsiancountriesproducing90%oftheworld'stotaloutput.AllteatreesinothercountrieshavetheirorigindirectlyorindirectlyinChina.ThewordfortealeavesorteaasadrinkinmanycountriesarederivativesfromtheChinesecharacter\"cha.\"TheRussianscallit\"cha'i\whichsoundslike\"chaye\"

(tealeaves)asitispronouncedinnorthernChina,andtheEnglishword\"tea\"soundssimilartothepronunciationofitscounterpartinXiamen(Amoy).TheJapanesecharacterforteaiswrittenexactlythesameasitisinChinese,thoughpronouncedwithaslightdifference.ThehabitofteadrinkingspreadtoJapaninthe6thcentury,butitwasnotintroducedtoEuropeandAmericatillthe17thand18thcenturies.Nowthenumberofteadrinkersintheworldislegionandisstillontheincrease.

TheCategoriesofTea

Chineseteamaybeclassifiedintofivecategoriesaccordingtothedifferentmethodsbywhichitis

processed.

1)Greentea:Greenteaisthevarietywhichkeepstheoriginalcolourofthetealeaveswithoutfermentationduringprocessing.ThiscategoryconsistsmainlyofLongjingteaofZhejiangProvince,MaofengofHuangshanMountaininAnhuiProvinceandBiluochunproducedinJiangsu.

2)Blacktea:Blacktea,knownas\"redtea\"(hongcha)inChina,isthecategorywhichisfermentedbeforebaking;itisalatervarietydevelopedonthebasisofthegreentea.ThebestbrandsofblackteaareQihongofAnhui,DianhongofYunnan,SuhongofJiangsu,ChuanhongofSichuanandHuhongofHunan.

3)Wulongtea:Thisrepresentsavarietyhalfwaybetweenthegreenandtheblackteas,beingmadeafterpartialfermentation.ItisaspecialtyfromtheprovincesonChina'ssoutheastcoast:Fujian,GuangdongandTaiwan.

4)Compressedtea:Thisisthekindofteawhichiscompressedandhardenedintoacertainshape.Itisgoodfortransportandstorageandismainlysuppliedtotheethnicminoritieslivingintheborderareasofthecountry.Ascompressedteaisblackincolourinitscommercialform,soitisalsoknowninChinaas\"blacktea\".Mostofthecompressedteaisintheformofbricks;itis,therefore,generallycalled\"brickteahoughitissometimesalsointheformofcakesandbowls.ItismainlyproducedinHubei,Hunan,SichuanandYunnanprovinces.

5)Scentedtea:Thiskindofteaismadebymixingfragrantflowersinthetealeavesinthecourseofprocessing.Theflowerscommonlyusedforthispurposearejasmineandmagnoliaamongothers.Jasmineteaisawell-knownfavouritewiththenorthernersofChinaandwithagrowingn

umberofforeigners.

TeaProduction

Anewtea-plantmustgrowforfiveyearsbeforeitsleavescanbepickedand,at30yearsofage,itwillbetoooldtobeproductive.Thetrunkoftheoldplantmustthenbecutofftoforcenewstemstogrowoutoftherootsinthecomingyear.Byrepeatedrehabilitationinthisway,aplantmayserveforaboutl00years.

Forthefertilizationofteagardens,soya-beancakesorothervarietiesoforganicmanurearegenerallyused,andseldomchemicalfertilizers.Whenpestsarediscovered,theaffectedplantswillberemovedtopreventtheirspread,andalsotoavoidtheuseofpesticides.

Theseasonoftea-pickingdependsonlocalclimateandvariesfromareatoarea.OntheshoresofWestLakeinHangzhou,wherethefamousgreenteaLongjing(DragonWell)comesfrom,pickingstartsfromtheendofMarchandlaststhroughOctober,altogether20-30timesfromthesameplantsatintervalsofseventotendays.Withalongerinterval,thequality

oftheteawilldeteriorate.

Askilledwomanpickercanonlygather600grams(alittleoverapound)ofgreentealeavesinaday.Thenewleavesmustbeparchedinteacauldrons.Thiswork,whichusedtobedonemanually,hasbeenlargelymechanized.Top-gradeDragonWelltea,however,stillhastobestir-parchedbyhand,doingonly250gramseveryhalfhour.Thetea-cauldronsareheatedelectricallytoatemperatureofabout25oCor74oF.Ittakesfourpoundsoffreshleavestoproduceonepoundofparchedtea.

ThebestDragonWellteaisgatheredseveraldaysbeforeQingming(PureBrightness,5thsolarterm)whennewtwigshavejustbeguntogrowandcarry\"oneleafandabud.\"Tomakeonekilogram(2.2lbs)offinishedtea,60,000tenderleaveshavetobeplucked.IntheolddaysDragonWellteaofthisgradewasmeantsolelyfortheimperialhousehold;itwas,therefore,knownas\"tributetea\".

Fortheprocessesofgrinding,parching,rolling,shapinganddryingothergradesofteavariousmachineshavebeendevelopedandbuilt,turningoutabout100kilogramsoffinishedteaanhourandrelievingtheworkersfrommuchoftheirdrudgery.

China'sTea-ProducingAreas

TeaisproducedinvastareasofChinafromHainanlslanddownintheextremesouthtoShandongProvinceinthenorth,frominthesouthwesttoTaiwanacrosstheStraits,totallingmorethan20provinces.Thesemaybedividedintofourmajorareas:

1)TheJiangnanarea:ItliessouthofthemiddleandlowerreachesoftheChangjiang(Yangtze)River,andisthemostprolificofChina'stea-growingareas.Mostofitsoutputisthegreenvariety;someblackteaisalsoproduced.

2)TheJiangbeiarea:Thisreferstoalargeareanorthofthesameriver,wheretheaveragetemperatureis2-3CentigradedegreeslowerthanintheJiangnanarea.Greenteaistheprincipalvarietyturnedoutthere,butShaanxiandGansuprovinces,whicharealsopartsofthisarea.producecompressedteaforsupplytotheminorityareasintheNorthwest.

3)TheSouthwestarea:ThisembracesSichuan,Yunnan,Guizhouand,producingblack,greenaswellascompressedteas.Pu'erteaofYunnanProvinceenjoysagoodsaleinChinaandabroad.

4)TheLingnanarea:Thisarea,consistingofthesouthernprovincesofGuangdong,Guangxi,Fujianand,producesWulongtea,whichisrenownedbothathomeandabroad.

AdvantagesofTea-Drinking

TeahasbeenoneofthedailynecessitiesinChinasincetimeimmemorial.Countlessnumbersofpeopleliketohavetheiraftermealcupoftea.Insummerorwarmclimate,teaseemstodispeltheheatandbringoninstantcooltogetherwithafeelingofrelaxation.Forthisreason,tea-housesaboundintownsandmarketvillagesinSouthChinaandprovideelderlyretireeswiththelocalestomeetandchatoveracupoftea.

Medically,thetealeafcontainsanumberofchemicals,ofwhich20-30%istannicacid,knownforitsanti-inflammatoryandgermicidalproperties.Italsocontainsanalkaloid(5%,mainlycaffeine),astimulantforthenervecentreandtheprocessofmetabolism.Teawiththearomaticsinitmayhelpresolvemeatandfatandthuspromotedigestion.Itis,therefore,ofspecialimportancetopeoplewholivemainlyonmeat,likemanyofthe

ethnicminoritiesinChina.Apopularproverbamongthemsays,\"Rathergowithoutsaltforthreedaysthanwithoutteaforasingleday.\"

Teaisalsorichinvariousvitaminsand,forsmokers,ithelpstodischargenicotineoutofthesystem.Afterwining,strongteamayprovetobeasoberingpick-me-up.

Theabove,however,doesnotgotosaythatthestrongerthetea,themoreadvantagesitwillyield.Toomuchtannicacidwillaffectthesecretionofthegastricjuice,irritatethemembraneofthestomachandcauseindigestionorconstipation.Strongteatakenjustbeforebedtimewillgiverisetooccasionalinsomnia.Constantdrinkingofover-strongteamayinduceheartandblood-pressuredisordersinsomepeople,reducethemilkofabreast-feedingmother,andputabrowncolourontheteethofyoungpeople.Butitisnotdifficulttowardofftheseundesirableeffects:justdon'tmakeyourteatoostrong.