China is the first country in the world to plant tea trees and make tea. Tea culture has been deeply integrated into Chinese people's daily life, becoming an important carrier of the Chinese culture. Today, tea is internationally recognized as a treasure of human culture.
Tourists pick tea leaves in Xiaogucheng Village’s tea plantation in Jingshan Town, Hangzhou.
“Traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China” were added to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on November 29, 2022, of which Jingshan Tea Ceremony is an important part.
Originated in the mid-Tang Dynasty (618-907), Jingshan Tea Ceremony has a history of more than 1,200 years.
Jingshan Temple in Hangzhou City, east China’s Zhejiang Province, is known for this distinctive tea ceremony. It is not only a tea-drinking ceremony to honor distinguished guests but also an outstanding representative of China's tea-related customs.
This aerial photo shows a view of the tea plantation in Jingshan Town, Hangzhou.
The ceremony encompasses more than 10 procedures, including delivering an opening speech, drum beating, inviting guests into the hall, paying a salute to Buddha, roasting and whisking tea, distributing tea, and enjoying verses of song and poetry while drinking tea to relax.
Guests are invited into the hall as a procedure of Jingshan Tea Ceremony.
Guests pay a salute to Buddha as a procedure of Jingshan Tea Ceremony.
Jingshan Tea Ceremony carries forward the elegant tea style that flourished in the mid-Tang Dynasty and creates its unique tea style by integrating Zen Buddhism, the Confucian principles and new techniques of tea ceremony, making itself the origin of Japanese tea ceremony and modern tea party.
Tea Master Zhou Ying writes a Chinese character “cha”, which means tea, on the foam of tea.
Tea is roasted and whisked as a procedure of Jingshan Tea Ceremony.
