Tea-drinking is a constituent part of Chinese culture. China is an original producer of tea and is renowned for its skills in planting and making tea. Its customs of tea-drinking spread over to Europe and to many other regions through cultural exchange via the ancient "Silk Road" and other channels of trade. The Chinese nation has written a brilliant page for its tea culture in the history of world civilization. The development and promotion of tea has been one of China's principal contributions to the world.

First appearing as early as 5,000 years ago, Green Tea is the oldest category of Chinese Tea. The original processing of the tea was quite simple. People either boiled the tea leaves straight from the tree, or sun-dried tea leaves for future use. While the processing methods have changed over the centuries it still resembles its ancient ancestor in that it is not fermented and only very slightly oxidized. This allows the tea to retain more of the original taste of the leaf.

Traditionally, there are ten most famous teas, but not all "best ten" lists are in agreement.

Here is a typical list: Long Jing (Dragon Well tea); Bi Luo Chun (Green Snail Spring tea); Tieguanyin (Iron Goddess tea); Huangshan Mao Feng (Yellow Mountain Fur Peak tea); Junshan Yinzhen (Jun Mountain Silver Needle tea); Qimen Hong Cha (Qi Gate Red tea); Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe tea); Liu An Gua Pian (Liu An Melon Seed tea); Xin Yang Mao Jian (Xin Yang Hairy Tip tea); Tai Ping Hou Kui (Monkey King tea).

Find a teashop with a good reputation and you will be shown how to brew and drink tea properly to experience the full flavour; you will soon realise the pleasure and health benefits of the Chinese tea culture.