n June 1, Shanghai International Studies University’s multilingual press delegation visited China National Tea Museum in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. On this visit, we learned a great deal about the traditional Chinese tea culture.

We spent most of our time touring the five halls within the exhibition building: the History Hall, Tea Categories Hall, Tea Sets Hall, the Information Hall, and Tea Customs Hall.

At the door of the exhibition building lay a huge stone fronted by a curtain of water. The streams, falling down slowly from a height of about 10 meters, ran over the character “茶” (tea) engraved on the stone in vigorous Chinese calligraphy. Bonsai rocks were placed beneath the water as a symbol of the long history of Chinese tea culture, showing the close and harmonious relationships between tea and water, as well as Nature and humans.

We started our visit in the History Hall, an introduction of Chinese tea production and the development of tea culture. We learned that tea originated in China and was first found in Sichuan Province. Later, the consumption of the leaves gave birth to tea industry as well as tea culture. The latter, growing out of the production of tea, holds a mirror to the material culture and the spirit of different ages in Chinese history.

Then we moved on to Tea Categories Hall, where China’s six major teas—green tea, dark green tea, oolong tea, dark tea, white tea and yellow tea—were put on display. Information could also be found in the hall about reprocessed teas, like scented tea, compressed tea, and extracted tea. We learned that with a great number of tea-growing regions across its territory, China has a long history of producing this plant. Thousands of years has past and this land has nurtured a wide variety of famous strains. They are often marked with names that are peculiar to China, such as Yandang Maofeng and Xihu Longjing, which are two types of green tea, and Baihao Yinzhen, Shoumee, and Zhenghe Peony, which belong to the family of white tea.

Next, we arrived at the Tea Sets Hall. Since tea entered the life of the Chinese people, tea sets have become indispensable whether the tea plant is used for medicine, food or drinking. At different times in Chinese history, people in different regions and of different nationalities have their own ways of drinking tea. For this reason, their tea sets vary in raw material, design and name. What they have in common, however, is that they are all easy to use with delicate designs that are extremely pleasing to the eye.

In the Information Hall, tourists can not only learn about the process of tea making, but also have a taste of the tea made on site.

Finally, we reached the Tea Customs Hall. China’s vast land, long history and diverse nationalities all contribute to the diversity of tea customs, which are an important component of Chinese culture. These tea customs are strongly influenced by local economic and cultural development and they have shaped many aspects of people’s life. In the Tea Customs Hall, traditional Chinese tea customs are recreated with models and displayed in different exhibition sections.

The China National Tea Museum is currently the only national museum devoted to the tea culture in China. Here we can learn about its history, which spanned over thousands of years, and savor the most well-known types of tea. Besides, we can appreciate classical Chinese landscape gardening in the recreation area outside the halls. All in all, the museum is a good place to increase our knowledge of traditional Chinese culture.

The article is written and translated by the Translation Association of the School of English Studies (SESTA) at Shanghai International Studies University. For use of the content, please contact: ses_translators@163.com.