All true tea comes from one plant, Camellia sinensis. What separates a Longjing from a pu'er cake is processing — chiefly how much the leaves are allowed to oxidise, and what happens afterwards.
The six categories#
Green (绿茶). Unoxidised: the leaves are heated quickly after picking to stop enzymatic change. Fresh, grassy, vegetal. The most consumed tea in China by a wide margin.
- Longjing (Dragon Well) from Hangzhou — pan-fired, flat leaves, chestnut sweetness. The most famous
- Biluochun from Jiangsu — tightly curled, floral
- Huangshan Maofeng from Anhui
Brew at 75–85°C. Boiling water scalds green tea and makes it bitter.
White (白茶). Barely processed — withered and dried. Delicate, subtly sweet. Baihao Yinzhen (Silver Needle) and Bai Mudan from Fujian.
Yellow (黄茶). Rare, similar to green but with an extra slow-smothering step that removes the grassiness. Junshan Yinzhen from Hunan.
Oolong (乌龙茶). Partially oxidised, and the most technically complex category. Ranges from light and floral to dark and roasted.
- Tieguanyin from Anxi, Fujian — floral, orchid-like
- Da Hong Pao from the Wuyi Mountains — roasted, mineral, "rock tea"; genuine bushes from the original plants sell for absurd sums
- Dongding and Taiwanese high-mountain oolongs
Black (红茶, literally "red tea"). Fully oxidised. What the West calls black tea.
- Keemun from Anhui — the basis of English Breakfast blends
- Lapsang Souchong from Wuyi — pine-smoked, and the ancestor of all black tea
- Dianhong from Yunnan — malty, golden
Dark / post-fermented (黑茶). Microbially fermented and aged, the only category that genuinely improves over decades.
- Pu'er from Yunnan, the famous one, pressed into cakes. Sheng (raw) ages slowly over decades and becomes smooth and complex; shou (ripe) is artificially accelerated fermentation, dark and earthy from the start
- Aged pu'er is a serious collectors' market with prices to match, and a corresponding volume of fakes
Gongfu brewing#
Gōngfū chá (功夫茶) means "tea made with skill and effort". Rather than one long steep, a large quantity of leaf is brewed in a small vessel for very short times, repeatedly — often 8 to 15 infusions from the same leaves, each one different.
The sequence: rinse the leaves with hot water and discard; steep 10–20 seconds; pour into a fairness pitcher so every cup is equal strength; serve in thimble-sized cups; repeat, adding a few seconds each time.
You will see this in tea shops in Fujian, Guangdong and Yunnan especially. If a shopkeeper invites you to sit and taste, that is genuine hospitality — though it is also a sales technique, and there is no obligation to buy.
Tea houses#
- Chengdu — the great teahouse city. Bamboo chairs, a lidded gaiwan, mahjong, ear cleaning, and afternoons that go nowhere. Heming Teahouse in People's Park is the famous one; the courtyard at Wenshu Monastery is quieter
- Hangzhou — lakeside houses serving Longjing, and the tea villages of Meijiawu just west
- Guangzhou and Hong Kong — yum cha, where tea is the frame for dim sum. Tapping two fingers on the table is the silent thank-you when someone refills your cup
- Beijing — Lao She Teahouse does a performance version with opera and acrobatics; touristy but enjoyable
Buying tea without being fleeced#
Tea is the best thing to take home from China, and also one of the easiest things to be overcharged for.
- Buy from a specialist shop, not a tourist street stall or a stop on a guided tour.
- Ask to taste. A serious shop expects this and will brew several for you. If tasting is refused, leave.
- Buy by origin. "Longjing" from anywhere is a category; West Lake Longjing from a named village is a specific thing. Genuine pre-Qingming (picked before roughly 5 April) Longjing is expensive for a reason.
- Expect real prices. A good 100 g of a named tea runs ¥100–400. Anything sold as premium at ¥30 is not what it claims.
- Beware the tour-guide "tea ceremony". Commission arrangements are the norm, and the mark-up is structural.
- Beware the teahouse scam. Friendly English-speaking strangers who invite you to a tea ceremony near a tourist site are running a well-established fraud — see our safety guide.
- Packing: tea absorbs odour. Keep it sealed, away from spices and coffee. Check your home country's import allowance for plant products.
Practical tea in daily travel#
- Hot water is free everywhere — hotels, trains, stations, airports all have dispensers. Carry an insulated flask with leaves in it and you will never buy a drink again. This is exactly what Chinese travellers do.
- Restaurant tea is usually a basic green or jasmine and is often free, sometimes a small per-person charge.
- Refilling: leave the lid ajar on a teapot to signal you want more hot water.
- The two-finger tap on the table when someone pours for you is a Cantonese custom that has spread widely — a wordless thank-you.
Frequently asked questions#
What are the main types of Chinese tea?#
Six categories, all from the same plant and distinguished by processing: green (unoxidised), white (barely processed), yellow (rare, lightly smothered), oolong (partially oxidised), black or "red" (fully oxidised) and dark or post-fermented, of which pu'er is the famous example.
What is pu'er tea?#
A post-fermented dark tea from Yunnan, usually pressed into cakes. Raw (sheng) pu'er ages slowly over decades and becomes smoother and more complex; ripe (shou) pu'er uses accelerated fermentation and is dark and earthy immediately. Aged pu'er is collected and traded at high prices.
How do you brew Chinese tea properly?#
Use water below boiling for green and white tea (75–85°C) and near-boiling for oolong, black and pu'er. For gongfu style, use a lot of leaf in a small pot, rinse it, then steep for 10–20 seconds and repeat many times, adding a few seconds to each infusion.
Where can I buy good tea in China?#
From specialist shops that let you taste before buying, or direct from growers in producing areas such as the Longjing villages near Hangzhou or the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian. Avoid tourist street stalls and any shopping stop included in a guided tour.
What is the tea house scam in China?#
Friendly English-speaking strangers invite you to a traditional tea ceremony near a major tourist site, then present a bill of several thousand yuan. It operates around Tiananmen, Wangfujing, the Bund and Xi'an's Bell Tower. Never follow a stranger to a venue they choose.