English play writer Arthur Wing Pinero said, "Where there's tea, there's hope." Similarly, a Chinese saying goes that "Firewood, rice, cooking oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea are the seven necessary things to begin a day."
Tea is, without doubt, welcomed all over the world. Tea production around the world reached about 5.8 million tons in 2018. It has become the most popular drink in the world—after water, of course.
In order to celebrate the popular drink, the United Nations General Assembly has named May 21 International Tea Day. According to the UN, tea is much more than just a hot drink. It's a big part of many cultures around the world.
You probably know that people in China use top-grade tea to show respect when receiving important guests. Meanwhile, the British afternoon tea is an important part of that country's culture. Making Malaysia's pulled tea (拉茶) has become a kind of art form. Moroccan (摩洛哥人的) mint tea (薄荷茶) is served when getting together.
Besides its cultural importance, tea is also a medicine, used from ancient times to modern days. "Tea is cold and lowers the fire," Chinese Ming Dynasty herbalist Li Shizhen once said. The health benefits (好处) of tea are still being discovered today: preventing heart illness and cancer has been connected with drinking green tea. It's believed that the mania for healthy tea products will continue into the next ten years. People, especially women, are crazy about wonderful tea products such as moisturizers (润肤霜) and other beauty products.
Hot or cold, bagged or loose-leaf, tea is more than a drink — it's a social custom and also a magic medicine, a link to the past and a way of life.
