Which country grows the most tea? The answer is India. It grows three times as much as China. Which country drinks the most tea? It's neither China nor Japan. It's Great Britain.
In the wild, tea plants may be 9 meters tall. But a plant grown for market is pruned. Pruning keeps the plant only 0.9 or 1.2 meters tall. This is an easy height for tea picking. Only the two top leaves and bud (芽) of each new shoot are picked. So to make money, tea plantations (种植园) must be huge.
In general, there are two kinds of tea: black tea and green tea. Black tea is fermented (发酵). In the process, the tea loses nearly all of its healthy parts. Green tea is steamed (蒸) right after the leaves are picked. Green tea keeps its healthy parts. For example, it may prevent heart illness.
How did we get tea bags? The answer: by accident. Tea businessmen used to send samples (样品) in tin (锡) boxes. This was very expensive. One businessman thought of a cheaper way. He sent samples in small silk bags. Customers would open the bag. They would make tea as usual. One customer put the bag into a pot. Then he just poured hot water over it. And the tea bag was born.
Shen Nong was the first to drink tea. He was a Chinese emperor. This was about 2737 B.C. Shen drank several cups of hot water daily. One day something happened. Leaves from a wild tea tree fell into the hot water pot. The next cup was poured. The water was now colored. Shen tasted it. He liked it. He drank it all. Shen was proud of his new drink. He served it to his guests. Word spread. People thought this way: tea is good enough for the Emperor, so it must be good enough for the people. Tea became the drink of China.
