China is not only the first tea producer, but also the first tea-planting and tea-processing country in the world where people drink tea as beverage. It was said that a Chinese ancestor was poisoned when he tasted different kinds of weeds and grass. However, as he drank some tea accidentally, he was, beyond expectation, detoxified. Before the unification of China in 221 B.C., tea was grown only in the present Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. Afterwards, tea was introduced into other parts of China. During the Tang Dynasty (618--907 A. D. ), tea trees were planted on a large scale in the Yangtze River valley.

At the very beginning, tea was stewed as a medicine and tasted quite bitter. Later on, people came to realize that apart from its medicinal function, tea also had a pleasing fragrant flavor. Hence, from the Northern and Southern Dynasties (220---581A. D.) on, Chinese people gradually drink tea as a daily drink. But before the Song Dynasty (960--1279 A.D.), ginger, salt and some other flavourings were usually added in tea. During the Song Dynasty, though flavourings were no longer used, it was still stressed that tea should be stewed. It was not until the Ming Dynasty (1368--1644A. D.) that the Chinese people began to make tea with nothing but boiling water.