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Tea Processing
Tea processing is the method in which the leaves from the tea plant ''Camellia sinensis'' are transformed into the dried leaves for brewing tea. The categories of tea are distinguished by the processing they undergo. In its most general form, tea processing involves different manners and degrees of oxidation of the leaves, stopping the oxidation, forming the tea and drying it. The innate flavor of the dried tea leaves is determined by the type of cultivar of the tea bush, the quality of the plucked tea leaves, and the manner and quality of the production processing they undergo. After processing, a tea may be blended with other teas or mixed with flavourants to alter the flavor of the final tea. When producing black, pu'erh and oolong teas there is an additional purpose of processing: to encourage oxidization, which further develops flavour and aroma compounds. History The history of tea processing corresponds intimately with the role that tea played in Chinese society and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fermentation
Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food production, it may more broadly refer to any process in which the activity of microorganisms brings about a desirable change to a foodstuff or beverage. The science of fermentation is known as zymology. In microorganisms, fermentation is the primary means of producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by the degradation of organic nutrients anaerobically. Humans have used fermentation to produce foodstuffs and beverages since the Neolithic age. For example, fermentation is used for preservation in a process that produces lactic acid found in such sour foods as pickled cucumbers, kombucha, kimchi, and yogurt, as well as for producing alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer. Fermentation also occurs within the gastrointestinal tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wuyi Mountains
The Wuyi Mountains or Wuyishan (; formerly known as Bohea Hills in early Western documents) are a mountain range located in the prefecture of Nanping, in northern Fujian province near the border with Jiangxi province, China. The highest peak in the area is Mount Huanggang at on the border of Fujian and Jiangxi, making it the highest point of both provinces; the lowest altitudes are around . Many oolong and black teas are produced in the Wuyi Mountains, including Da Hong Pao ('big red robe') and lapsang souchong, and are sold as Wuyi tea. The mountain range is known worldwide for its status as a refugium for several rare and endemic plant species, its dramatic river valleys, and the abundance of important temples and archeological sites in the region, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Wuyi Mountains are located between Wuyishan City of the Nanping prefecture in northwest Fujian province, and the town of Wuyishan within Shangrao city in northeast Jiangxi pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wuyishan, Fujian
Wuyishan City () is a county-level city in the municipal region of Nanping, in the northwest of Fujian, People's Republic of China, which borders Jiangxi to the northwest. It corresponds to the former Chong'an County. Natural and cultural heritage A local subsection of the Wuyishan Mountain range, which forms the entirety of the geological and political divide between the provinces of Fujian and Jiangxi, is a front-rank national park called simply Wuyi Mountains. Since 1999 the park zone has been recognised by UNESCO as part of the world's natural ''and'' cultural heritage. Cultural sites within the zone include the original cultivation ground of the Da Hong Pao tea variety, and a villa retreat used by Zhu Xi, a Confucian revivalist scholar-official of the rump or ''Southern'' Song Empire. South of the zone, just short of the City's border with Jianyang District, is a major archaeological excavation of the vanished State of Yue (). Not far from Wuyishan, the Jiyufang Laolon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Tea
Black tea, also translated to red tea in various East Asian languages, is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, yellow, white and green teas. Black tea is generally stronger in flavour than other teas. All five types are made from leaves of the shrub (or small tree) ''Camellia sinensis,'' though '' Camellia taliensis'' is also used rarely. Two principal varieties of the species are used – the small-leaved Chinese variety plant (''C. sinensis'' var. ''sinensis''), used for most other types of teas, and the large-leaved Assamese plant (''C. sinensis'' var. ''assamica''), which was traditionally mainly used for black tea, although in recent years some green and white teas have been produced. First originating in China, the beverage's name there is ''hong cha'' (, "red tea") due to the color of the oxidized leaves when processed appropriately. Today, the drink is widespread throughout East and Southeast Asia, both in consumption and harvesting, including in China ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jiajing Emperor
The Jiajing Emperor (; 16September 150723January 1567) was the 12th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor's cousin. His father, Zhu Youyuan (1476–1519), Prince of Xing, was the fourth son of the Chenghua Emperor (reigned from 1464 to 1487) and the eldest son of three sons born to the emperor's concubine, Lady Shao. The Jiajing Emperor's era name, "Jiajing", means "admirable tranquility". Early years Born as heir apparent of a vassal prince, Zhu Houcong was not brought up to succeed to the throne. However, the throne became vacant in 1521 after the sudden death of the Hongzhi Emperor's son, the Zhengde Emperor, who did not leave an heir. Prior to the Zhengde Emperor's death, the line of succession was as follows: * '' Zhu Jianshen, the Chenghua Emperor (1447–1487)'' ** ''Unnamed son (1466–1466)'' ** ''Zhu Youji (1469–1472)'' ** '' Zhu Youcheng, the Hongzhi Emperor (1470–1505)'' *** Zhu Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han Chinese, Han people, the majority ethnic group in China. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the short-lived Shun dynasty), numerous rump state, rump regimes ruled by remnants of the House of Zhu, Ming imperial family—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662. The Ming dynasty's founder, the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368–1398), attempted to create a society of self-sufficient rural communities ordered in a rigid, immobile system that would guarantee and support a permanent class of soldiers for his dynasty: the empire's standing army exceeded one million troops and the naval history of China, navy's dockyards in Nanjin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treatise On Tea
The ''Treatise on Tea'' () is a book written by the Chinese Emperor Huizong of the Song dynasty in 1107. Emperor Huizong was a great connoisseur of tea, with masterful skill in the art of tea ceremony. He often engaged in tea tasting and tea competitions with his subordinates at the Song imperial court. Emperor Huizong's favourite was Anji Bai Cha. (He wrote that what he loved was "Bai Cha." This should not be confused with the tea currently known as "White Tea," but was rather "a Green Tea which had the color of white jade".) In the ''Treatise on Tea'', Emperor Huizong provided the most detailed, vivid and masterful description of the Song dynasty technique of tea spotting. The Emperor also laid down seven criteria for Tea Competitions (''Doucha'' 闘茶). The ''Treatise on Tea'' is a key document for understanding the most sophisticated tea ceremony in Chinese history. It stands as the monumental treatise on tea after Lu Yu's ''The Classic of Tea ''The Classic of Tea'' o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song often came into conflict with the contemporaneous Liao, Western Xia and Jin dynasties in northern China. After retreating to southern China, the Song was eventually conquered by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The dynasty is divided into two periods: Northern Song and Southern Song. During the Northern Song (; 960–1127), the capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (now Kaifeng) and the dynasty controlled most of what is now Eastern China. The Southern Song (; 1127–1279) refers to the period after the Song lost control of its northern half to the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song Wars. At that time, the Song court retreated south o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Tea
White tea may refer to one of several styles of tea which generally feature young or minimally processed leaves of the '' Camellia sinensis'' plant. Currently there is no generally accepted definition of white tea and very little international agreement; some sources use the term to refer to tea that is merely dried with no additional processing, some to tea made from the buds and immature tea leaves picked shortly before the buds have fully opened and allowed to wither and dry in natural sun, while others include tea buds and very young leaves which have been steamed or fired before drying. Most definitions agree, however, that white tea is not rolled or oxidized, resulting in a flavor characterized as "lighter" than most green or traditional black teas. In spite of its name, sweet, brewed white tea is pale yellow. Its name derives from the fine silvery-white hairs on the unopened buds of the tea plant, which give the plant a whitish appearance. The unopened buds are used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fujian
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou, while its largest city by population is Quanzhou, both located near the coast of the Taiwan Strait in the east of the province. While its population is predominantly of Chinese ethnicity, it is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse provinces in China. The dialects of the language group Min Chinese were most commonly spoken within the province, including the Fuzhou dialect of northeastern Fujian and various Hokkien dialects of southeastern Fujian. Hakka Chinese is also spoken, by the Hakka people in Fujian. Min dialects, Hakka and Mandarin Chinese are mutually unintelligible. Due to emigration, a sizable amount of the ethnic Chinese populations of Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilization, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Tang territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty. The Lǐ family () founded the dynasty, seizing power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire and inaugurating a period of progress and stability in the first half of the dynasty's rule. The dynasty was formally interrupted during 690–705 when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Wu Zhou dynasty and becoming the only legitimate Chinese empress regnant. The devastating An Lushan Rebellion (755–763) shook the nation and led to the decline of central authority in the dynas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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