China is the homeland of tea. The Chinese minority ethnic groups not only have their own tea customs, but also formed their own unique tea culture. this tea, also known as Tibeti or Zangcha in Chinese, is a unique dark tea that comes from Yaan.
Ancient Road for Tea-Horse Trade
The Tea-Horse Trade Road, extending from Lijiang in Yunnan, to Kangding in Xikang, and then on to Tibet and even further to India, became a major trade route.
The trip was more than an adventure. Herds of horses trudged slowly along the road cutting through the never-ending grasslands, leaving behind the crisp sound of a ringing bell echoing from the nearby snow-capped mountains. The air was saturated with the aroma of boiling buttered tea...
Roads devoted to the tea-horse trade link ethnic groups living in areas flanking the roads, turning them into members of the great Chinese nation. Varied land forms in that part of the world created different cultures unique to these ethnic groups, and these cultures exerted great impact on the functions of the trade routes.
The roads pass through subtropical forests and picturesque lakes and turbulent rivers such as the Langcanjiang, Nujiang, Mingjiang, Yarlungjiang and Yarlung Zangbo. Going west from Hengduan Mountains one has to cross many peaks each 4,000-5,000 meters above sea level. Beyond these is a sweep of wilderness that was once the seabed before the Tibet Plateau rose up…
Tibetan Butter tea
Tibetan Butter tea is the indispensable beverage of everyday life for the Tibetan people. It is good for people in many ways: to help keep body warm, allay one's hunger, aid digestion, promote a healthy cardiovascular system, cleanse the body of accumulated lactic acid, and rejuvenate inner strength and increase stamina.
The ingredients of Butter tea are butter, brick tea, and salt. In every Tibetan family, there is a slim wooden cylinder which is used for churning up tea. A wooden piston is used to push and pull inside the cylinder where butter, salt, and freshly-brewed brick tea are mixed. After a minute or two of mixing it is poured into a kettle, so that it can be kept warm over a fire, and be ready for serving at any time.
Tea-churning is a daily ritual for Tibetans. They are accustomed to finish several bowlfuls of butter tea before starting to work for a day. Butter tea is also served to guests. Generally speaking, guest cannot decline with thanks but have to drink at least three bowlfuls of butter tea before leaving. In order to show courtesy to ones' host, the tea should be taken slowly and meanwhile tell the host that the tea tastes wonderful. It is customary to leave a little at the bottom of tea cup when finished.
Tibetans like drinking tea very much. Besides salted butter tea, sweet milk tea is another popular alternative, especially at Tibetan wedding feasts. Hot boiling dark tea filtered and decanted into a churn, fresh milk and sugar are then added. After about a minute of churning the tea will be ready for serving and a cup of reddish white drink will turn up in front of you.
Tibet Tea Health Benefits
This distinctive dark tea is embellished with extraordinary compounds such as polyphenol, tea pigments, theaflavins, thearubigins, carotene, vitamins, polysaccharide, amino acids, alkaloids and inorganic compounds that provide you with numerous health benefits.Let’s find out more about the benefits of drinking dark tea from Tibet.
Weight loss:Tibetan tea may be considered one of the diet teas. Due to the high presence of theophylline, this delicious tea helps you burn fat effectively and faster. Being a black tea, it has a higher caffeine amount which can aid you to lose weight by accelerating your metabolism. How good is that? Another tasty drink that dazzles you with its characteristic aroma and flavor, but that also helps you keep fit and healthy!
Cancer Free:Drink a cup of this tea from Tibet and savor its powerful antioxidants working inside you. The catechins, polyphenols and vitamins present in this beverage prevent free radicals from attacking, thus protecting you against cancer. They are able to absorb radioactivity, which may harm the human body.
Reduces Hypertension and Hyperglycemia:Worried about your blood pressure, cholesterol or sugar levels? This may be a wise choice for you. Tibetan tea properties, namely its catechins and polyphenols, help reduce the amount of triglyceride, thus protecting your heart. It lowers LDL cholesterol and improves the ratio between good (HDL) cholesterol and bad cholesterol (LDL). It also prevents blood clot formation, which decreases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes or heart attacks.
Gastrointestinal Aid:Another curious and important aspect about this tea is the presence of unusual enzymes and bifidobacterium that help your digestion and decrease gastric acids. Feeling a bit uncomfortable after eating? Don’t worry, have a sip of this exquisite tea and let the benefits of black tea work wonders in your body!
Skin rejuvenation:Finally, its antioxidants also help your skin look fresh and smother. Try a sip of this tea and feel it rejuvenating your body!
Yaan’s dark tea: Ancient yet unknown to many
Most of us think Pu’er when thinking of dark tea, but a visit to Yaan in Southwest China’s Sichuan province will surely put a surprise on their faces.
Pu’er is actually a small sub-division of China’s dark tea, a category of tea that requires a secondary fermentation process, also called a post-production process. Dark tea is commonly known to have the function of aiding digestion and revitalizing energy, and it has been a daily drink of the Tibetans for more than a thousand years.
There is a saying that “Tibetans can live without food for three days, but cannot go without tea for a day.” In the Tibetan plateau where fresh fruit and vegetable are scare, meat, butter and barley are the staple food. Drinking fat-dissolving drink tea is not only a traditional custom but also a physical need.
Dark tea is the essential ingredient of Tibetan butter tea, the indispensable beverage of everyday life for the Tibetans. However, dark tea was not originally produced in Tibet, as its weather and geographical condition are not suitable for growing tea plants.
The dark tea drunk be Tibetans, also known as Tibetan tea, is a unique dark tea that comes from Sichuan’s Yaan. The place was the first stop over the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, to carry Yaan’s tea to Lijiang in Yunnan, Kangding in Xikang, and even further to India.
Wrapped in cloth sack and kept in bamboo holders, the compressed tea bricks were once used as currency to trade horses and other things.
The tea was made by the government in the past as a material reserve to support the Tibetans. However, the trip to the plateau was never easy at a time when tea bricks had to be carried by men on their back and trudged slowly along the mountainous roads to the plateau.
The ancient technique of making Tibetan tea is still kept alive in a number of time-honored tea factories in Yaan as a national-level intangible cultural heritage. However, the tea made in Yaan is still made and enjoyed particularly among Tibetan people, although the local government and the technique inheritors are thinking on a bigger map.
Compared with Yunan’s Pu’er tea, Tibetan dark tea is much less known to the rest of China, let alone the international market. However, Gan Yuxiang, the national-level inheritor of the Tibetan tea’s traditional technique, believes their tea will have a bigger market at home and abroad.
The dark tea drunk be Tibetans, also known as Tibetan tea, is a unique dark tea that comes from Sichuan’s Yaan. The place was the first stop over the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, to carry Yaan’s tea to Lijiang in Yunnan, Kangding in Xikang, and even further to India.
Wrapped in cloth sack and kept in bamboo holders, the compressed tea bricks were once used as currency to trade horses and other things.
The tea was made by the government in the past as a material reserve to support the Tibetans. However, the trip to the plateau was never easy at a time when tea bricks had to be carried by men on their back and trudged slowly along the mountainous roads to the plateau.
The ancient technique of making Tibetan tea is still kept alive in a number of time-honored tea factories in Yaan as a national-level intangible cultural heritage. However, the tea made in Yaan is still made and enjoyed particularly among Tibetan people, although the local government and the technique inheritors are thinking on a bigger map.
Compared with Yunan’s Pu’er tea, Tibetan dark tea is much less known to the rest of China, let alone the international market. However, Gan Yuxiang, the national-level inheritor of the Tibetan tea’s traditional technique, believes their tea will have a bigger market at home and abroad.
Resource:By Jiang Wanjuan (chinadaily.com.cn)