It's time to go back from the present to 5,000 years ago in ancient China. An emperor named, Shen Nung discovered tea in 2732 B.C. How did he discover tea? The wind blew leaves from the wild tree into his pot of boiling water, he was interested into the very plesent scent of the resulting of the brew. He then drank some. Ledgends say the Emperor described the brew as a warm feeling when he drank it. The liquid was investing every part of his body. Then tea started to become popular throughout China during the 4th through 8th century. Tea plantations spread and tea merchants became rich, and expensive tea. This became the banner for the wealth and status of their owners. The Chinese empire tightly controlled the only young women, because of their purity, were to handle the tea leaves. Sadly these women were not able to eat certain food, this was for them to keep handling the tea leaves. The following food they were not suppose to eat were:
And more other strong spices for the case of the odor in their fingertips that might contaminate the tea leaves, that of course were used to make the tea with hot water.
During up to the mid-17th century, all Chinese tea was green tea. As foreign trade has been increasing, Chinese growers discovered that they could perserve the tea leaves with a special fermentation process. This result them to make black tea.
Tea has been in chinese culture for thousands of years and of course is still today. Tea was popular even before the Egyptians built the great pyramids and was traded with Asian countries.