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Last Updated: Jun. 10, 2010
China, known in China as Zhōngguó (中国), is one of the most important tea-producing countries. The written history of tea consumption in China goes back longer than in any other country, thousands of years. In ancient China, tea was originally used as a medicine; over hundreds of years it slowly shifted towards being viewed first as a tonic, and then as a beverage as it is today.
China, together with India, is one of the two largest producers and consumers of tea. In 2007, China produced over 30% of the world's production of tea, almost 1.2 million tons of tea out of the world's almost 3.9 million tons. Most of the tea produced in China is consumed in China.
A myriad of styles of tea originated in China, which produces and consumes black, green, white, oolong, and pu-erh teas, as well as the less well-known yellow teas. Many famous styles of all of these types of teas originated in China.
Tea tends to be produced mostly in the provinces towards the south and east of China, where the climate is humid and ranges from tropical to subtropical, although teas are grown as far west as Sichuan province and as far north as Shandong province.
Sub-Regions of China:
Most common styles of tea produced in China:
This list represents the number of individual teas listed on RateTea.net and is not an accurate indicator of the quantity of these styles produced in China.