
![]() | China | ![]() |
China 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, and oolong teas, as well as the rare and less well-known yellow teas. Many famous styles of all of these types of teas originated in China.
This list represents the number of individual teas listed on RateTea.net and is not an adequate indicator of the quantity of these styles produced in China.