The practice of drinking tea has a long history in China. According to a popular story, tea was discovered by Shennong in 2737 BC when a leaf from a nearby shrub (a low woody plant) fell into the water Shennong was boiling. Tea is deeply woven into the history and culture of China.

The Chinese have a saying: “Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea are the seven necessities to begin a day.” Though tea is the last on the list, we still can see its importance in daily life. A simple meal in Chinese is Cu Cha Dan Fan, namely coarse (粗糙的) tea and tasteless dinner. Even a simple meal is finished off with tea.

For the Chinese, tea drinking and tasting are not parallel. Tea drinking can help keep up one's spirit while tea tasting has cultural meaning. Tea and tea sets should match surroundings such as the breeze, the bright moon, pines, bamboo and snow. All these show the goal of Chinese culture: the harmonious unity of human beings with nature.

Tea is compared to personal characters. Its flavour (味道) is pleasant, low­key and lasting. A friendship between gentlemen is also like a cup of tea. With a cup of tea in hand, enjoying the green leaves in a white china cup, you will feel the peace. Fame, wealth and other earthly concerns are far away.

Similarly, tea­drinking habits vary in different parts of China. Generally, flowering tea is popular in northern China; green tea is preferred in eastern China, and black tea is fit for people in Fujian and Guangdong. Green tea is the most popular type of tea consumed in China. Green tea usually loses its flavour within a year while the flavour of black tea can remain for several years. For this reason, black tea has long been an article of trade. It still accounts for over ninety percent of all tea sold in West. Tea is commonly available in Chinese restaurants and grocery shops worldwide.

Best Bites of Beijing (Fall, 2016)

Shangri-La’s AZUR launches healthy French bunch

AZUR, the newly opened fine-dining French restaurant by Shangri-La Hotel, is unveiling its weekend brunch menu on Saturday, featuring Michelin-class healthy and authentic French cuisine.

The buffet will offer unlimited seafood and each chef’s signature dish. The brunch (498 yuan) is available every Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 a.m.to 2:30 p.m. You can upgrade the experience with another 200 yuan to enjoy free-flowing champagne and other beverages.

29 Zizhuyuan Road, Beijing (8882 6727)

Get ready for the capital’s biggest pizza party

Pizza lovers, rejoice! The capital’s biggest annual pizza party organized by the Beijinger will be held on October 15—16 this year at Wangjing SOHO. The 2016 Pizza Cup is expected to see thousands of festival-goers savoring a variety of pies from over 30 pizza joints in Beijing. Besides pizza, there will also be live music, beer, wine and interactive games for family and children.

For ticket information, visit: yoopay. cn/event/2016pizzacup (8601 6718). To learn more about the 2016 Pizza Cup, visit www. thebeijinger. com/2016pizzacup.

Celebrate the grape harvest with “Sofitel Wine Days”

September through October is the time when grapes are harvested in France. During this special season, all of the Sofitel hotels (French luxury hotel brand) around the world celebrate with its annual “Sofitel Wine Days”. The month-long celebration at Sofitel Wanda Beijing, started on Thursday, will host a number of events, from wine class, wine tasting to wine dinner.

Sofitel Wanda Beijing Tower C, Wanda Plaza, 93 Jianguo Road, Beijing (8599 6666)

Unlimited lobster buffet, half price

The Grand Metro Park Hotel at Sanyuanqiao has just launched its all-day-dining seafood buffet on Thursday, including unlimited lobsters. For the first month, guests can enjoy the international buffet at half price at just 198 yuan net. You can also expect fresh sushi, sizzling grill, ice cream and more.

Grand Metro Park Hotel No.2 East Road, North Third Ring, Beijing (6462 2288)

“It is like nothing I’ve ever tried. Gentle, elegant and comforting,” said Max Falkowitz, digital editor of the food and wine magazine Saveur, after he tasted one of the most sought-after teas in the world: pu’er, a fermented (发酵的) dark tea sourced from ancient trees in the Yunnan Province in southwest China. “Pu’er is a ‘slow’ drink. It has to be boiled in hot water from 15 to 60 seconds again and again until the drinker arrives at the desired taste. To be considered true pu’er, the leaves must be grown in certain villages and allowed to ferment over weeks, months, years or even decades. That fermentation can produce a variety of complex flavors — from the most unpleasant one to the most desirable one that lasts for hours in the mouth.”

The price of pu’er varies greatly. Some pu’er can be had for just a few dollars a kilogram, while a few of the most prized producing villages sell maocha (the raw material used to make pu’er) for around $725 per kilogram. In 2005, a mere 500 gram of a 64-year-old pu’er from Lao Banzhang sold for nearly $150,000.

“Not surprisingly, the astonishing profits led to a crash in 2007, when widespread counterfeit (假冒的) pu’er was discovered, and prices then stabilized,” Max laughed.

Part of the attraction of pu’er is its presentation: It is routinely pressed into cakes, and wrapped in paper printed with the name of the tea. This method was developed centuries ago for the long journey along the famous Teahorse Road, which went all the way north into Russia and south into Thailand. For the convenience of transportation, several cakes were wrapped in bamboo, and then tied to either side of a mule or horse. Indeed, pu’er might be invented by luck, when tea being transported was exposed to rain and sun, and began to ferment.

“Pu’er is more than a drink,” said Jinghong Zhang, author of Pu’er Tea: Ancient Caravans and Urban Chic. “For example, it is given as a gift during local wedding negotiations, and offered to ancestors during religious ceremonies.”