A Stirring Tale

Two ways about it. Tea is the world's most popular pick-me-up for the jaded, the stressed, the plain thirsty. Such are its restorative powers, true lovers of what is technically Camellia sinensis call it the nectar of the gods. But while many teas lack the hypodermic jolt that comes with a cup of coffee, they can be equally as addictive.

Drunk to excess, tea can become as potent a drug as any alcohol because of its tannic acid (20-30 percent) and alkaloid (five percent, mainly caffeine) content. The tannic acid is known for its anti-inflammatory and germicidal properties, while the caffeine stimulates the body's nerve centers and assists the metabolic process. Tea is also rich in vitamins and, for smokers, an aid in discharging nicotine from the system. The brew can also be a sobering pick-me-up after a serious wine-drinking session.

Tea with aromatics may promote digestion, especially of meat and fat. Large quantities of beef, pork and lamb are widely popular among China's ethnic minorities, whose best-known proverbs include: "Rather go without salt for three days than without tea for a single day."

The bad news: too much tannic acid can affect the secretion of gastric juices, irritate the stomach membrane and cause indigestion or constipation. Constant drinking of strong tea before bedtime can result in occasional insomnia, and may induce heart and blood-pressure disorders in some people. Doctors say it can also reduce the milk of a breast-feeding mother.

Around three billion people, more than half the world's population, are hooked on tea. For us all, the beverage is one of life's few remaining sanities Ñ a potent lifeline when one is tired and spirits are low. A mug of tea may not have the kick of a neat whisky, but it provides enough of a stimulus to keep its drinkers on the ball.

Which with one swig brings us to here-and-now Beijing, and the appeal to tourists and other visitors of the almost countless Chinese teas. While the city's innumerable hotels, restaurants and bars can provide an (often grossly overpriced) no-frills western-type brew from teabags, Chinese traditional teahouses offer a wide choice of green teas, made from the leaf, with medicinal properties that have been popular for centuries. These establishments also usually lay on some entertainment to keep customers happy ... and continuing to order more tea.

Rightly, the Chinese swear by these green teas, as do an increasing number of foreign converts weaned on the black varieties. A first-rate cup of Chinese tea embodies three essential qualities: fragrance, vivacity and clarity. Constituents which provide these attributes include numerous amino and organic acids, polyphenolic bodies, sugars and caffeine. There is also a little theophylline, an alkaline found in tea leaves which aids digestion, relaxes the bronchioles and makes the heart beat a little faster.

Some visitors to the Chinese capital get their first taste of a local brew at one of the tourist beat's charming, ritualistic tea ceremonies, though depending on the time of year these can be as rare as cocoa conventions. But when tea ceremonies are arranged, foreign visitors are usually surprised to learn they are Chinese in origin (2,700BC), not Japanese as is commonly thought. As with so many things, what the Chinese invented the Japanese refined and called their own.

Tea is very much in line with Chinese food culture, nothing less than art where the formal tea ceremony is concerned. It originated as a culture in its own right in the Tang Dynasty, when Lu Yu wrote a three-volume work covering everything related to tea, including the proper techniques for growing it and the methods of brewing. He also detailed a tea ceremony that utilized 27 pieces of equipment, but due to the complexity of the operation only affluent connoisseurs could indulge in it.

Equally important, Lu formulated a "Code of Tea" that saw tea merchants worship him as their tutelary god. This culture embraces poetry, painting, literary works and the very action of drinking tea in a correct manner Ñ for example the daintily bent, or crooked, little finger when the cup is taken to the lips.

Thus to dismiss tea as a banal botanical thirst-quencher produced by stewing a spoonful of leaves from specialized evergreen trees and shrubs is to sell it unforgivably short. It is the universal drink without geographical or cultural boundaries, as pleasurable to the Beijing taxi driver who needs to stay alert as to the London hostess who has her most intimate friends around for a relaxing, gossipy mid-afternoon "cuppa" (abbreviation of "cup of") Earl Gray or such upscale brand, poured from a silver teapot. Milk and sugar are usually also served from silverware.

The practice is not wholly dissimilar from its Chinese counterpart. All Chinese restaurants serve a glass of tea immediately a diner is seated. And whatever the time of day, most Chinese homes bid visitors welcome with tea. It's the same in Britain especially, but less common in other European countries, where coffee and wines are more popular.

Because of China's geographic location, huge size and diverse climate, teas are grown in different areas. Although there are hundreds of varieties of Chinese tea, they can in general be broken down into five main categories, classified according to differing production techniques--Green, Black, Wulong (or Oolong), Compressed, and Scented (see box).

At present, some 40 countries grow tea, with Asia producing 90 percent of the world's total output. Of the planet's three major beverages-- tea, coffee and cocoa--tea is consumed by the largest number of people. And China is unquestionably the homeland of the drink, a fact testified to by a tea museum in Hangzhou which details the development of the country's tea culture over the past 2,000 years or so.

The habit of tea-drinking spread to Japan in the 6th century, but it was to be more than a millennium before it was introduced to Europe and America.

Which teas should the Beijing visitor sample? Jasmine has long been the most popular among foreigners, with chrysanthemum a close second. The former is a blend of fine green tea and the jasmine flower, which provides a very refreshing aroma. It is at its best when the water is boiled at 75-80 degrees C.

Among the rarest and most expensive teas is Da Hongpao, also known as "Big Red Gown". Wulong (Oolong) tea, a cross between black and green from southern China and Taiwan, has a unique flavor that stems from the chesima plant. Almost as rare is Long Jing, a green tea from Hangzhou, which is also known as "Dragon's Well" because it was originally brewed with village well water reputed to contain a dragon. Experts say it should be served at precisely 80 degrees C so that its young leaves will not be damaged and lose their special flavor.

"Wild Peony" teas, never exposed to sunlight for fear of flavor loss, are also widely popular in Beijing. Other Chinese teas with a high reputation include Biluochun, Junshan Silver Needle, Liuan Guapian, Xinyang Maojian, Wuyi Rock, and Tieguanyin.