During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, China tea was introduced into Turkey along with silk and porcelain. In the Tang Dynasty, China tea was introduced to Japan and Silla. After the opening of the new air route, China tea was introduced to Europe. Around 1545, Italian Lai Maixi mentioned China's tea in The Navigator's Integration, which is the earliest literature record about tea in Europe. In the thirty-fifth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1607), Dutch ships came to Macau from Java to sell tea, and 16 10 was transported to Europe, which became the beginning for westerners to transport tea to the East. From then on, China tea began to occupy European recipes.
Friends of women
After the opening of Xinhai Road, global commodity exchanges developed rapidly, and three kinds of non-alcoholic beverages entered Europe one after another: 1528, Spanish imported cocoa into Europe, 16 10, Dutch imported tea into Europe, and 16 15, Venetian merchants imported coffee.
Of all the drinks, tea is a woman's true friend. First of all, alcohol can make people feel groggy and rude. Nothing annoys a woman more than an alcoholic husband. As a substitute for wine, tea is refreshing and elegant. Making tea with snacks at four or five in the afternoon, drinking tea and chatting with friends-that is, tea party/afternoon tea-is the invention of a lady in itself. Teahouses and tea gardens provide social places for women outside the family.
Pubs and cafes are places where men relax, and good women can't go. But single women can go to the teahouse to meet their friends without damaging their reputation. By the18th century, there were 2,000 teahouses and many tea gardens in London alone, and Foxhall Tea Garden on the Thames was a typical representative.
Tea garden integrates English garden, courtyard, tea room and concert hall. Both men and women can go for a walk, drink tea and chat, and they can also hold concerts and dance in tea gardens. It was a club that the upper class liked at that time.
From aristocrats to civilians
At first, tea was sold as medicine in pharmacies, mainly used to treat gout, food stagnation and other rich diseases. At first, European scholars, doctors and priests debated whether drinking tea was beneficial. 1625- 1657, there was also a "tea debate" in the whole Netherlands. Finally, the argument ended because the archbishop of France recognized the efficacy of tea. But referring to the long-term medical level in Europe, tea is certainly much more reliable than other treatment methods (bloodletting, removal of unrelated organs, etc.).
Because the British East India Company monopolized the tea trade and began to monopolize the price, the price of tea was extremely high. In fact, the price of tea bought by China in Europe is reasonable, but the government imposes heavy taxes and merchants raise prices at will, turning tea into an expensive drink. At the same time, the price of tea in Amsterdam is 3 shillings and 4 pence per pound, while in London it is as high as 2 pounds 18 shillings and 4 pence. So smuggling prevailed, and a large number of private teas were transported to the south bank of England by foreign ships. There is a big difference between actual domestic consumption and official import statistics. Parliament decided to abolish the tea tax. After a window period, the tea tax in Britain dropped from 190% to 12.5%. Since then, the official import of tea in Britain has surged, and the population and national income of tea drinkers have also increased significantly. As a result,/kloc-luxury goods of the upper class at the beginning of the 0/7th century, in the middle of the 0/8th century, almost became a common breakfast drink for all British families.
Cha (Finance) Road
China tea is spread by sea and land. Land spread along the Silk Road to Central Asia, West Asia, North Asia and Eastern Europe; Spread to Arabia, western Europe and northern Europe by sea.
Since the Tang Dynasty, the ancient Silk Road was also a tea road. Tea is first concentrated in Chang 'an from the tea-producing area, and then takes Xinjiang as a transit point, leading to Eastern Europe via Tianshan North-South Road. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the tea road leading to Russia via the Mongolian Plateau was also opened.
The sea route started in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, starting from tea areas in Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian, and directly transported to Europe via Ningbo Port, Quanzhou Port and Guangzhou Port, or exported to Southeast Asian countries first, and then transported to European countries via Malay Peninsula, Indian Peninsula and Mediterranean Sea. In the thirty-fifth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1607), Dutch ships came to Macau from Java to sell tea, and 16 10 was transported to Europe. Since then, China tea has officially entered Europe, opening the door to a new world.
From the time when China tea was sold to Europe until the eve of the Opium War, China had a long-term surplus in foreign trade, and tea export was the most important part. Until the end of 18, British industry developed greatly, and the export of industrial products to China, together with the re-export of cotton and opium from India, just reached a state of trade balance.
Then the question is, why can European countries doing business with China tolerate trade deficits? Because the profit of China's re-export trade to other countries exceeds the trade deficit with China.
165 1- 1652, Amsterdam, the Netherlands began to hold a tea auction. More than 40 million kilograms of discarded tea are imported every year, and the amount of re-export is very large, accounting for about 35-50% of imported tea. 1758 The profit rate of Dutch tea trade actually reached 196%. From 17 1 1 to 18 10, the British government collected 77 million pounds in taxes on tea alone. According to records, 1784 British tea tax was 190%. Such a high tax is not worthy of the enthusiasm of the British people for drinking tea. 1793, the British government's annual tea tax is 600,000 pounds. By 1833, this figure has increased five and a half times to 3.3 million pounds.
How do foreigners drink tea?
Britain, England
Before China tea was introduced to Britain, British people drank it all day, got up at six or seven in the morning, drank beer and had breakfast. Then whenever you are sleepy, tired and have nothing to do, just drink and play. After tea was introduced into Britain, tea replaced alcohol in many cases.
The way to drink tea is similar to coffee. Serve green tea to the guests, and the drinker can add milk, sugar or lemon according to his own preference.
Russia
Unlike China, Russians don't make tea. They put tea leaves and sugar together in the teapot, poured boiling water, and each guest poured half a cup, then added boiling water to continue cooking. While cooking and drinking, the tea in the teapot keeps boiling.
It is said that there are three ways for Russians to drink tea: one is to add sugar to tea and stir it with a spoon before drinking; The second is to bite a small piece of sugar and drink tea in your mouth; The third is to watch or think about drinking tea with sugar. Russians must add sweeteners such as sugar and honey when cooking tea, and often add milk, lemon and even fruit medicine and cheese to tea. Sweet tea should go with dessert. However, that place in Russia is relatively cold, which is actually used as a meal after dinner.
France
According to China's standards, the French are really "tea drinkers" among Europeans. The French like high-quality green tea and are not satisfied with teabags. Many French people can also name different kinds of tea in China.
Like people in China, they don't add milk and sugar, but only use boiled tea. It is also possible for the French to adopt the drinking method in West Africa, adding sugar cubes and mint leaves to tea, and cooling it to make cold drinks, similar to bottled tea with sugar sold in supermarkets all over the world.