Tea farmers dry tea leaves under the sun in Changning, Hunan province in September of last year. ZHOU XIUYUCHUN XINHUA Chinese tea culture, whose influence has been intertwined with the nation throughout much of its history, was added to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage on Tuesday.
Traditional tea processing techniques and their associated social practices in China were added to the UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Rabat, Morocco has given the status of intangible cultural heritage. The newly inscribed item consists of many elements, such as knowledge, skills and practices regarding the management of tea plantations, the picking of tea leaves and the processing, drinking and sharing of tea.
Techniques are mainly found in provinces such as Hunan, Jiangsu, Anhui, Fujian and Zhejiang. Many ethnic groups share Associated Social Practices, which are spread throughout the country. In China, 44 registered national-level intangible cultural heritage entries from 15 provincial-level administrative divisions are related to tea.
In China, over 2,000 tea varieties are grown in six categories — green, black, yellow, oolong, white and dark. The director of the intangible cultural heritage department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Wang Chenyang said that the inscription of the elements into the UNESCO list marks the significant contribution made by Chinese culture to the world.
The Silk Road and other ancient trade networks helped promote exchanges and mutual learning among the world s civilizations, Wang said.
Tea is ubiquitous in Chinese people's daily lives, according to the bidding document from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to UNESCO. Steeped or boiled tea is served in homes, workplaces, tea houses, restaurants and temples and is used as an important medium for communication in socializing and ceremonies such as weddings, apprentice-taking and sacrifices.
The document states that the practices of greeting guests with tea and building good relationships within families and among neighborhoods through tea-related activities are shared among multiple ethnic groups and provide a sense of identity and continuity for communities, groups and individuals concerned.
By producing, brewing and tasting tea, bearers and practitioners can enrich their lives, maintain a peaceful and inclusive mindset, and cultivate a mild and reflective personality, and improve their internal realms and promote self-cultivation, Wang said.
The practices also show the humanistic spirit of modesty, harmony, comity and respect, contribute to harmony among families and among people, and enhance cultural identity and social cohesion, the official said.
There are over 40 vocational colleges and 80 universities in China that have majors in tea science or tea culture.
The new inscription is the 43 rd entry from China on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.