Jasmine Tea: Green Tea Scented with the Aroma of Jasmine

Tea drinking is a national pastime in China, where the habit has prevailed for millennia and is firmly embedded in people’s daily life. Different regions in China enjoy different varieties of the leafy brew. Those sipping in south China’s Guangdong Province have a liking for Pu’er tea; in east China’s Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, people prefer green tea; while in Beijing, jasmine tea reigns supreme.

So why do Beijingers prefer for jasmine tea?

It can be traced back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) when the trend for scented tea came into being. Dozens of varieties of scented tea appeared. And among those tea varieties, jasmine tea was the favorite. The popularity of jasmine tea was first driven by the upper class, however, during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) it was enjoyed by all walks of life. It’s said that Empress Dowager Cixi（慈禧太后） had a special liking for jasmine tea, and often presented it as a gift to foreign diplomatic envoys. This royal preference helped raise popularity of the tea among ordinary people. Thus jasmine tea became the dominant drink of Beijingers.

Jasmine tea is green tea scented with the aroma of jasmine blossoms. In Beijing, jasmine tea is the signature product of Zhangyiyuan. Why do Beijingers love it so much? Its popularity has much to do with the city’s unsatisfying water quality in the past. Before tap water became available in Beijing, local drinking water tasted bitter and was unsuited for most kinds of tea. Such bitterness could only be concealed by the strong fragrance of jasmine tea. Beijingers always liked to treat their guests and themselves to jasmine tea, which was always the predominant variety sold in the Beijing market.

Nowadays, some young people are fond of infusing jasmine tea with milk and make a cup of delicious jasmine milk tea. The fusing together of the two makes the jasmine tea highly delicious. So do you want to have a cup of jasmine tea or jasmine milk tea?

Copyright: SKETCHES OF CLASSIC BEIJING, China Pictorial Press

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