Steep By Steep

A growing acceptance of luxury Chinese tea and the proliferation of boutique shops and brands herald the arrival of third-wave tea culture, says KENNY LEONG

- Kenny Leong

IN MAY THIS year, news of the prices of numerous teas traded in Shanghai sent shock waves across the industry. The teas — known as Wuyi tea after their origin in Fujian’s Wuyi Mountains, today a UNESCO World Heritage Site — cost anywhere from $6,000-$96,000 per jin (about 500g) in mainland China, putting them on par in terms of pricing with some of the world’s most acclaimed wines.

The news drew mostly negative criticism from industry insiders who accused the prices of being inflated. But that has not stopped others from forking out top dollar for these teas, presumably given as gifts or squirrelled away by wealthy collectors for enjoyment after a period of ageing.

What does all this have to do with the proverbial price of tea in China? Considering that last year Starbucks announced the closure of all 379 Teavana stores, just as boutique tea shops and brands are mushrooming everywhere, this could only mean one thing: The time is ripe for fine speciality tea.

Divine Approbation

According to an old Chinese adage, there are seven indispensable items in everyday life: Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea. No other drink but tea makes the list, clearly a sign of its importance in one’s daily sustenance.

In its earliest form, tea was likely consumed for its medicinal properties — oral tradition and ancient texts (such as Shennong Ben Cao Jing) often highlighted tea as a herbal plant possessing antidotal benefits that can be used to counteract poisons and physical ailments.

With the arrival of the Tang Dynasty in 600s AD, tea joined other art forms such as calligraphy and painting to take on greater literary symbolism and value. It was a golden age that saw the publication of Lu Yu’s Cha Jing, the world’s first monograph on tea detailing the drink’s history, origin, production, methods of preparation, and so on.