Curtains to raise on city's tea culture festival

The annual tea cultural festival is scheduled to open in about two weeks at the Shanghai Exhibition Center in Jing’an District.

It will be held from June 1 to 4 in the western hall of the center, taking up about 7,000 square meters — nearly the size of a standard soccer field.

Various tea, including black tea from Sri Lanka to white tea in China’s Fujian Province as well as tea sets from China’s dark-red enameled pottery and cast iron teapot from Japan will be on display. Also, tea-themed tours will be offered, including picking up tea leaves in tea plantation.

“Tea planted in high mountains in Shouning of Fujian Province will be introduced to Shanghai,” said Zeng Lianyu, executive of Daning International Tea City. “Also, we will send robots to serve tea to visitors."

Over the period, Chinese-style and Japanese-style tea ceremonies will be presented by renowned performers from the two countries, wearing traditional costumes.

Alan Chan, who designed the Chinese logo for Coca-Cola in China, will be invited to hold a tea packaging competition to demonstrate tea tradition to the young generation.

According to officials in Jing’an, events, including tea culture lectures, will be organized in communities around the district within a year.

Tea is an important product and present transported overseas via the ancient Silk Road. Today, it still plays a vital role in infusing cultural ambience and promoting environmental-friendly tourism, said Wu Ruihu, official with the city's publicity department.