Shanghai stop for Hubei tea as it aims to go global
One of Hubei Province's many tea plantations.
In the 17th Century, a tea route extending 13,000 kilometers transported Chinese tea to St Petersburg in Russia. The undertaking is being revived after some 400 years.
A coastal line is bringing tea from Hubei Province to 17 cities and even overseas through the end of May.
On Sunday, a tea fair gathering government officials, associations and businesses was held in Shanghai, one of the 17 legs. A number of tea cooperation agreements between Hubei and Shanghai were signed.
Shanghai plays an important role in the domestic tea market and is an important window of tea culture exchanges between China and overseas, said Zhang Wenqi, deputy director of the Hubei Province Tea Association.
Shanghai, though not a tea production base, is one of the biggest tea leaf distribution centers in China, said Huang Zheng, executive director of the Shanghai Tea Industry Association.
The ultimate goal is to promote more quality Chinese tea to the world, he said.
Hubei is known for a number of teas such as Enshi Yulu, Yichang Maojian, Wudang Mountain tea, and Yihong gongfu (kung fu) tea.
Tea production bases are scattered over 300 villages and towns in 72 counties across the province with tea plantations amounting to 5.74 million mu (382,666 hectares).
A tea plantation in Hubei Province.
A fleet of cars from Hubei brought tea to Shanghai.
The province has more than 5,000 tea leaf processing companies and the comprehensive output value of the tea industry in the province amounted to more than 85.5 billion yuan (US$11.79 billion) last year, a record.
In Shanghai, three Hubei teas were merged with coffee, milk and wine to create unique flavored beverages during the fair.
Hubei is the hometown of Lu Yu (733-804), a tea expert in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) who is dubbed China's "tea saint" for his contribution to the study of tea culture.
People in the Chu Kingdom during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) started hosting tea leaf ceremonies during certain occasions and local people began picking tea and making tea soup as the original form of tea during the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-280).
Hankou, one of three towns that merged to form Wuhan, Hubei's capital, and Xiangyang City were important stops on the route.
In 1861, Hankou opened as a commercial port and tea leaves were transported to the world from Hankou, earning it the title "oriental tea port."
From April 20 to May 22, a fleet of cars will travel to 17 coastal cities, including Shanghai, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Wenzhou and Qingdao, to seek cooperation on tea from Hubei with the final stop in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
In late May, a tea fair and bazaar will be held in the United States and the UK, taking the fragrance of Hubei tea overseas.
