The Chinese Way of Tea 中国茶道

Tea, made with skill and stillness.

Gongfu Cha is the Chinese practice of brewing tea with attention — more leaves, less water, many short infusions. A quiet ritual two thousand years in the making.

Begin with the Ceremony Meet the Six Teas
Years of History
2,000两千年
Families of Tea
Six六大茶类
Infusions per Session
15十五泡
A porcelain gaiwan and small cups arranged for Gongfu tea brewing
工夫茶席 The tea setting

茶之为饮
发乎神农氏

The Classic of Tea · c. 760 AD

“Tea as a drink arose with Shennong, and was made known under the Duke of Zhou.”

陆羽《茶经》Lu Yu, The Classic of Tea — the first book ever written on tea

Begin Here

Three paths into Chinese tea

一
A Gongfu tea ceremony in progress, tea poured from a gaiwan

The Ceremony

工夫茶艺

What Gongfu Cha really is, where it comes from, and how to brew your first session with a gaiwan — step by step.

Enter the ceremony 二
Tea being poured into small tasting cups

How to Drink

品茶之道

Temperature, aroma, texture, and etiquette — how the Chinese taste tea, and how to host anyone with a single small pot.

Learn to taste 三
An Yixing clay teapot and an aged pu-erh tea cake

History & Culture

茶史文化

From Shennong's legend to Lu Yu's Classic, the Tea Horse Road, and the quiet revival of craft tea today.

Read the history

The six families of Chinese tea

六大茶类
  • 绿茶 Green Fresh and grassy — Longjing, Biluochun. The oldest style.
  • 白茶 White Barely processed, honey-soft — Silver Needle, White Peony.
  • 黄茶 Yellow The rarest family, mellow and round — Junshan Yinzhen.
  • 青茶 Oolong The heart of Gongfu brewing — Dancong, Tieguanyin, Yancha.
  • 红茶 Red What the West calls black — malty, warm — Dianhong, Qimen.
  • 黑茶 Dark Aged and earthy, deepening with years — Pu-erh, Liubao.