中国茶

Why this place

Tea is China's national drink and one of its oldest industries — the same leaf, Camellia sinensis, becomes green, white, yellow, oolong, black and dark tea depending on how it is processed, and each has its own regions and rituals. Gongfu tea, brewed in tiny cups with repeated short infusions, is a way of paying attention rather than just drinking.

What to see

• Hangzhou's Longjing tea villages, for green tea picked in April
• Wuyi Mountain in Fujian, where rock tea grows in cliff cracks
• Fuding and Taimu Mountain, the heartland of white tea
• The Pu'er tea mountains in Yunnan, with ancient tea trees
• Teahouses: Chengdu's People's Park, Yangzhou's morning tea, and Beijing's Laoshe Teahouse

What to eat

• Tea-smoked dishes: Longjing shrimp, camphor-and-tea-smoked duck
• Tea as an ingredient in mooncakes, ice cream and the modern bubble-tea boom

How to plan

Any tea-growing area can be visited — the most accessible are Hangzhou (from Shanghai) and Wuyi (from Xiamen).

Best time

April for the spring picking of green tea; October for oolong and dark tea

Practical tips

• Buy tea from a producer or a specialist shop, not from tourist sites; ask to taste before you buy