The spring tea harvest is well under way. There are some places to pick fresh tea on scenic plantations and many teahouses in the city where you can savor cha. Chen Ye reports.

The first thing Li Shengrong does every morning after he gets up is walk to his glass cupboard and choose from dozens of teas, selecting his Tea of the Day.

Li has been a tea enthusiast for more than 30 years and runs a teahouse in Shanghai’s Xuhui District.

His wife complains in jest that the first thing he does in the morning is inhale his precious tea – before giving her a kiss.

Li says he likes black tea in the morning, green tea at midday and afternoon and dark tea, or post-fermented tea like Pu’er, in the evening.

When he isn’t running his tea house, 57-year-old Li spends most of his time with tea, which is an integral part of his life. He says he’s never been without tea.

"My wife teases, saying I love teas more than I love her because every morning instead of kissing her chin and saying good morning, I always move fast to my cupboard, choose a tea, open the tea caddy and take a deep breath of the fragrance. This puts me in a pleasurable mood all day."

After choosing his Tea of the Day, Li turns to his tea table and begins to boil water for kung fu tea, or a tea ceremony. This is how he treats friends.

The third floor of Li’s teahouse is filled with sunshine and a Maitreya Buddha reclines on his favorite marble tea table. Tea tables are usually made of wood, but he prefers marble surface with elaborate wood carving.

After washing each piece on the marble tea table including six small cups, he begins adding tea to the teapot.

"I love making kung fu tea in front of my friends. Usually I add hot water and fill the teapot until it overflows a little. I let the water stand for a few seconds to warm the pot before pouring it out. I like to see my friends’ faces and they think oh my god, the water is coming out," Li says with a laugh.

Then he starts washing tea leaves, and keeps an eye on the temperature of the electric kettle.

"Temperature is the key to kung fu tea," Li says, pouring a cup of hot and fragrant Dragon Well (Longjing) Tea.

The first cup is not perfect but the second and third cups are the best, with pronounced flavor and fragrance.

Long history

Tea drinking has a long history in China and is an integral part of the culture. Tea processing was underway in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Traditional Chinese medicine holds that each type of tea has different properties and benefits for the human body. Drinking black tea (often called red tea, or hong cha) in the morning can help rid the body of chill, and increase the circulation of blood, which is sluggish after sleeping. It sharpens mental faculties.

Drinking green tea at midday helps to suppress anger and control excessive "liver fire." Tea’s polyphenols are powerful antioxidants with many health benefits.

Additionally, drinking dark tea (hei cha) like Pu’er in the evening is good for digestion and dissolving fat. Pu-erh is famous for helping to metabolize fat.

"Chajing," also known as the "The Classic of Tea" is the world’s first monograph on tea, written by Lu Yu in 758. It’s a bible for tea enthusiasts.

"Drinking tea every day is my attitude for enjoying life," Li says. "’The Classic of Tea’ teaches that tea symbolizes harmony and the mysterious unity of the universe. For Buddhists, Taoists or Confucians, tea expresses something universal."

Surging prices

However in the past few decades, people have focused more on the price of fresh tea and what type of tea will become the next King of Tea, Tie Guanyin (a variety of Oolong tea), Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) Tea or Pu-erh.

Reports on this year’s harvest show that the prime Dragon Well Tea from West Lake costs 180,000 yuan (US$28,567) for 500 grams. Some say the price is ridiculous, affordable only by wealthy connoisseurs or those presenting gifts to officials.

Still, just as some people believe fine red wine is part of French culture, so tea represents Chinese culture and the latest West Lake Dragon Well is considered the near equivalent of Chateau Lafite.

China has six kinds of teas:

Green tea, black tea, dark tea, Oolong tea, yellow tea and white tea. Here are 10 of China’s best teas

West Lake Dragon Well Tea (Longjing Tea)

Price: 350 yuan/100g

Type: Green tea

Yellow Mountain Maofeng Tea (Maofeng Tea)

Price: 100 yuan/100g

Type: Green tea

Tie Guanyin Tea

Price: 50-80 yuan/100g

Type: Oolong tea

Dongting Biluochun Tea

Price: 158 yuan/100g

Type: Green tea

Xinyang Maojian Tea

Price: 20 yuan/100g

Type: Green tea

Keemun Tea

Price: 66 yuan/100g

Type: Black tea

Da Hong Pao

Price: 75 yuan/100g

Type: Oolong tea

Lu’an Guapian Tea

Price: 98 yuan/100g

Type: Green tea

Taiping Houkui Tea

Price: 400-600 yuan/100g

Type: Green tea

Junshan Yinzhen Tea

Price: 50-130 yuan/100g

Type: Yellow tea

Tea retreats in Shanghai

Drinking cha in a teahouse and watching the passing scene is a good way to get a feel for the city. For example, peaceful, 150-year-old Huxin Ting in busy Yuyuan Garden is an ideal place for soaking up atmosphere.

Other recommended tea oases are Sijiaoting in Gulin Park, Delong Teahouse at Kangjian Road in Xuhui District and Tianyi Tea Plaza. There tea lovers can while away the time and buy good tea.

Here are a few tea retreats:

Jingyuan Tea Art House

Situated in downtown Shanghai, this tea house doubles as a small art gallery, with comfortable facilities and a relaxing atmosphere.

Address: 1 Wulumuqi Rd M.

Old Shanghai Teahouse

An ideal place for exotic teas.

Address: 385 Fangbang Rd M.

Delong Tea House

A traditional teahouse with a tranquil atmosphere, a friendly boss and an entire third floor devoted to tea drinking and a kung fu tea ceremony.

Address: 72 Kangjian Rd

Around Shanghai

Since fresh tea is coming onto the market, tea lovers can visit tea plantations, watch the harvest and buy tea on-site.

West Lake

This is the home of Dragon Well, one of China’s most famous teas. The best place to pick tea is in Longjing Village near Xiwen Mountain.

Taihu Lake

Famous for Biluochun Tea, another legendary tea, Taihu Lake near Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, is an attractive destination in spring tea-picking season. Biluochun Tea was originally grown on Dongting Mountain near Taihu Lake.

Yellow Mountain

Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) is the best place for Huangshan Maofeng Tea, where people gather in May to pick tea and appreciate Hui-style architecture.

Lushan Mountain

Lushan Yunwu Tea, another legendary tea, is grown on Lushan Mountain where many important figures built vacation retreats.

Related posts:

1. China’s first Tibetan tea museum to open in Lhasa A Tibetan tea museum will open by 2013 in Lhasa,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Chinese travelers bought relatively expensive products, such as cameras, watches and consumer electronics products, as souvenirs, according to Japanese media.

The data are based on surveys among about 7,000 foreigners at major airports and seaports in Japan once every three months.

Foreign travelers spent a total of 813.5 billion yen (about 10. 09 billion U.S. dollars) in 2011, down nearly 30 percent from 2010, when they spent an estimated 1.15 trillion yen (about 14.26 billion U.S. dollars).

Chinese consumers were followed by South Koreans and people from the United States. Travelers from South Korea numbered the largest at 1.66 million and was followed by 1.04 million Chinese.

SOURCE: XINHUA

Related posts:

1. Chinese tourists forecast to spend more than U.S., UK visitors in New Zealand next year WELLINGTON, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) — Chinese tourists would overtake those...
2. Canada tries to woo more Chinese tourists June 24,2011 Canada’s tourism industry is seeking to attract more...
3. China-Japan Tourism Industry Forum held in Osaka June 2,2011 The China-Japan Tourism Industry Forum was held in...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The remarks by Wang Jianhua, an expert on pesticide residue for the Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau of Shandong province, came after the government conceded the long-term use of chemicals on other crops has resulted in widespread contamination of soil and water supplies.

Greenpeace released a report in April saying Chinese products available for the domestic market fall far short of the standard required in the European Union.

However, Wang dismissed public concern resulting from the report and insisted the products tested are safe.

"China’s standards on pesticide residue are reasonable, as the standards fully take into consideration the potential risks to public health," he said on Tuesday.

"What authorities should be paying serious attention to is the usage of highly toxic pesticides in agricultural production, which is ongoing. Some areas of production have no standards on pesticide residues at all."

Wang declined to name specific pesticides.

The Greenpeace report, released on April 23, said scientists had discovered residue from 17 pesticides, including methomyl, a pesticide banned in China, in some Lipton teas.

Seven of the pesticides are also prohibited in the EU, including endosulfan and bifenthrin, which according to EU health officials might jeopardize fetal health and men’s fertility, the NGO report said.

The test result was based on samples of Lipton’s black, green, jasmine and tieguanyin teas purchased randomly in Beijing in March.

Testing was conducted at a nationally qualified laboratory, although Greenpeace declined to disclose its name to "ensure its independence".

Another report from the environmental NGO in early April showed that at least three pesticides banned by the Ministry of Agriculture were detected in products from nine major tea companies, including Zhang Yiyuan and Wu Yutai.

Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health said at a news conference on Saturday that residues of illegal pesticides found on the tea may be caused by wind blowing over from other crops.

Long-term use of the pesticide on other crops may leave residue in the water and soil, said Dong Hongyan, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture.

"For instance, methomyl, which is banned on tea plants, can still be used on other agricultural products in China. It is inevitable that pesticides will travel through wind or the flow of air when the tea is planted next to some other crops," he said.

Also, he said, not all pesticides used in tea production in China have been registered in EU countries as they are not major tea producing regions.

"Many countries with vast amounts of imported agricultural products always adopt stricter standards on pesticide residues," Wang said. "But sometimes setting such standards has nothing to do with the products’ safety. It is a measure to guarantee their economic interests in world trade."

Last year, China banned 10 of its 22 highly toxic pesticides in response to growing concern about the safety of agricultural products because of the misuse of such chemicals.

Fifty-thousand tons of the 22 highly toxic types of pesticides are produced each year, accounting for 2.5 percent of the country’s annual total pesticide production, official figures showed.

"Government authorities should set up residue standards for all the highly toxic pesticides and conduct further research on substitutes for the other 12 types and ban them as soon as possible," Wang said.

Source: China Daily

Related posts:

1. Lipton tea products safe despite pesticide claim Unilever answered allegations that a banned pesticide was found in...
2. Officials say Chinese tea products safe BEIJING – Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture have said...
3. Banned pesticides found in teas sold in Fujian, Sichuan & Hainan TEA produced by some of China’s top companies contained residue...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Jian Qiu, a researcher from the ministry’s pesticide examination office, made the commentsSaturday after a recent report revealed that some products manufactured by a foreign teacompany and sold in China have higher levels of several types of pesticide residue.

Some of the residues were said to be within China’s standards, while European standardscompletely ban their use. The report triggered public concern about the double standard, aswell as China’s food safety threshold.

"China’s standards for pesticide residue levels were made in full accordance with principles setdown by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the food consumption habits of Chinesepeople," Jian said.

Jian said that since different countries have different consumption capacities, climates, plantdiseases and insect pests, it is impossible to compare one country’s pesticide residuestandards with those of another country.

Dong Hongyan, a senior official from the ministry’s supervision bureau for agricultural productquality, said the ministry has banned several types of pesticides from use in tea harvesting andhas also promoted uniform criteria for tea plantations to reduce possible harm from theirregular use of pesticide.

According to Dong, the ministry will make more efforts to encourage planters to use moreefficient and low-toxicity pesticides and further improve the country’s regulations for pesticideresidue in line with the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

Related posts:

1. Lipton tea products safe despite pesticide claim Unilever answered allegations that a banned pesticide was found in...
2. Banned pesticides found in teas sold in Fujian, Sichuan & Hainan TEA produced by some of China’s top companies contained residue...
3. Unilever tea bags China’s latest food scare Fears over food safety in China don’t have much chance...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Also on Saturday, 66 individual tourists will leave from Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Nanjing to travel to Taiwan, according to Taiwan tourism authorities.

The deal, agreed by tourism authorities from both sides of the Taiwan Straits, is the latest change meant to encourage more mainland tourists to go to the island. In an experiment last year, residents of three mainland cities – Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen, in Fujian province – were allowed to make the same types of trips.

About 74,000 people from the mainland have applied so far to travel individually in Taiwan, and more than 400 people applied each day on average in the first three months of the year to take the trips, according to China News Service.

Yue Xuejiao, a 27-year-old travel lover in Chongqing who has been to South Korea, Australia and many countries in the Southeast Asia, said she is ready to explore another overseas destination – Taiwan.

The place Yue has dreamed about going to is Jiufen, also known as Jioufen, a village in the hills near Keelung, in northeast Taiwan. Two years ago, she had met a couple of Taiwan travelers who had sent her a postcard showing a view of distinct, old houses. It was the setting used in A City of Sadness, a Taiwan movie that won a Golden Lion, the highest award at the Venice Film Festival.

"I was looking forward to going there but never made it because I could only visit the island in tour groups," the Chongqing resident said.

In the past, many of the people who went to Taiwan as part of group tours were middle-aged or elderly. But as the opportunity to travel there individually becomes open to more and more, the young are the ones showing the greatest enthusiasm for the trips, according to travel agencies in Guangzhou.

Most of the tourists who have signed up for the new travel option are between the ages of 20 and 35. Many said they are traveling with friends to learn about trends in music, books and design or to go shopping and bicycling on the island, according to Nanhu International Travel Service, one of the six travel agencies in Guangzhou permitted to arrange individual tours to Taiwan.

Saturday will see the journey start for the first batch of 15 tourists who, under the new policy, have signed up for a tour of the island through the Guangdong branch of China Travel Services.

"This policy will give a boost to less-traveled scenic spots and specialty routes," said Wang Jun, deputy director of the agency.

Qiao Huaxiang, manager of the Taiwan-bound travel business at the Chongqing Yangtze River Traveling Co, said individual tours, as a supplement to group tours, can help to make trips to the island more frequent.

"We recommend that tourists visit Taiwan the first time in groups to gain a general understanding and then take individual tours the next time," he said.

He said Taiwan has now become Chongqing residents’ favorite travel destination.

Public security bureaus in the six cities said individual residents have to obtain an entry permit before they go to Taiwan, which allows them to stay for up to 15 days on the island. Current plans also call for the residents of four other mainland cities – Jinan, Xi’an, Fuzhou and Shenzhen – to be permitted to visit Taiwan individually before the end of the year.

Source: Xinhua Net

Related posts:

1. Taiwan to see more mainland individual tourists Residents of ten additional Chinese mainland cities will be allowed...
2. Mainland tourists to Taiwan hit 2.34 mln by end of May June 12 ,2011 The number of Chinese mainland tourists traveling...
3. Chinese mainland, Taiwan confirm individual travel program schedule June 21,2011 Authorized organizations from the Chinese mainland and...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The company’s revenues rose 32.11% to 12.69 billion yuan. Earnings per share increased 66.95 percent from one year earlier to 0.78 yuan, according to the company’s annual report filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The company attributed its profit surge to booming travel demand and the launch of new travel routes, which have catered to a greater variety of consumers.

Despite a gloomy global economic outlook, the company said it will increase its rate of expansion in overseas markets, adding that it expects fiercer competition among domestic travel agencies this year.

The company’s shares dipped 3% to 28.14 yuan as of 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

Related posts:

1. Chinese mainland, Taiwan confirm individual travel program schedule June 21,2011 Authorized organizations from the Chinese mainland and...
2. Chinese tourists forecast to spend more than U.S., UK visitors in New Zealand next year WELLINGTON, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) — Chinese tourists would overtake those...
3. Sweden provides travel information for its citizens via mobile June 22,2011 Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs Wednesday launched a...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The latest scandal popped up on Tuesday, when Greenpeace, an environmental protection organization, said three types of Unilever NV’s Lipton-branded tea bags were found to contain banned pesticide residue that could be harmful to the human endocrine system or male reproduction.

Greenpeace said it had tested four types of Lipton tea bags bought randomly from supermarkets in Beijing, and sent samples to a third-party certified laboratory for tests.

The test results found that Lipton-branded jasmine, green and oolong tea samples contained methomyl, a pesticide banned from use in tea planting.

Unilever’s Shanghai office issued a statement following Greenpeace’s announcement, dismissing the accusations and saying that all their products meet China’s quality standards and have passed the relevant tests.

One Greenpeace official said the pesticide residues were not left unintentionally, but rather on purpose.

"We did find some tea planters using banned pesticide during our previous investigations," another Greenpeace member was cited as saying by the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Earlier this month, tea produced by some of China’s top companies was also found by Greenpeace to contain residue of banned pesticides. The environmental organization tested nine brands of 18 types of tea sold in Beijing, Sichuan and Hainan, including green tea, oolong tea and jasmine tea.

This latest news is yet another story in the seemingly never ending stream of food safety issues facing the world’s most populous nation.

In mid-April, a report run by the official China Central Television station revealed that several commonly used drugs were packed into capsules made from industrial gelatin, which contains a much higher level of chromium than edible gelatin.

And prior to that, an unconfirmed report said that industrial gelatin may have been used in the production of solid yogurt and puddings, chipping further away at the already scarred reputation of China’s dairy industry.

China introduced a far-reaching food safety law in 2009 after a major scandal the previous year involving melamine-tainted infant formula, in which 6 babies died and 300,000 others were make sick.

Despite China’s growing efforts to create a modern food inspection system, food safety remains a major public concern.

Inefficient inspection methods — an issue partly attributed to supervisory powers being shared between different government organs — have been widely cited as a main cause.

Law enforcement officials have also reported that penalties listed for food-related irregularities remain light, and profiting from unsafe practices is cost-effective in an increasingly cutthroat environment.

"China needs to further streamline food laws and inspection methods in terms of efficiency for guarding food safety, and food businesses should be primarily responsible for quality control," Luo Yunbo, a food science expert at China Agricultural University, was cited as saying by Xinhua.

Related posts:

1. Banned pesticides found in teas sold in Fujian, Sichuan & Hainan TEA produced by some of China’s top companies contained residue...
2. Lipton tea products safe despite pesticide claim Unilever answered allegations that a banned pesticide was found in...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

"Unilever China has always upheld high quality standards and the protection of consumers’ rights. All the Lipton tea products we make are completely in line with national standards on pesticide residue, and are safe and up-to-standard goods," the company wrote on its micro blog.

According to a report by the environmental protection organization Greenpeace, however, methomyl, a pesticide banned in China, has been detected in some Lipton teas.

"Despite their statement that their pesticides comply with national standards and that they are determined to minimize the amount of chemicals, the facts prove it is nothing but empty promises," said Wang Jing, a Greenpeace executive in charge of food and agriculture in Beijing, who was involved in the investigation.

In addition to methomyl, residue from 17 other pesticides was detected, according to the Greenpeace report.

In March, random samples of Lipton’s black, green, jasmine and tieguanyin teas were tested in Beijing. No pesticide residues were found in the black tea, but residue from 13 pesticides was found in the green and tieguanyin tea and residue from nine in the jasmine tea, according to Greenpeace.

Wang said the tests were conducted by an independent, nationally qualified laboratory, but she declined to disclose its name to "ensure its independence".

Seven of the 17 pesticides that were found are prohibited in the European Union, including endosulfan and bifenthrin, which according to EU health officials might jeopardize men’s fertility and fetal health.

"Lipton must immediately stop using highly toxic pesticides and must reduce the amount of pesticides used in tea fields," Wang said. "The company should also improve its source-tracing system to better follow the tracking of the tea and better guarantee food safety."

Unilever’s statement said all of the raw materials for Lipton black tea products sold on the Chinese mainland are 100 percent imported.

Wang said that although some of the products comply with Chinese standards, they fail to meet EU standards.

"Such products would definitely be turned down by European markets," Wang said. "It’s unfair that products that fall short of EU standards are sold to unknowing Chinese customers."

In November, Lipton’s tieguanyin tea was found to contain unsafe levels of rare earth, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the country’s top quality watchdog.

The company later recalled and destroyed those products, according to a statement posted on its Chinese micro blog.

Lipton is not the only tea brand whose products have recently been called into question.

According to a Greenpeace report on April 11, at least three pesticides banned by the Ministry of Agriculture were detected in products from nine major tea companies, including Zhang Yiyuan and Wu Yutai.

Those two companies later responded that they were not using the banned pesticides in their tea fields, but that did not mean they were totally free from such chemicals.

According to Wang Jianhua, an expert on pesticide residues at Shandong entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau, pesticide residues can be discovered long after the chemical is used. "For some pesticides, it takes years for them to degrade," said Wang.

He added that the residue does not necessarily indicate that the product is not fit for the market.

Source: China Daily

Related posts:

1. Banned pesticides found in teas sold in Fujian, Sichuan & Hainan TEA produced by some of China’s top companies contained residue...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Huangji Palace, built in 1689, was used to hold ceremonies for emperors after they finished handling state affairs.

According to a statement of the museum, the refurbished palace will open to the public only during major holidays, including the May Day and the National Day holidays and summer holiday.

The Palace Museum will adjust the palace’s opening hours in accordance with weather conditions to protect the safety of its cultural relics, the statement said.

Shan Jixiang, curator of the Palace Museum, said the opening of Huangji Palace is part of the museum’s plan to enlarge the areas for visitors, from about 45 percent at present to 76 percent in the future.

Huangji Palace used to be an exhibition hall where calligraphy works, paintings and jewelry were displayed. The palace no longer functions as a display area since undergoing renovations in 2004.

The Palace Museum will open one hour earlier than usual during the May Day holiday from April 29 to May 1.

Source: Xinhua Net

Related posts:

1. Visitors to Hong Kong hit half-year record July/26,2011 Hong Kong saw a record tally of almost 20...
2. China’s first Tibetan tea museum to open in Lhasa A Tibetan tea museum will open by 2013 in Lhasa,...
3. Chinese visitors to Fiji keep increasing July 11 ,2011 Fiji’s Minister for Tourism Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.