Jasmine tea (Jasmine Tea), also known as jasmine tablets, belongs to flower tea, has a history of more than 1,000 years, the birthplace of jasmine tea in the world is Fuzhou, Fujian, its tea fragrance and jasmine fragrance are intertwined, and it has the reputation of "jasmine has no supreme taste, listed as the first fragrance in the world".
Jasmine Tea, also known as Jasmine Tablets, is a flower tea with a history of more than 1,000 years. The birthplace of jasmine tea in the world is Fuzhou, Fujian, and its tea fragrance and jasmine fragrance are intertwined, and it has the reputation of "making jasmine tasteless and listed as the first fragrance in the world".
It was listed as a tribute during the Qing Dynasty and has a history of more than 150 years. Fuzhou jasmine tea originated from the Han Dynasty, the innovation of traditional Chinese medicine promoted the birth of Fuzhou jasmine tea, and the full understanding of the aroma and the health care role of tea by the Fang School of the Song Dynasty Chinese Medicine Bureau triggered the fragrant tea craze and gave birth to dozens of fragrant teas. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Fuzhou jasmine tea has always been the country's foreign affairs gift tea. Jasmine tea is a tea made by blending tea leaves and jasmine flowers to absorb the fragrance of flowers. Its aroma is fresh and long-lasting, the taste is mellow and fresh, the soup color is yellow and green, and the bottom of the leaves is tender and soft. Jasmine tea, which is made from a series of technological processes, has the effects of calming the nerves, relieving depression, strengthening the spleen and regulating qi, anti-aging and radiation prevention, and improving the body's immunity, and is a healthy drink
According to the records of the Han Dynasty's "Historical Books", jasmine first originated in the ancient Roman Empire, during the Han Dynasty, it reached ancient Persia and Tianzhu through the Maritime Silk Road, and became a Buddhist holy flower after arriving in India, and then spread to Fuzhou with Indian Buddhism.
In the Tang Dynasty, jasmine was considered a symbol of jade bones and ice muscles, indifferent fame and fortune, and represented the integrity of scholars. It is believed that once the jasmine flower comes out, the flowers are not fragrant, and since then the jasmine has become the "heavenly fragrance", and Bodhi is regarded as a sacred object of Buddhism.
During the Song Dynasty, there was a craze for putting incense into tea in China, because incense was a health care product in ancient times, a medicine inducer, and tea was a medicine, which could cure all kinds of poisons. In the localization of Fuzhou, both tea and medicine are called "da", resulting in the combination of incense and tea. In the Song Dynasty, there were dozens of kinds of spice tea, and after the changes of the times, a variety of flowers were eliminated, and only five or six kinds remained, and jasmine accounted for 96%, and jasmine tea flourished.
Jasmine tea was first a spiced tea enjoyed by scholars, and it began to be commercialized at the end of the Ming Dynasty and in large quantities during the Qing Dynasty.
The Empress Dowager Cixi had a special preference for jasmine, Cixi thought that her skin was like coagulated fat, and her skin was like snow, so she stipulated that no one else was allowed to make jasmine hairpins, and when foreign envoys and their wives went to China, Cixi often gave jasmine tea as a gift to these people, so during the decades when Cixi was in power, jasmine was once considered the "national flower".
From 1856 to 1886, tea exports accounted for 35 to 44 percent of the country's total tea exports, making it the world's largest tea market.
On May 30, 1866, five British sailing ships, including the "Antelope" and "Taping", set off from Mawei, Fuzhou at the same time to carry out a tea transportation race from Fuzhou to the United Kingdom, and reached the mileage of Britain in 99 days. The "Taping" won by arriving only 20 minutes early, and the distance from Fuzhou to Europe was shortened from 270 days to 100 days, making it possible to bring fresh and high-quality Chinese tea to Europe.
After 1866, Fuzhou jasmine tea began to be exported to Europe in large quantities.
In 1872, the Russians opened the Buchang Tea Factory in Fuzhou Fanchuanpu, and Fuzhou became the earliest area in Chinese history to make tea mechanically.
After the Battle of Majiang in 1884, the port of Fuzhou raised the tea tax by 50% to increase the revenue for the construction of new ships. The Fuzhou tea, which arrived in England between 1885 and 1886, was of inferior quality and lacked advantages over Indian black tea, which the British had not been willing to drink.
In 1889, Fuzhou's exports of black tea fell by 40%, leaving only special tea varieties such as jasmine and oolong tea to remain the world's largest exporters, and India replaced Fuzhou as the world's largest tea port.
In the 90s of the 20th century, a large number of other types of tea appeared in Fujian, coupled with the monopoly of local jasmine tea enterprises in Fuzhou and the vicious competition in tea prices, the number of jasmine tea enterprises in Fuzhou decreased from more than 500 at that time to the current thirty or forty.
