Chinese teas can be classified into six distinctive categories: white, green, yellow, oolong, black and post-fermented.

White and green teas are heat-treated (杀青; 殺青; shā qīng) soon after picking to prevent oxidization, often called fermentation, caused by natural enzymes in the leaves.

The beverage is considered one of the seven necessities of Chinese life, along with firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar.

Ming dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang (also known as the Hongwu emperor) was born to a poor family and understood the difficulties of the lives of farmers.

[12] In some places of China, in restaurants, it is common for customers to clean their bowls and utensils at the table by rinsing them with tea from the pot.

This method, which is more prevalent in day-to-day Chinese life, involves the repeated use of the same tea leaves throughout the day.

Traditional Sichuan teahouses use red copper teapots, tin saucers, teacups with covers made of Jingdezhen porcelain, tuocha- a bowl-shaped compressed tea leaves- and tearoom keepers expert at all manner of work.

People of various trades drink tea while eating refreshments and appreciating performances which include singing of opera arias, storytelling and dagu (a versified story sung to the accompaniment of a small drum and other instruments).

Nowadays, customers are provided with a pot of strong tea as soon as they arrive, and have many choices from a great variety of refreshments on the food cart.

Famous shuchaguan were exquisitely furnished with cane or wooden tables and chairs, and decorated with works of calligraphy and painting in order to build an atmosphere for storytelling.

The purpose of drinking tea in shuchaguan is increasing their historical knowledge, killing time and amusing themselves.

Qichaguan were simply furnished with timber or lumps of wood painted with chess boards, which were partly buried in the ground, or chessboards with benches on both sides.

Tea-picking Poem - Gao Qi[29] It is getting warm after the spring rain and thunder, New tea leaves start sprouting among branches.

Girls with silver hairpins sing folk songs to each other, Competing to pick the most tea leaves in the shortest time.

Satirical poems and songs were also created and reflected struggles of tea farmers and ridiculed greedy officials.

[30] After Mid Ming, the amount of tribute tea soared due to an increased pressure upon citizens by higher bureaucrats.

[30] Some citizens began to grow angry with these demands, including poets Gao Qi and Han Bangqi.

[30] Although their main occupations were government officials, they were also generally acknowledged writers who voiced their complaints through poems that became widespread folk ballads.

However, Gao was accused by the government of "involvement in a rebellion conspiracy”[31] and was executed, while Han was imprisoned by officials wanting to hide their written works.

[30] Fuyang Ballad - Han Bangqi[32] Tea-picking women and fish-catching men Feudal officials torture them so they don't even have unscathed skin How come the Heaven is not humane?

The highly regarded green tea Lu An Gua Pian is made from more matured leaves.

[clarification needed] The standard practice is to start picking when 5% of the garden is ready, or when the tea buds reach certain size.

Seeking work during the harvesting seasons, they often took boats to Tunxi, Anhui and other places where tea leaves were abundant.

Various weather conditions throughout different areas limited tea to be grown in a few specific regions: Jiangnan, Jiangbei, Hunan and Xinan.

[36] These areas provided stable warm weather and rainfall- two essential components of growing tea plants.

Time spent working and the intensity of labor fluctuated due to the inability to accurately predict weather conditions.

[43] Over-oxidation can alter the taste of the tea to become "grass-like" or thick and bitter,[44] so farmers heated the leaves to stop the oxidation once the desired level was reached- a process known as 'firing'.

Then, leaf cells were broken down by gently rubbing the tea leaves- this process helped volatilize the scents and tastes when brewing.

Tea leaves were damped then rolled into shapes, making its storage convenient[45] while also allowing sap to squeeze out and provide additional flavoring.

Spelling of varieties often reflects English usage, and historical or southern-Chinese pronunciation rather than official modern pinyin, for example; Bohea (武夷茶 wǔyí chá), Congou (工夫 gōngfu), Hyson (熙春茶 xīchūn chá), Souchong (拉普山小種 lāpǔshān xiǎozhǒng), Chunmee (珍眉 zhēnméi), Sowmee (秀眉 xiùméi), Pekoe (白毫 báiháo), Keemun (祁門紅茶 qímén hóngchá).