Tea roots run deep beneath Mount Wuyi

Shennong Bencao Jing, a classic treatise on traditional Chinese medicine dating back more than 2,000 years, recounts that Shennong, the legendary father of Chinese medicine, tasted hundreds of herbs in his quest to understand their properties. It says he was repeatedly poisoned in the process and was cured each time by tea.

From the Tang Dynasty (618-907) onward, tea drinking and tea culture flourished. Tea gradually became intertwined with medicine, cuisine and everyday life, weaving itself deeply into the fabric of Chinese civilization.

At Mount Wuyi in Fujian province, the relationship between tea and people has been nurtured for centuries. Generations of residents have cultivated tea plants, refined processing techniques, enjoyed tea in daily life and traded it across China and beyond, creating a living example of harmony between humanity and nature.