【正文】 s, even the market share of modern drinks is great increasing .Today, people have gradually realized the importance of anic foods and drinks, and tea is being considered the natural and healthy drinks which are promoted by people all over the world. Tea culture has long been talked and discussed by people from home and abroad as a popular topic. China and the western countries like UK and US are major tea drinking nations. With the evolution of tea drinking history, tea has severally developed a unique culture in these nations. As a popular topic, tea culture has been discussed by the academia of different countries. But the contrast and parison between these two tea cultures has been focused on the differences rather than the similarities and fusion. The parison of Chinese and Western tea culture is therefore an important and fascinating topic in international munication. In this paper, we will first review some important aspects of tea culture in these countries, and in the conclusion, we will focus on both the differences, the similarities and interaction of Chinese and Western tea culture. “When we get up in the morning, the first things we should get ready are firewood, rice, edible oil, salt, soy, vinegar and tea,” this is said by an old Chinese saying. It tell people tea is a necessity of life in China. According to the recorded history, China found and started to use tea dating back to almost 3000 years ago. Tea, not merely as a drink, has been popularized and developed in China all the time. Moreover, it has spread to many foreign countries. As we all know, Chinese silk made an outstanding contribution to the world’s material and spiritual civilization, and Chinese tea so did this. Tea has not been known by Europeans until the 16th century and has not been introduced to Britain by the Dutch until the mid 17th century, even it is early discovery in Asia. (The British Tea Company 11)Later from this, tea has been an important drink in western countries for several centuries, and is drunk all day in most Western households. Throughout many centuries that the western people have been drinking tea, it has had a great impact on 2 the nation’s culture and lifestyle patterns through the ages. Tea has seepaged into the culture of western countries. II. China Tea Culture A. The origin of tea China grow, produce and drink tea at the first time, and be saw as the original tea growingarea. The discovery and the use of tea in China can be traced back to 3000 years ago. There is a legendary story runs, “in order to prevent people from eating the poisonous plants, shennong tasted hundreds of wild plants to see which were poisonous and which were edible.” One day he got poisoned when gathering and tasting herbs. Fortunately, he found a plant, tea, which helped him to get rid of the toxin and finally he survived. People continually retold this story from generation to generation, paying great respect to their ancestor who pioneered agriculture and Chinese medicine. (Theodore, Chan amp。 Waston 52) B. Kinds of Chinese tea China tea is famous throughout the world for its unique color, fragrance, flavor and finely shaped leaves. According to the ways of manufacturing, Chinese tea can be divided into six categories: green tea, black tea, oolong tea, white tea, scented tea, and tea lumps. (Zhou 159) 1. Green Tea Green tea has the longest history and still ranks first in production and variety in China. People like to drink green tea for its freshness and natural fragrance. Longjing(龍井 ) Tea from the West Lake of Hongzhou, Maofeng(毛峰 ) Tea from Huangshan Mountain, Yinzhen(銀針 ) Tea from Junshan Mountain, Yunwu(云霧 ) Tea from Lushan Mountain and Biluochun(碧螺春 ) Tea from Jiangsu are the famous green tea. 3 2. Black Tea Black tea also owns a good reputation in all over the world. Different from green tea, the tea leaves turn from green to black in the fermentation. Black tea is thoroughly fermented. 3. Oolong Tea Oolong tea both own the freshness of green tea and the fragrance of the black. In recent years, it has bee popular with more and more people for its effects in helping to reduce high blood pressure, , prevent coronary heart disease, aid digestion and lower the cholesterol.` The history of oolong tea be produced in Fujian province is at least 400years. Today it is also grow in Guangdong and Taiwan. It is difficult to pick the tea because it grows on cliffs which people rarely reach. So it is considered the most precious. 4. White Tea White Tea is as white as silver. Fujian’s Zhenghe and Fuding are the major producing areas. And Yinzhen tea and White Peony Tea are the famous varieties. 5. Scented Tea Scented tea (also called Flower Tea) having the smells of flowers is a variety unique to China. The dries flowers spread as they were just picked up when put in boiled water,. 6. Tea Lump The black tea or green tea is pressed into the shapes of brick, cake or ball. The tea lump is convenient to store and transport and is suitable for minority people in border regions. The most famous tea lump is Yunnan’s Puer tea(普洱 ), which has great therapeutic effects. One recorded examples shows that, among 20 patients suffering from high cholesterol(膽固醇 ), those who drank three cups of this tea every day for one month experienced a 22% drop in their cholesterol levels, but those who drank ordinary tea three times a day showed no change. (Zhou 160) Yunnan pressed tea is a suitable beverage for all ages. It is also known as a diet tea(減肥茶 ) and beauty tea as well. 4 C. Customs and rites of tea Teadrinking is a nationwide custom in China. Having three meals and tea a day. is a daily necessity for the Chinese. A mon Chinese saying runs, “when we get up in the mornin