【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 expensive for ordinary people, for example, in 1658, the fifth Earl of Beford county, Woburn Abbey paid all staff in manor a total of only 600 pounds, and these staff included temporary and full time maid, cook, butler, doorman, gardeners, lawyers etc, at that time, an annual ine of an estate lawyer was only 20 pounds, and the salary of butler was 2~6 pounds, if a butler buys a pound of tea, he would have paid a whole year’s salary, so it is impossible for populaces to have it.Besides, a great number of smuggling tea from other European countries before 1785 also made the tea price play down, and the performance of the Commutation Act after 1785 declined the tea price too, then, some private trade decreased the price. The other main reason is that British love tea very much, and another interesting evidence pointed out by an Italian who was travelling to Britain in1755 illustrates the last reason, he said that even if a mon maid must drink tea twice each day, showing her status, and she must write the condition to her bond. In addition, the characters in the famous British novel, Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen often take a cup of tea and drink. As time is going, Britain has formed its own culture of tea drinking, and the following part will discuss the different teadrinking culture between China and Britain. III. Comparison of Teadrinking Culture between China and Britain China is the homeland of tea. Of the three major beverages of the world—tea, coffee, and cocoa, tea is consumed by the large number of people in the world, especially in Britain. China had tea plants as early as five to six thousand year ago, and human drinking of tea dates back to two thousand year. British have and drink tea for three to four hundred year, that is far more behind us, however, it has already shaped its own special culture and habit of tea drinking. It is said that Britain averagely drink eight cups of beverage everyday, and among them, tea possesses five cups. That is to say, about two thousand cups of tea will be drunk by British in a whole year. According to the report of newspaper of Times in London, one percent of British do not drink tea, twentythree percent of British who are called Heavy drinker drink above six cups of tea, thirtyeight percent of British named Middle drinker drink four to five cups of tea, and the rest of thirtynine percent called Light drinker drink below three cups of tea. A typical English man, at least, has six times to drink tea everyday. Apart from three times of drinking tea at breakfast, lunch, and supper, first, when he wakes up in the morning and leans against the bed, he usually drinks a cup of tea—early morning tea. The second is the Elevenses, which drinks tea at . At this time, he has gone through long time of hard working, and he needs to have a break and relax himself. At last, it is the Afternoon tea at . The different manners of tea drinking Before discussing the manner of tea drinking, the types of tea are analysed first. Tea es in more varieties than you may suspect. However, based on the way the leaves are processed, all teas are divided into four basic types: green, black, oolong, and the very rare white. Green tea is the variety which keeps the original color of the tea leaves without fermentation during processing. It is quickly dried, preserving the healthful flavonoids and grassy flavors. This category of Chinese green tea is longing of Zhejiang province, Maofeng of Huanshang, mountain in Anhui province, and Biluochun produced in Jiangsu. The British green teas include Lung Ching Bancha and Sencha. Black tea undergoes a full fermentation process, which darkens the leaves and produces a robust tea with higher caffeine content. It is a later variety developed on the base of green tea. The best brands of Chinese black tea are Qihong of Anhui, Dianhong of Yunnan, Suhong of Jiangsu, Chuanhong of Sichuan, and Huhong of Hunan. The Earl Grey, English Breakfast, and Darjeeling are some examples of English black teas. Oolong tea represents a variety half way between the green and the black tea, retaining the healthful qualities of green tea and robustness of black tea. It is a speciality from China’s southern coast: Fujian, Guangdong, and Taiwan. Tieguanyin and Rougui of Fujian are this type of Chinese oolong teas. And Black Dragon and Orange Blossom are a couple of British oolong tea. White tea is produced from young leaves that are steamed and sundried rather than fermented, creating a subtle and sweet quality with minimal caffeine content, Snowflakes and Noble Beauty are a type of English white teas. Next, the Chinese tea drinking can be classified into mixed drinking and nonmixed drinking, and the first one is categorized by the personal favor with salt, sugar, milk, green onion, orange peel, mint and longan etc. It derives from the method of boiling tea in the mid Tang Dynasty: from the point of eatable aspect, people cook with fresh leaves or dried leaves into a soup or drink, often adding salt to modulate the flavor。 from the point of medicinal aspect, fresh leaves and dried leaves acpanied by ginger, pepper, orange peel and mint boil down into a soup for people drinking. And now this way was mainly concentrated in ethnic minority areas, for instance, Tibetan’s Suyoucha(酥油茶) is brick tea with salt, butter, milk, and so on, and the Ganwancha(蓋碗茶) of Hui nationality is tea brewed with longan and rock sugar, monly known as “ Sanxiangcha(三香茶)”. The second one is non mixed drinking, known as “Qingyin(清飲)” in Han nationality, that is the tea does not include any ingredients destroyed the fragrance and the flavor of tea, just making tea soup with boiling water. It inherits the tradition of Ming and Qing Dynasties.Initially, British were drinking green tea. Later, they changed it for drinking robust black tea with nutrient content. It was said that green teas were not easy to store and mu