Gongfu Tea is not a name for tea or a certain tea category, but a method of tea making. It is so called because the way of tea brewing is very particular and somewhat painstaking. The Gongfu here means the knowledge of tea making and tasting.

As a local produce in Chaozhou and Shantou areas, Gongfu tea is listed top of the Eighteen Peculiarities of Chaozhou and Shantou Area. The treat sounds of please or have your tea are famous here, making it a folk custom to drink Gongfu tea everywhere in the region. The tea is famous for its rich taste. When you first taste it, it might seem a little bitter, while later you may feel other teas lack of flavor. Oolong tea is adopted for steeping Gongfu tea, such as Tie Guan Yin, narcissus and phoenix tea, which is semi-fermented tea intervenient between brown and green tea. Only this type of tea can offer the color, fragrance and flavor required by Gongfu tea.

  
Anxi Tikuanyin Wuyi Rock-essence Tea Phoenix Tea

Water


It is a critical factor in brewing of Gongfu tea, among which dew is the best, then comes the fountain water, rain water, well water and lastly, tap water.

Teapot


The earthen pot or Zisha pot (sand-fired pot) is the best. The pots for making Gongfu tea are made in Yixing, Jiangsu Province, which is the smallest type among all Zisha pots made in Yixing.
The tea set shall be porcelain, which is best for bringing out the fragrance of tea. The widely used white porcelain cups from Jingde Town, Jiangxi are as wide in mouth as a silver dollar resembling a cappie.

Brewing of Tea


1. The cups need to be warmed and flushed repeatedly in order to warm it and bring out the theine.
2. When brewing tea, boiled water shall be poured in along the inner teapot mouth. The process shall be done in the way of handwriting at temperate speed without any letup. The water jug and the teapot shall be kept from a certain distance so that the means of high infusion is realized. It is said that in this way, the power of heat will reach directly to the bottom of teapot and upturn the tea foams, realizing an artistic visual effect and more fragrant taste.
3. The tea shall be poured in turn into each cup, repeating for twice or three circles to fill the cups. It is called General Guan Patrolling the City, which can make each cup of tea in uniform color.

Tea Tasting


Traditionally only three cups are provided for tasting the Gongfu tea in Chaozhou and Shantou area, no matter how many guests there are. The first cup of tea must be treated to the first guest sitting on the left hand of the host, regardless of identity, age or gender. The cup should be rinsed with hot tea water after a guest is treated and saved for the next guest. It is said that this custom is peoples way to extend the fine moral characters of solidarity, friendship and generosity.
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Eight Sceneries in Chaozhou

Spring Water under Xiang Bridge: Situated outside the east gate of Chaozhou, the Guangji Bridge bestrides the banks of Hanjiang River and is praised by the famous bridge expert Mao Yisheng as the earliest hoist bridge in the world.

Tales of Tea
The Legend of Shennong Tasting Hundreds of Herbs
Why the name TEA