The Oldest Antiquity Tea in the World
Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) as one of the most popular nonalcoholic beverages, and consumed by over two-thirds of the world’s population for its refreshing taste, aroma, medicinal, and mildly stimulating qualities. As we all know that the tea originated from southwest of China recorded by Huo Tuo in his medicine text. The exact antiquity of tea is shrouded in Chinese myth.The first unambiguous textual reference to the consumption of tea as a beverage can be dated to 59 BC during the Western Han Dynasty. However, its widespread popularity amongst both northern Chinese and people to the west such as Uighurs is generally attributed to the Tang Dynasty (7th–8th century CE). Previously the oldest physical evidence of tea was from China’s Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127 CE). It has long been hypothesized that tea, silks and porcelain were key commodities exported from the ancient Chinese capital, Chang’an to the central of Asia and beyond by caravans following sev...