China Tea Set

Tea sets consist mainly of teapots, cups, tea bowls and trays etc.

In China, there are various kinds of tea sets with different styles, practical value and artistic beauty. Chinese tea set usually consists of tea spoon, tea clip, fair cup, tea, tea tray, teapot, kettle, cup bracket, tea cup and fragrance-smelling cup. The production materials of these tea set can be porcelain, glass, purple sand…

Different teas should be fitted with different tea sets, which is part of Chinese tea ceremony. For instance, green tea like Biluochun is usually brew with transparent glass cup to fully release its flavor and to provide opportunity for appreciating the changing of tea in its making process; and black tea is usually drunk with white porcelain cup for it can reflect the beautiful color of the tea soup.
 

Tea pot can be pottery, porcelain, purple sand, glass, stone, while the most popular is purple sand teapot, due to its fine breathability, slow thermal conductivity and good insulation. The shape of teapot varies. Round teapot with large body guarantees tea leaves stretch fully to release the flavor.
 This is the most important part of a Chinese tea set. Used to taste and appreciate tea, the frequently seen tea cups are made of white porcelain, purple sand or glass. A tea set usually has 6 or 8 tea cups. Some tea cups also have holders and covers.

Tea set is a part of tea culture.

Tea pot with delicate paintings

The degree of contact between the water and tealeaves affects the flavor and color of the tea, so if you pour the tea directly from the teapot into tea cups, the taste in different cups will be different. A fair cup is to solve this problem. The tea water is firstly poured into the fair cup and shaked well to average the consistency of tea soup before pouring to different cups. Fair cup is usually with a large opening and bigger capacity than teapot. Fair cup is more frequently seen in a tradition Chinese tea set.
 Different from teacups, fragrance-smelling cup is more slender with narrower mouth. It is an indispensable part of a Chinese tea ceremony set.    
              This part of Chinese tea set is used to boil water needed for brewing tea. Kettle is of a variety of materials - iron, pottery, stainless steel, electric kettle or fast cooking pot.
 

Tea Tray is used to place teacups, and it must be flat on the bottom. Tea tray materials are mostly bamboo, wood and plastics.
 

It is used to dig the tea soaked in teapot, which is usually stuffed with tea after brewing. To make it decent and sanitary, tea spoon is designed into certain spoon-like shape. Tea spoon should be slightly shorter than tea tray.
 

Before using, the tea cup is usually placed in hot water to be cleaned and sterilized. Tea clips are used to take the cup out of the hot water.
 It is used to place teaspoons and tea clips, and the making materials can be ceramic, bamboo, stone or plastic.
 

Tea bowls and trays

A Teahouse

 

Chinese Kung fu tea set is needed when making Chinese Kung fu tea, which was first prevailed in some areas in Guangdong Province and then became popular with Chinese people. Chinese Kung fu tea sets, as the core of Kung fu tea, also includes teapot, teacups, tea spoon like common Chinese tea sets. Besides, it has some more like tea shuffle, funnel, tongs, digger, tea needle. 
 

Chinese Wedding Tea Set is tea set used in Chinese wedding ceremony. Chinese people emphasize “good fortune”, especially when there is good thing happening. So the wedding tea set will have some special styles and designs.

1. It is usually in red symbolizing “happiness, healthiness and tastiness”
2. It has auspicious patterns like dragon and phoenix or Chinese character “xi”, literally meaning happiness. 

When choosing Chinese wedding tea sets, you should avoid teacups with the Chinese character of “Shou”, meaning longevity in English, or teacups with the drawings of a dragon or pine and cypress. Also, the number of tea cups should be even.

How to Make Chinese Tea
 Video of Purple Sand Teapot Museum in Wuxi
 Video of Making a Purple Sand Teapot