Chinese tea glossary
24 terms from Chinese tea culture, from gaiwan and gongfu cha to cha qi and hui gan, with clear definitions and practical notes.
- Gaiwan — A gaiwan (盖碗) is a lidded bowl, usually with a saucer. It can be used to brew and decant tea, or to drink from directly.
- Gongfu cha — Gongfu cha (工夫茶) is a tradition of attentive brewing in small quantities, usually with a relatively high proportion of leaves and repeated short infusions.
- Hui gan — Hui gan (回甘), often translated as “returning sweetness”, is a sweet sensation that appears in a tea’s aftertaste.
- Cha qi — Cha qi (茶气), literally “tea energy,” is a traditional expression for subjective sensations during and after drinking tea. Different people and writers use it in different ways.
- Sheng pu-erh — Sheng pu-erh (普洱生茶), or raw pu-erh, is made from Yunnan’s large-leaf tea plants without the wet-piling stage used for shu. It can be enjoyed young or aged.
- Shu pu-erh — Shu pu-erh (普洱熟茶), or ripe pu-erh, is made by fermenting sun-dried Yunnan tea in moist piles. It usually gives a dark brew with woody, earthy or sweet notes.
- Gu shu — Gu shu (古树) means “old trees.” In a tea description, especially for pu-erh, it is a claim about the age of the plants supplying the batch.
- Yixing pottery — Yixing (宜兴), in Jiangsu, is known for zisha teapots. These are fired ceramic vessels, usually unglazed; zisha includes a range of clays and colours.
- Mingqian — Mingqian (明前) means tea picked before Qingming, which falls around 4–5 April. It is especially common in descriptions of spring green teas such as Longjing.
- GABA and GABA tea — GABA stands for gamma-aminobutyric acid. GABA tea is processed to increase its concentration in the leaf. The name describes processing, not a separate botanical cultivar.
- Terroir — Terroir describes the conditions in which tea grows: soil, climate, terrain, altitude and surroundings. In Chinese tea, the related term shanchang (山场) refers to a specific growing site.
- Yancha — Yancha (岩茶), or Wuyi rock tea, refers to oolongs from the Wuyishan area of Fujian. Familiar names include Rou Gui, Shui Xian and Da Hong Pao.
- Dancong — Dancong refers to oolongs from the Fenghuang area of Chaozhou, Guangdong, known for their varied floral and fruity aromas.
- Wo dui — Wo dui (渥堆), or wet piling, is the microbial processing of moistened tea in heaps. It is central to shu pu-erh production; related processes are also used for other dark teas.
- Bing cha — tea cake — Bing cha (饼茶) is tea pressed into a round disc. This form is common for pu-erh, but is also used for other teas, including white tea.
- Mao cha — Mao cha (毛茶), or rough tea, has completed primary processing and drying but awaits further finishing. The term is used for several tea categories, not just pu-erh.
- Wuxing — Wuxing (五行) is a traditional Chinese system of five interrelated categories: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. This site uses their imagery to organise its tea catalogue.
- Cha dao — Cha dao (茶道), “the way of tea”, brings together ideas about brewing, beauty, hospitality and the attention we give to making and sharing tea.
- Short infusions and flash steeping — Repeated short infusions use the same leaves several times, with the tea poured off after each brew. This method usually calls for a small vessel and more leaf per volume of water than a longer steep.
- Gongdaobei — serving pitcher — A gongdaobei (公道杯), also called a cha hai, holds brewed tea. The infusion is poured into it from a gaiwan or teapot before being shared among cups.
- Sha qing — heat fixation — Sha qing (杀青), or heat fixation, reduces the activity of enzymes involved in tea-leaf oxidation. It is important in green and yellow tea, oolong and the raw material for pu-erh.
- Tea oxidation — In tea production, oxidation usually refers to reactions involving leaf compounds, oxygen and the plant’s own enzymes. These change colour and flavour; processing controls how they develop.
- Camellia sinensis — the tea plant — Camellia sinensis is an evergreen shrub or tree in the Theaceae family. It is the principal plant whose leaves and buds are processed into tea.
- Gaoshan — high-mountain tea — Gaoshan cha (高山茶) means high-mountain tea. In the Taiwanese tea trade, it generally refers to tea grown from around 1,000 m upwards, most often oolong. It is not a cultivar name.