# Teaware: What You Need for Chinese Tea

Three items are enough to start: a 100–120 ml gaiwan, a gongdaobei, and a pair of cups — enough to properly brew any of this site's 52 teas. A Yixing teapot, a chaban, and the rest are meaningful but optional next steps.

Chinese teaware evolved over centuries not for beauty's sake but for the flash-infusion method: small volumes, complete decanting of the liquor, equal strength in every cup. Let's go through the pieces one by one — from essential to nice-to-have.

## The gaiwan — the universal tool

The gaiwan — a bowl with lid and saucer — is the primary brewing vessel. Porcelain and glazed ceramics are neutral: they absorb no odors, so one gaiwan serves both Longjing and shu pu-erh. Choose 100–130 ml, thin-walled, with a wide flared rim — that kind doesn't burn your fingers. It is the first purchase, and often the only one you need for years.

## The gongdaobei — the fairness pitcher

The gongdaobei (cha hai) is the small pitcher into which the liquor is decanted before serving. It solves two problems: it evens out the strength (in a teapot the lower layers are stronger than the upper) and stops the brewing by separating water from leaf. Glass is the most convenient: you can see the liquor's color. Volume: slightly more than your brewing vessel, 150–250 ml.

## Cups — small and varied

Gongfu cha cups hold 30–60 ml: tea is drunk in sips while hot and aromatic. Shape affects perception: wide cups open the aroma; tall, narrow ones hold heat and concentrate sweetness. Thin porcelain flatters light teas; thick ceramic suits dense ones. A pair of different cups is enough to feel the difference.

## The Yixing teapot — for one class of tea

A Yixing clay teapot is porous: it absorbs tea oils and over the years "tunes" itself to a tea, rounding and ennobling the taste. Hence the rule — one pot per class: one for rock oolongs like Da Hong Pao, another for shu pu-erh. It's a tool for those who already know their favorite tea; don't start with Yixing, and don't buy cheap "Yixing" pots of unknown clay.

## The chaban and the small stuff

The chaban is a tray with a grate or drain that catches the water from preheats and rinses; at home a deep dish will substitute. The cha he is the little boat for presenting the dry leaf. Tongs are for handling hot cups. A pu-erh knife pries apart pressed cakes. All of this adds convenience, but no item affects taste as much as the right temperature and the right seconds.

## Which ware for which teas

A practical cheat sheet: green, white, and yellow teas and GABA oolong — porcelain gaiwan or glass; light oolongs — gaiwan or a thin-walled porcelain teapot; dark oolongs and reds — gaiwan or Yixing; sheng and shu pu-erhs and heicha — gaiwan or Yixing, and aged shu can also be simmered in a glass kettle over a burner. The universal answer is almost always the gaiwan.


## Tips

- A starter set — porcelain gaiwan, glass gongdaobei, two cups — costs less than a single pack of good rock oolong.
- Wash teaware with hot water only, no detergents: porcelain doesn't need them, and Yixing clay will absorb the chemical smell forever.
- Don't buy big "all-inclusive" sets: half the pieces will sit idle. Add items one at a time, when you feel a real need.

Source: https://www.dao-cha.info/en/guide/teaware