Tea

Tea was discovered in China and is both a drink and a culture all its own. The Chinese also believe it has medicinal properties. According to myth, (the mythical) Emperor Shennong was drinking his boiled water when a tea leaf drifted into it. Recognizing the pleasant taste and medicinal properties, he discovered tea. Tea is grown widely over the southern half of China. There are sic or seven types of Chinese tea, and over 1000 varieties.

White 白茶 báichá wilted and unoxidized

Yellow 黄茶 huángchá unwilted and unoxidized but allowed to yellow

Green 绿茶 lǜchá unwilted and unoxidized

Oolong 乌龙 wūlóng wilted, bruised, and partially oxidized

Black 红茶 hóngchá wilted, sometimes crushed, and fully oxidized

Post-fermented (Dark) 黑茶 hēichá green tea that has been allowed to ferment

Pu'erh 普洱 pǔěr (sometimes included in Dark tea)

Some of the most famous teas include:

Dragon Well 龙井 a green tea from Hangzhou

大红袍，

黄山毛峰

铁观音

There are only two words for tea in the world's languages: tea/te, and cha/chai, according to where in China the given language originally got its tea. Cha is the pronunciation in both Mandarin (north China) and Cantonese (Guangdong), while te is the pronunciation in Fujian (mid China). (A student once disagreed with this by pointing out that the word in Polish is 'herbata,' which I pointed out is simply 'herb tea.')