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China was the first country to discover and cultivate the tea plant. Tea has been an important part of Chinese culture for millennia, and China is often referred to as the ‘home of tea’. According to legend, tea was discovered by the legendary Chinese emperor and herbalist, Shennong – during a walk in the forest he stopped to boil some water when leaves from a nearby tea plant fell into the cauldron. Shennong subsequently used tea as a medicinal herb to treat a wide range of ailments. The use of tea as a beverage dates back to the Western Zhou period (1046–771 BCE). Tea was already in widespread use by the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), when it was sold commercially. During the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE) tea was drunk by Chinese nobles and monks. Tea also became an important part of Buddhist culture – it was often drunk during chanting rituals. The history of tea is documented in The Classic of Tea , China’s first authoritative work on tea cultivation and consumption. It was written by the Tang dynasty writer Lu Yu, an orphan who was adopted by a monk. During his childhood at the monastery Lu Yu learned about Buddhist teachings and tea culture. After almost 30 years of studying and visiting China’s most famous tea plantations, he documented his findings in The Classic of Tea , which he completed in 780 CE. The book covers the origins and types of tea and describes how tea is cultivated and brewed. It consists of ten chapters (Origin of tea, Tea tools, Manufacture, Tea Wares, Brewing, Drinking tea, Anecdotes, Tea-producing regions, Omissions, and Diagrams). It is often referred to as the ‘Tea Bible’ and has been translated into many languages. The history of tea in China dates back thousands of years and is an integral part of Chinese culture. China has hundreds of varieties of tea – more than any other country in the world. Tea cultivation flourished during the Song dynasty (960–1279), when tea plantations could be found all across China. Varieties included Wuyi rock tea, Longjing tea from Hangzhou and Jianzhou tea. The famous Song dynasty poets Su Shi and Wang Anshi were both tea connoisseurs, as was the Emperor Huizong of Song, who wrote the Treatise on Tea and played a major role in promoting the production of tea, which quickly became an essential beverage for ordinary people. During the Ming dynasty people mainly drank loose tea and started to brew tea in teapots. The Qing dynasty Emperor Qianlong, China’s longest reigning emperor who lived to the age of 89, when once asked how the empire could do a day without its emperor, he replied, ‘how can the emperor do a single day without his tea’. Teahouses quickly became a part of Chinese culture, and tea was often served at theatrical performances and other cultural events and festivals. Throughout history, tea has been an essential part of Chinese culture. It has also been proven to have many beneficial health effects and is the second most widely consumed drink after water.