In 907, the Tang Dynasty fell and China split into a number of independent states. The south split into separate kingdoms, which remained peaceful. Trade and commerce developed rapidly, and tea production in the south at the present sites of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces developed so quickly that these areas gradually became the center of tea art and culture.

People in the Song Dynasty came to drink tea even more delicately than in Tang times. In the Tang, tea drinking was popular mainly among noble families, but in some cities during the Song Dynasty, teahouses sprang up where common people could go and have tea. In Chengdu, tea service centers were set up to offer “official tea” for passers-by free of charge.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, tea drinking differed from that of previous dynasties. In that time, people drank piece-tea instead of solid-tea and tea makers stir fried tea in an attempt to strengthen tea-leaves’ flavor. In the Ming Dynasty, green tea was the most common tea-drink, but flower tea also came into being. Down to the Qing Dynasty, jasmine tea was produced in Suzhou. In the Qing dynasty, Wulong and black tea appeared.

This article by Yang Tianqing and Daniel Kister.