272 



TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. 



Chap. XVI. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Geography of the tea-shrub — Best tea districts of China — Names of 

 tea-plants — Black and green tea made from the same variety — My 

 Chinamen asked to make tea from Pongarnia glabra — They suc- 

 ceed ! — Difference between black and green tea depends upon mani- 

 pulation — Method of making green tea — Of making black — Dif- 

 ference in the manipulation of the two kinds — Mr. Warrington's 

 remarks on this subject — A familiar illustration — The tea-plant 



— Inferior teas made from Thea bohea — Best teas made from Thea 

 viridis — The Woo-e-shan variety — The tea-plant affected by cli- 

 mate and reproduction — Tea cultivation in America and Australia 



— In English gardens. 



The cultivation of the tea-shrub, although confined, 

 until very lately, to the eastern parts of Asia, is 

 carried on over a large tract of country. Thunberg 

 informs us that it grows plentifully in Japan both in 

 a wild and cultivated state, and Dr. Wallich says that 

 it is found in Cochin China. I have met with it in 

 cultivation in China, from Canton in the south up to 

 the 31st degree of north latitude, and Mr. Reeves 

 says it is found in the province of Shan-tung, near the 

 city of Tang-chow-foo, in latitude 36° 30' north. 



The principal tea districts of China, however, and 

 those which supply the greater portion of the teas 

 exported to Europe and America, lie between the 

 25th and 31st degrees of north latitude, and the best 

 districts are those between 27° and 31°. 



The plant in cultivation about Canton, from which 



