Tea time

Yak-butter tea serves as a source of energy for those on a spiritual quest in Tibet autonomous region. Photo provided to China Daily

"The path is so narrow and everyone carries the equipment and moves very slowly," Wang says. "We faced the cliff and dared not look the other way, or the height may cause vertigo, which would be deadly."

CCTV-9 deputy-director Zhou Yan says the documentary presents tea in a novel way as it showcases the profoundly positive role tea can play in people's lives with various stories.

"Hopefully, the program will let those who didn't drink tea before understand tea and take a sip of the brew," Zhou says.

Ouyang Daokun, a tea scholar, says tea culture developed in China over thousands of years and the plant that originated in China has far-reaching effects on the lives of people across the globe.

While The Classic of Tea, the world's first monograph on tea was written by Lu Yu in the eighth century, The Book of Tea, an influential Japanese treatise on tea by Okakura Kakuzo, was composed in 1906, Ouyang notes.

"Today, the Japanese tea ceremony, which is deeply connected with aesthetics and Buddhism, could still find its roots in the two books that elevate the preparation and drinking of tea to a quasi-religious ceremony," he says.

Ye Qitong, a tea connoisseur who attended the 7th Cross-Straits Tea Expo held in Wuyi-shan, Fujian province from Nov 16 to 18, says people today are more aware of the health benefits of tea.

"That is why this year's tea expo held a specific tea health forum for the first time in its history," Ye says.

Statistics from the China Chamber of Commerce of Foodstuffs and Native Produce showed China's tea output reached 1.75 million tons last year, making the country the world's largest tea producer.

China's tea exports have reached more than 120 countries and regions worldwide. The value of tea exports last year climbed about 8 percent year on year to a record high of $1.04 billion.