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The History of Tea in Hong Kong - 香港茶史

Updated: Apr 16, 2023



Tea was first introduced to Hong Kong in the 19th century. It was originally used as a medicine and believed to have health benefits. Tea was also given as a gift to friends, family, and business partners.


茶在19世紀首次引入香港。最初,人們將茶視為一種藥物,相信具有健康益處。茶也成為贈送給親朋好友和商業夥伴的禮物

 

Tea production in Hong Kong is a very small industry.

Hong Kong is a small tea production region in terms of volume and exports. It's also a small industry by other measures: the number of farms, employees, and hectares under cultivation is all modest.


Despite its smaller size, Hong Kong has played an important role in the development of Chinese tea culture as well as modern agriculture more broadly.


在香港的茶葉生產是一個非常小型的行業。


香港是一個茶葉生產量和出口量都較小的地區。從其他指標來看,這也是一個規模較小的行業:農場數量、員工人數和耕地面積都相對較少。


儘管規模較小,香港在中國茶文化的發展以及現代農業的推動上都扮演著重要的角色。


 

The tea industry in Hong Kong dates back to 1867.

The history of tea in Hong Kong dates back to 1867, when the British established the first tea garden—a plantation for growing and processing tea—in the New Territories. This was an important moment in Hong Kong’s history and is one of the reasons why this city has become so well-known for its tea.


The development of other tea plantations followed soon after, including one owned by a Scottish merchant named Robert Fortune. The success of these early plantations led to an increase in demand for them, which eventually led to further expansion throughout Asia.


香港的茶業可追溯至1867年。


香港的茶歷史可以追溯到1867年,當時英國在新界建立了第一個茶園——一個種植和加工茶葉的種植園。這是香港歷史上的重要時刻,也是這座城市因茶而聞名的原因之一。


隨即開始了其他茶園的發展,包括一個由蘇格蘭商人羅伯特·福爾琴所有的茶園。這些早期茶園的成功帶動了對它們的需求增加,最終導致了整個亞洲的進一步擴張。

 

The vast majority of tea grown in Hong Kong is for domestic consumption.

Hong Kong is a major producer and consumer of tea. In fact, it's the second most consumed beverage after water in Hong Kong. Tea is grown all over the world, including China, India and Sri Lanka. The vast majority is produced for domestic consumption in these countries; however, some high-quality teas are exported to other countries as well.


在香港種植的茶葉絕大部分是用於本地消費。


香港是茶葉的重要生產國和消費國。實際上,在水之後,茶葉是香港第二大飲品。茶葉在全球各地都有種植,包括中國、印度和斯里蘭卡。絕大多數茶葉是為這些國家的本地消費而生產的,但是一些高品質的茶葉也出口到其他國家。

 


Tea imports are dominated by black tea, oolong, and pu'er.

Tea imports are dominated by black tea, oolong, and pu'er. While there are other kinds of teas that are imported (such as green), the three named above make up most of Hong Kong's tea imports.


Black tea is an oxidized type of tea that has been fermented to varying degrees. It can be both sweet or bitter, depending on how long it's been oxidized. The longer it oxidizes, the darker it becomes in color and more astringent in taste.


Oolong refers to partially oxidized teas with different levels of fermentation between green and black teas—so somewhere between green and black on the spectrum. This is why they're sometimes called semi-oxidized or semi-fermented: they're not fully fermented like green but not fully oxidized like black either. Oolong falls into two main categories: lighter-flavored Formosa Oolongs from Taiwan; darker flavored Fujianese Oolongs from China's Fujian Province (which also produces pu'er).


茶葉進口以紅茶、烏龍茶和普洱茶為主。


茶葉進口以紅茶、烏龍茶和普洱茶為主。雖然還有其他類型的茶葉(如綠茶)被進口,但上述三種茶葉占了香港茶葉進口的大部分。


紅茶是一種經過氧化發酵的茶葉,氧化程度不同。它可以是甜的,也可以是苦的,這取決於氧化的時間長短。氧化時間越長,顏色越深,口感越澀。


烏龍茶指的是部分氧化的茶葉,發酵程度介於綠茶和紅茶之間——所以在綠茶和紅茶之間的範疇。這就是為什麼它們有時被稱為半氧化或半發酵的茶:它們不像綠茶那樣完全發酵,也不像紅茶那樣完全氧化。烏龍茶分為兩大類:來自台灣的清淡口味的福爾摩沙烏龍茶;來自中國福建省(同時也是普洱茶的產地)的濃郁風味的福建烏龍茶。

 

Conclusion

Tea is a very important part of the culture in Hong Kong. The history of tea goes back thousands of years, and it has been an important part of life for many people in the region ever since. There are many different kinds of tea that can be found in Hong Kong, but most people prefer black tea because it is easy to drink and usually lower in caffeine than other varieties like green or white teas, which require more time to prepare properly before drinking them out of respect for their health benefits


結論


茶在香港文化中具有非常重要的地位。茶的歷史可以追溯到幾千年前,自那時以來,它一直是該地區許多人生活的重要部分。在香港可以找到許多不同種類的茶,但大多數人更喜歡紅茶,因為它易於飲用,通常比綠茶或白茶等其他品種的咖啡因含量低,喝這些茶需要更多的時間來妥善準備,以尊重它們的健康益處。

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