Yunnan’s seven-cake bricks of pu'er tea are selected to be served at the APEC banquet. [Photo/China Daily]

Leaders from different countries tasted the pu’er tea produced in China’s Southwest Yunnan province in the state banquet of the just finished APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) meeting, Xinhua.net reported.

The menu of the APEC banquet has piqued people’s curiosity. Chinese media has just announced the APEC banquet menu. According to the released menu, the APEC banquet served Chinese pu’er tea after the main meal.

The officials started to select the tea for the banquet several months before the start of APEC. At first, officials had to determine the tea type, such as black tea or green tea. Then, from the certain type of tea, officials had to choose the tea variety, such as pu’er tea from Yunnan province or post-fermented tea from Tibet. In the final round, the officials decided to serve Yunnan’s seven-cake bricks of pu’er tea at the APEC banquet.

“It’s too difficult to choose a certain type of tea to represent China’s tea culture to serve the state banquet. The decision is not made by anyone. Instead, it’s the result of many discussions. At last, we decided to choose the handmade seven-cake bricks of pu’er to treat our distinguished guests. Pu’er tea implies the meaning of inheritance and aggregation,” said Zhao Chunyang, chief planner of the APEC unofficial meeting.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan host a welcome banquet for leaders and representatives attending this year’s APEC meeting in Beijing on Nov 10. [Photo/Xinhua]