Tea helps to sip taste of life, says China's UN envoy

When examining the Chinese character for tea, the composition consists of three parts: grass on top, people in the middle, and wood at the bottom. The character depicts "people living in nature", explained China's top envoy to the United Nations.

"(Tea) helps us sip the taste of life, enjoy the spiritual tranquillity, evoke enlightenment, and bring our heart and soul back to mother nature. For thousands of years, the sustainable cycle from tea planting to tea drinking has been a vivid example of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature," Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, said on Friday in his opening remarks on the celebration of International Tea Day.

In December 2019, the 74th session of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing May 21 as International Tea Day.

After three years of COVID-19, the Permanent Mission of China to the UN held the first in-person celebration for the event at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday.

Zhang said he hoped the face-to-face exchanges would "not only enhance our friendship, but also explore the intrinsic link between tea and human development, and seek common development and a shared future".

The tea boom and its related drinking products and industries create many jobs and much economic value, said Zhang, adding that tea is a bond between civilizations, and the development of tea culture is "an epitome of mutual learning between human civilizations", he said.

From the ancient Silk Road to the Tea-Horse Road and the Belt and Road Initiative, tea has transcended time and borders and promoted mutual understanding and friendship among people, and diverse and harmonious coexistence among civilizations, Zhang said.

"In today's challenge-ridden world, we wish to use tea as a medium to promote international exchange and cooperation, enhance mutual learning, mutual understanding and mutual trust among civilizations, and achieve harmonious coexistence," he said.

UN representatives from Cambodia, Indonesia, Eritrea, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan and other countries said tea is a key driver for social and economic development. They said tea is an effective means to help less developed regions eradicate poverty, increase farmers' income and empower women.

"I enjoy drinking tea, and my favorite Chinese tea is Longjing tea. It's a kind of green tea, which is very nice to drink in the summer when it's hot. And in winter, I prefer to drink Pu'er tea. It makes me feel very relaxed and happy," Ivaylo, a staff member at the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria to the UN, told China Daily.

"I love tea ceremonies. I think Chinese tea culture is a great cultural asset that China can use and does use around the world."