International Tea Day celebrations in Fuzhou highlighted traditional Chinese tea processing techniques and their associated social practices. [Photo provided to gofujian.com.cn]

To celebrate the fourth International Tea Day, East China's Fujian province hosted the 2023 "Sharing Tea and Cultural Heritage With the World" event, which took place from May 19 to 22.

The event included an opening ceremony, a forum on tea culture, exhibitions of traditional tea-making techniques, and trips to explore tea routes.

One of the highlights of the celebrations was the tea culture intangible cultural heritage items display and exchange activity at the Shangxiahang cultural and historical block in central Fuzhou, where 44 traditional Chinese tea processing techniques and their associated social practices from 15 Chinese provinces were showcased.

For thousands of years, tea has been a highly valued item shared by humanity. There is evidence that tea was consumed in China 5,000 years ago. In December 2019, the 74th session of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing May 21 as International Tea Day.

Chinese tea has been a major symbol and carrier of Chinese culture. As the world's largest tea producer and consumer, China had in 2022 produced 3.18 million metric tons and consumed 2.4 million tons of tea. The nation also exported 380,000 tons that year, making it the second largest tea exporter, following Kenya, in the world.

A woman takes a cup of tea from a puppet during the International Tea Day celebrations in Fuzhou. [Photo provided to gofujian.com.cn]