Beijingers Take to Tea Baths

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, September 10, 2003

Beijingers Take to Tea Baths

For centuries, it has been a tradition of the Chinese people to drink tea. But now, more and more people in Beijing, the national capital, are making use of tea for a new purpose: taking a bath.

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For centuries, it has been a tradition of the Chinese people to drink tea. But now, more and more people in Beijing, the national capital, are making use of tea for a new purpose: taking a bath.

Days ago, Xu Meng bought five kilograms of green tea from a teashop at Maliandao in southern Beijing.

"I bought the tea for taking baths," she said.

Xu explained that several months ago, one of her friends told her that taking tea baths could help relieve internal heat or fever and help prevent people from being infected by epidemic diseases.

"I took my friend's advice and I found that tea baths did relieve my lumbago and improve my skin," she said.

"Many of my relatives are taking tea baths for health care."

Tea baths have attracted the attention of an increasing number of Beijingers.

A source with a bathhouse run by a tea shop in Haidian Districtsaid that people have to book one to two days ahead of schedule.

A man surnamed Yang said that it is worth paying 120 yuan (14.5US dollars) for a tea bath. "It clears away weariness and makes you feel refreshed," he said.

Qiu Derui, who sells tea at Maliandao, said the tea used for takikng baths was of low quality, or old, and sells for 10 yuan (1.2 US dollars) per 500 grams.

About 150 grams of tea are needed for a bath, Qiu said.

In the past, Beijingers seldom bought old or low quality tea, and the appearance of tea baths has stimulated the sales of such tea.

Wu Xiduan, secretary general of China Tea Circulation Association, said tea contains rich inorganic mineral elements like zinc, selenium and iodine as well as other ingredients like catechuic acid and theine, which have proved to be effective in relieving internal heat, clearing away weariness, and diminishing inflammation.

Lu Rao, secretary general of the Tea Industry Development and Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, described the prospects for tea bathing as "promising".

He said that China's annual output of tea stood at 700,000 tons, of which 250,000 tons were exported. Low quality tea accounts for over 50 percent of China's total tea output, but only a small amount of low quality tea was bought by factories to use as raw materials for making cosmetics, shampoo, tea drinks and health care products.

Tea bathing has opened a new market for low quality and old tea, Lu said.

However, Lu said, consumers should be aware of the fact that tea bathing might not be as effective as drinking tea in terms of improving health. By drinking tea, people can directly absorb the effective elements of tea, he said.

He said that people should take a rational attitude toward tea bathing and he suggested that consumers use surplus and old tea stored at home for tea bathing instead of buying large quantities of new tea.

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