Global event launched in Prince Kung’s Palace Museum to promote Chinese tea culture

“Tea for Harmony: Yaji Cultural Salon”, a global event to promote China’s tea culture hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, was launched on May 15 at Prince Kung’s Palace Museum in Beijing. Hu Heping, minister of culture and tourism, attended and announced the commencement of the event.

Hu Heping (center), minister of culture and tourism, Feng Nai’en (first from left), director of Prince Kung’s Palace Museum, and other guests launch the “Tea for Harmony: Yaji Cultural Salon” global event on May 15, 2023.

Guests pose for a group photo at the launch ceremony for the“Tea for Harmony: Yaji Cultural Salon” global event at Prince Kung’s Palace Museum on May 15, 2023.

The event intends to “give tea a greater role in enhancing friendly dialogue and mutual learning between civilizations” and raise awareness of Chinese tea culture around the world, and follows the inscription of traditional tea processing techniques and their associated social practices in China on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity in 2022.

Part of the International Tea Day celebrations, which falls on May 21, the yaji cultural salons themed on Tea for Harmony will be held in 41 countries around the world by international organizations, Chinese embassies and consulates, China cultural centers, and tourism offices, according to the event host. 

At the Yaji cultural salon, participants will be given an immersive opportunity to learn about Chinese tea culture through pictures, videos, intangible cultural heritage showcases and folk art performances.

At the launch ceremony, Shahbaz Khan, UNESCO’s representative to China, said in his speech that 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritages. UNESCO will further conduct research and protect tea-related traditional skills and customs, carry out activities conductive to the sustainable production and consumption of tea, and raise people’s awareness of the importance of tea in eradicating poverty, so as to protect the collective heritage of mankind and contribute to promoting dialogues among civilizations.

Hu Wei, deputy governor of Zhejiang province and a representative of the 14 Chinese provinces and autonomous regions that applied for the UNESCO inscription of China’s tea making, said at the event that Zhejiang province has long been committed to vigorously promoting tea culture and exploring its value in contemporary times.

A guest is served with tea at the yaji featured at the launch of the“Tea for Harmony: Yaji Cultural Salon” global event.

A guest learns diancha, a special tea drinking method from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) in China, at the launch of the“Tea for Harmony: Yaji Cultural Salon” global event.

Guests enjoy tea at the yaji featured at the launch of the “Tea for Harmony: Yaji Cultural Salon” global event.

A yaji event was featured at the launch ceremony, where guests sampled various types of tea from different regions of China, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Zimbabwe, watched the performance of intangible cultural heritage chabaixi (painting with plain water on the surface of the tea soup made of finely powdered tea leaves ), and enjoyed the smell of incense and the music of guqin and the bamboo flute xiao.

In addition, the China International Culture Association, a non-profit organization, signed a cooperation letter of intent with the Zhejiang Huzhou municipal people’s government and the two parties jointly launched the Lu Yu Tea Culture Promotion Foundation.