BEIJING- A number of journalists from some Asian, Pacific, and Latin American countries experienced tea culture at Beijing Tea Museum in Maliandao Tea Street, Xicheng District, Beijing on Wednesday (June 5).

The visit to the museum was organized by the China International Press Communication Center (CIPCC).

During their visit, the journalists tested the taste of different types of Chinese tea, and also enjoyed watching some Chines performances, mostly relate to the tea culture.

Maliandao Tea Street is located in Guang’anmenwai Sub-district of Xicheng District, Beijing. As the largest tea distribution center in northern China, it has been playing a major role in China’s tea trade. In 2000, it was recognized by Beijing Municipal Commerce Commission as Beijing’s Characteristic Commercial Street, and was honored as the Top Tea Street in Beijing. In 2006, it was certified as a national characteristic commercial street by China Pedestrian Street Working Committee.

The history of Maliandao Tea Street dates back to the mid-1990s. With the support of Xicheng district government and Beijing municipality, profound changes have taken place over the past 20 years. Maliandao has turned from a declining, dirty storage area to a characteristic commercial district with a modern touch and a global reputation.

Maliandao is home to 11 tea trade markets, with more than 1,700 tea merchants and over 4,000 employees. The tea market covers an area of 128,000 m2 and its sales volume in 2021 reached 423.6 million yuan.

There are 1330 comprehensive tea shops, accounting for 78 percent of the total in Maliandao. The remaining 22 percent are specialized tea shops, among which 162 mainly sell white tea in Fujian, 30 sell Da Hong Pao (or Big Red Robe) in Fujian, 21 sell Tie Guan Yin (or Iron Goddess of Mercy) in Fujian, 8 sell Pu’er Tea in Yunnan, 3 sell Zhu Ye Qing (or Bamboo Leaf Green) in Sichuan, 26 sell dark tea in Anhua, while the rest 50 tea shops specialize in other types of tea.

There are about ten major tea brands in Maliandao, including some time-honored ones such as TAETEA, Chen Sheng Hao, Wu Yu Tai, Zhang Yiyuan, Xiangyuan, PINPINTEA, Jinghua Tea, China Tea (Anhua Dark Tea) and Chen Sheng Hao Fu Yuan Chang.

Maliandao currently houses two tea industry associations.

One is Beijing Tea Industry Association, which is affiliated to China Tea Marketing Association. Its members are mostly time-honored tea enterprises in Beijing, and it is run by the retirees of Beijing Capital Agribusiness & Foods Group, a state-owned enterprise.

The other is Beijing Tea Enterprise Chamber of Commerce. Composed of tea enterprises established in the early stage of Maliandao’s history, it is an independent legal person. Currently, it has 300 members, most of them are Fujian tea companies.

Tea industry in Maliandao

Maliandao is a commercial district with both wholesale and retail tea business. There are 11 tea markets and over 1,700 tea-related enterprises. Some representative tea markets are Maliandao Tea Market, Jingmin Tea Market, Jinghua Tea World, Jinghuayuan Tea Market, Tianfuyuan Tea Market, Style Tea Market, International Tea Market, Huangshan Tea Market, Jingdinglong Tea Market, Tanyang Kungfu Black Tea Promotion Center and Tea Trade Lifestyle Store. Here tea lovers can find various types of tea from over ten major tea-producing regions in China, such as Fujian, Yunnan, Anhui, Zhejiang, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Sichuan and Taiwan. There are all six major types of tea, namely, black tea, green tea, green tea, yellow tea, dark tea and white tea, and hundreds of varieties from across China.

The significant growth of the tea industry strikes a perfect balance between business and culture in Maliandao, making it a new type of business, a characteristic brand and a great example for China’s tea culture. Built on the tea culture and the tea industry, Maliandao plays a leading role in attracting investment and developing regional economy. In just ten years, tea has revitalized Maliandao, making it a household name in the domestic tea industry. Maliandao has become the top tea street of Beijing and a cluster of famous tea brands in China.

Two exhibitions and one festival

In order to boost the economy in Maliandao, the district government launched the “Maliandao International Tea Culture Festival” in 2001. Since then, this event has been held on a yearly basis, which gave a tremendous boost to the regional economy, as well as to the popularity and influence of Maliandao in general. In 2005, Maliandao was officially recognized by Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau as a “China Characteristic Commercial Street”, making it the only national level characteristic commercial street in Beijing at that time. In 2010, it was certified as the “Top Tea Street in China” by China Tea Marketing Association.

Since 2012, China Tea Marketing Association, Xicheng District People’s Government and governments of major tea-producing regions in China have been jointly hosting the “International Tea Exhibition, Maliandao International Tea Culture Exhibition & Tea Culture Festival (Promotion)”. Known as “Two Exhibitions and One Festival” for short, this event is themed on “Enjoy the Taste of Tea in Beijing With Friends From Across the World”, and is a large-scale celebration approved by the Ministry of Commerce.

As earlier mentioned, the visit to Beijing Tea Museum was organized by the China International Press Communication Center (CIPCC).

CIPCC, under the China Public Diplomacy Association (CPDA), has initiated a program to build a platform for the media from countries around the world, especially developing countries, to observe China and study development in this country.

In each edition of the program, journalists from all around the world gather together to get familiar with the modern China and exchange their experiences in the field of journalism.

In 2024 edition of the program, started in late February, over 100 journalists from more than 90 countries are participating.

Photo: Different types of Chinese tea showcased in Beijing Tea Museum in Maliandao Tea Street, Xicheng District, Beijing (By Mahnaz Abdi)