EVENTS
Event Highlights
“Where Tea Aroma Meets Maritime Silk Road” Seminar
2026-03-24
The Maritime Silk Road Society (MSRS) held a seminar titled “Where Tea Aroma Meets Maritime Silk Road” on Tuesday, 24 March. The event was honoured to have Mr Chong Wing Hung, Director of Hong Kong Kau Chau Tea Co Ltd, and Ms Katherine Hung, Head of the Academy of Certified Chinese Tea Master Hong Kong, professional tea master, national senior tea art specialist, and senior tea evaluator, as guest speakers. The seminar covered topics including the Tea Silk Road, Chinese tea as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Pu'er tea and health science, the art of collecting Pu'er tea, Pu'er tea tasting, tea talk exchanges, and the practice of brewing and savouring tea. Prof Law Kai-yin, Advisor of MSRS, attended the seminar and presented a Certification of Appreciation to speakers.
Ms Hung pointed out that as early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Chinese tea had already been introduced to South Asia, Central Asia, and West Asia via the overland and maritime silk routes. By the Ming Dynasty, tea had rapidly become popular throughout Europe. At that time, the north–south tea trade routes encompassed both land and water routes, highlighting the contribution of the Maritime Silk Road to the spread of tea. Today, Chinese tea is primarily produced in eight major regions: Sichuan, Yunnan, Hunan, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Taiwan, and Guangdong. Tea can be categorised into six main types: dark, red, oolong, yellow, white, and green—distinguished by their degree of fermentation. In 2022, “Traditional Tea Processing Techniques and Associated Social Practices in China” were inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
According to the national standard definition, Pu'er tea is a geographical indication product unique to Yunnan and can be divided into two main categories: raw (sheng) Pu'er and ripe (shou) Pu'er. In the production process, raw Pu'er does not undergo fermentation, whereas ripe Pu'er does. In terms of health benefits, ripe Pu'er tea develops a significant amount of theabrownin, tea polysaccharides, and dietary fibre during fermentation, which help calm the mind, reduce oiliness, and lower lipids. Attendees later had the opportunity, under the guidance of Mr Chong and Ms Hung, to brew and taste two varieties of Pu'er tea.
During the final Q&A session, participants actively engaged in lively discussions and raised various tea-related questions, which also led to conversations about tea wares, such as the knowledge of purple clay (zisha) teapots.
