Nonalcoholic Drinks

Tea is a fundamental part of Chinese life. In fact, an old Chinese saying identifies tea as one of the seven basic necessities of life, along with fuel, oil, rice, salt, soy sauce and vinegar. The Chinese were the first to cultivate tea, and the art of brewing and drinking tea has been popular since the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907).

Cheaper restaurants serve on-the-house pots of weak jasmine or green tea. Higher quality brands of tea are available in tea shops or in supermar- kets. China has three main types of tea: green tea (lu cha), black tea (hong cha) and wulong (a semifermented tea, halfway between black and green tea). In addition, there are other variations, including jasmine (chashui) and chrysanthemum  (juhua  cha).  Some famous regional teas of China are Fujian's tie guanyin, pu'er from Yunnan and Zhejiang's  longjing  tea. Eight-treasures tea (babao cha) consists of rock sugar, dates, nuts and tea combined in a  cup and makes a delicious treat.

Traditionally, Chinese would never put milk or sugar in their tea but things are changing. Now 'milk tea' (nai cha) is available everywhere in China, often served cold with a whopping amount of sugar. Teahouses are everywhere in China and a great place to relax with friends.

Coffee house chic has hit China in a big way and Western-style coffee houses have sprouted up all over the country. The coffee chain Starbucks has become fashionable for trendy urban youth with money to burn. A cup of semidecent coffee should set you back around Y20, depending upo n the establishment.

Soft drinks such as Sprite and Coca-Cola are easily found, as are local) fizzy drinks such as Jianlibao, a honey-sweetened drink, along with ice teas and fruit drinks. Bottled water is on sale all over the place but check the cap before buying to see if it's sealed.

Milk is available fresh or powdered from supermarkets and convenience stores. Popular are sweet yogurt drinks in bottles sold in stores or fresh yogurt sold at some street stalls.

Alcoholic Drinks

If tea is the most popular drink in China, then beer must be numbe r two] By any standards the top brands are good. The best known is Tsingtao, made with a mineral water that gives it a sparkling quality. It's essentially a German beer since the town of Qingdao (formerly spelled 'Tsingtao'), where it's made, was once a German concession and the Chinese in- herited the brewery (p208). Experts claim that draft Tsingtao tastes much better than the bottled stuff. A bottle will normally cost Y1.5 to Y2 in street shops, around Y15 to Y20 in a bar.

China has cultivated vines and produced wine for an estimated 4000 years. The word 'wine' gets rather loosely translated many Chinese 'wines' are in fact spirits. Rice wine is intended mainly for cooking rather than drinking. Chinese wine-producing techniques differ from those of the West. Western producers try to prevent oxidation in their wines, but oxidation produces a flavour that Chinese tipplers find desirable and go to great lengths to achieve. Chinese diners are also keen on wines with different herbs and other materials soaked in them, which they drink for their health and for restorative or aphrodisiac qualities.

Wine with dead bees, pickled snakes or lizards is desirable for its alleged tonic properties - in general, the more poisonous the creature, the more potent the tonic effects. Maotai, a favourite of

Chinese drinkers, is a spirit made from sorghum (a type of millet) and used for toasts at banquets.