Tibetan Drinks - Ancient Stories and Historical Records about Tibetan Tea

Tea is one of the most popular Tibetan drinks. It is recorded that Tibetan people began to have a liking for tea in Tibetan regime in ancient China. it has been a long time for people to treat tea as a medicine for stimulating appetite and a good method for keeping in good health.

Tibetan Drinks - Ancient Stories about Tibetan Tea

A story about tea widely spread in Tibet. Bulger, one of the kings of Tibetan regime in ancient China once got a serious disease. When have a good rest to recuperate, he saw a cute bird flying on the rooftop of the Royal Palace. The bird titled a branch with several leafs and sang dulcetly. The king dispatched people to look up and put the branch titled by the bird on the bed. It was a kind of branch that the king had never seen. Then he pick off one leaf and had a taste of it. He liked the smell with faint scent. So he put the rest leafs into water and boiled them. It turned out to be palatable drinks. He dispatched outstanding ministers and common people to search for this marvelous tree and finally found it after all kinds of hardships and difficulties. It was tea tree. From that time on, tea leaf was introduced to Tibet and gradually became one of the indispensable dinks in Tibetan people’s life.

Tibetan Drinks - Historical Records about Tibetan Tea

It is recorded by Tibetan historical materials that the custom of drinking tea in Tibet began in tea-horse trade between Songtsen Gampo period and Tang Dynasty. Tibetan nationality had got a lot of famous teas. After Songtsen Gampo unified Tibet and married Wen Cheng princess, the commercial trade in Tibet thrived. Trade in tea and horses had become the main trade activity between Tibetan regime in ancient China and Tang Dynasty. Tang Dynasty set up “tea and horse department” to take charge of the trade in tea and horse. In 743 year of the Christian era, Tang Dynasty and Tibetan regime in ancient China form alliances, setting up a monument in Chiling and establishing market for trading tea and horse. Along with the tea introduced to Tibet, the tea culture spread in Tibet gradually. It functions well on aid digestion and reduce greasiness, which make tea become the necessity drinks for Tibetan people. Drinking tea has become a common practice.