British Tea Culture

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British Tea Culture Abstract: Having recalled the history and development of tea in England , through the introduction of the British tea customs , British afternoon tea , and the relation between tea and British literature and the language , the paper aims to illustrate how the British red - tea culture comes into being and its contribution to the world tea culture. Key words: British tea culture; custom; literature; language In 1848, the director of Royal Botanic Gardens in John Company, Robert Fortune, came to China. Perhaps, his name itself meant lucky (“fortune” means “lucky” in English). After he came to China, one day, he put some tea tree seed into a portable incubator which made by special glass, and took into the steamship sailing to India from China. Therefore, thousands upon thousands of tea trees began to grow and thrive, developing into large scale tea gardens. However, tea was not extremely welcomed like coffee and cocoa when it was introduced into Europe, until it entered into British Isles which was far away from European mainland. Unexpectedly, British caused the surge of drinking tea, and thereout created a rarity in world tea culture-------British black tea culture. 1. Tea Habitude in Britain Portugal is the origin of tea culture in Europe. Princess Catherine of Braganza brought the ethos of drinking tea into Britain Palace when she married Charles II in 1662. After that, King William III, Queen Anne and most of the nobility were keened on drinking tea, and gradually became fashion among English upper class. In the mid-eighteen century, owning to the time interval of lunch and supper, some noblewomen began to eat dessert, drink tea together, which was described as examples among other people. From upper class to civilian society, kettledrum became more and more popular and formed the distinguishing ethnic feature of

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