Chinese Tea Ware List

Tea  set ware classified according to functions include the water boiler, primary tea brewing ware and auxiliary tea brewing wara.Classified according lo form they are the single tea ware and the combined lea ware.

Single Tea Ware Water Boiler

The common water boiler is the electric kettle- safe,convenient,pollution-free and fast. The power is normally 400W to 1800W(higher voltage will boil the water faster but power consumption will be more).High-temperature resistannt glass pot and pottery kettles often use ethanol as fuel (pottery kettles use charcoal).These kettles are slow to boil and unsafe,which you can use when boiling water in the open country.

Covered bowl(Gaiwan)

The covered bowl,also known as the Sancai bei and Chazhan,is often used as a substitute teapot in south Fujian. It also can be used as a teacup. It is normally used for brewing scented tea. The covered bowl is normally porcelain.

Teacup

The teacup normally refers to the cup with large capacity,best foreveryday tea brewing. Teacups may be of glass,porcelain,purple-clay and ceramic. Brewing in a teacup is convenient,but not good for tea appreciation. Normally thhe tools used for appreciating tea are small-150-200ml is the best.

Gongdao Bei(Fairness Cup)

The Gongdao cup,also called the Chazhong or Chahai,is used for holding and mixing the tea liquid. When brewing tea,the liquid is poured into the Gongdao cup to prevent the liquid getting stronger or bitter from over brewing.The Gongdao cup,first used in the 1970Os, was larger than the matchingpot or covered bowl.The common Gongdao cup is of porcelain,purple-clay and glass,with or without handle.Some Gongdao cups have a strainer.

Teapot

The teapot, normally small in size, is used to brew tea. There are porcelain teapots, purple-clay teapots and glass teapots each best for brewing tea of different kinds.

Appreciation Cup(Pinming Bei) and AromaCup (Wenxiang Bei)

Also called Wen and Pin cups. Appreciation cup,the size of a half Ping-Pong ball,is of different shapes,such as a half ball, single- layered or double-layered. Most aroma cups are made of porcelain and few are purple-clay cups with white glazed interior.

Tea Tray (Cha Pan)

The tea tray, also known as the Chachuan(tea ship) and Chaxi (tea wash), is used for carrying the tea brewing tools and the waste water. There are single-layered tea trays and double-layered tea trays. In a double-layered tea tray, the first layer has holes while the lower layer is a drawer for draining water. The single-layered tea tray only has a metal pipe in the right lower corner to drain the waste water into a connected waste tea bucket. The tea tray is normally made of bamboo or wood,and sometimes ceramic, purple-clay,stone and jade.

TIPS

The double-layered tea tray has limited capacity to hold the waste water and should be cleaned timely to avoid overflow.

Waste Bucket(Fei Cha Tong)

The bucket holding the waste water and tea dregs is the waste bucket. Different from the common trash bin,it is normally made of bamboo, wood,plastic or metal. The sieved first layer has an opening connected to a pipe.

Tea Holder (Cha He)

The tea holder is a container used for storing the dry tea temporally for appreciation in tea ceremonies. Most tea holders are made of porcelain.

Porcelain tea holder

Coaster (Bei Dian) The coaster, or cup holder, is used for holding the teacup-aroma cup and appreciation cup-when offering tea. Porcelain or purple- clay coasters are normally used together with the corresponding aroma and appreciation cups,or matching with the bamboo,wood or cloth coaster.

Strainer and Srainer Holder(Lvwang and Lvwang Jia)

The strainer, also known as the tea filter, is used for filtering the tea residue. It should be placed on the holder when not in use. It is made of the stainless steel, ceramic, calabash, wood or bamboo.

Tea Props (Cha Daoju)

Tea props are the six tools for tea ceremony performance, consisting of the prop holder, tea tong, tea funnel, teaspoon, chaze and tea needle, normally made of bamboo and wood.

There are also stainless steel tea tongs.

Tea prop holder

The tea prop holder is used for holding the tea tong, tea funnel, teaspoon, chaze and the tea needle.

Tea funnel

The tea funnel is placed on the pot mouth to widen the mouth and prevent the tea leaves from spilling.

Tea Cloth (Cha Jin)

The tea cloth is used to clean water and tea stains from the tea ware.Mostly made of cotton cloth or linen, it should be highly absorbant.

Pot Brush(Yang Hu Bi)

The pot brush is used to wash the exterior of the purple-clay pot.

Pu-erh Tea Cutter (Pu-erh Dao)

The Pu-erh tea cutter is used to poke and loosen compressed tea.It is a necessary tool for brewing compressed tea.

Water Calyx (Shui Yu)

The water calyx is also called the tea calyx, waste water calyx, waste tea calyx. It is used for holding the waste water and tea dregs, and other wastes during the tea appreciation process, normally made of porcelain or pottery.

Disinfection Pot （Xiaodu Guo)

The disinfection pot is used for sterilizing and cleaning the cups by boiling water and normally sold together with the instant kettle. The disinfection pot is made of stainless steel and often seen in tea shops.

Pot Cover and Cup Cover (Hu Tao and Bei Tao)

The pot and cup covers, made of padded cloth, are used for shielding the pot and cups against damage.

Tea Serving Tray (Feng Cha Pan)

The tea serving tray is normally made of bamboo, wood or porcelain used for placing the teacup when serving tea. Some trays have holders on both sides.

Pot Holder (Hu Cheng)

The pot holder is used for holding the pot. It is mostly purple-clay, ceramic and porcelain ware, to match the pot.

Lid Holder (Gai Zhi)

The lid holder is used for holding the pot lid when brewing tea.