Where Does Black TeaCome From?红茶的诞生

We all know that black tea is a traditional Chinese drink. But do you know where it comes from？

Black tea first appeared in the 1500s in Mount Wuyi in Fujian Province. Legend has it that an army set up camp in a tea factory there. There were many tea bags on the ground， and the soldiers just slept on the bags. By the time the army left， the farmers found that the tea leaves were black and couldn’t be sold as usual. But they didn’t want to throw the tea leaves away. Then they came up with an idea to reprocess them. They used pine wood to roast the tea leaves. This gave the leaves a pine fragrance. Surprisingly， people loved the taste and this kind of tea quickly became very popular. The name of the earliest black tea is lapsang souchong.

Because of the way of making black tea， it is easy to keep. Lapsang souchong can stand a trip that takes up to 18 months. In the 1600s， lapsang souchong was brought to Europe and it later became an important part of afternoon tea in England.

As time goes by， there are different kinds of black tea. It is an important part of Chinese tea culture and history. It also has a strong influence on the tea culture around the world.

眾所周知，红茶是一种传统的中国饮品。但你知道它产自哪里吗？

红茶最早产于16世纪的福建省武夷山。传说有一支军队在那里的一个茶厂安营扎寨。地上有许多茶包，士兵们就睡在茶包上。当军队离开时，农民发现茶叶变黑了，不能像往常一样出售。但他们不想扔掉茶叶，于是想出了一个再加工的办法。他们用松木烘干茶叶，这使茶叶有了一股松香味。令人惊讶的是，人们喜欢这种味道，这种茶也变得很受欢迎。最早的红茶名叫正山小种。

红茶的制作方法使其易于保存。正山小种最长可保存18个月。17世纪，正山小种被带入欧洲，后来成为英国下午茶的一个重要组成部分。

随着时间的推移，红茶的种类越来越多。红茶是中国茶文化和茶历史的一个重要组成部分，对世界各地的茶文化也有很大影响。

Word Bank

legend n. 传说；传奇故事

soldier n. 军人；（尤指）士兵

reprocess v. 再加工

roast v. 烘，烤

influence n. 影响；作用