BaBao Cha

The Hui people are a Chinese ethnic group, typically distinguished by their practice of the Islamic religion. In China the Islamic religion is also called "Hui Jiao" (the Hui religion). Hui is one of the biggest minorities in North China.

The Hui people live on the HuangTu Plateau. The weather is cold and dry. Mutton and beef is the major food for them. Vegetables are a luxury for many families. In order to compensate to the lack of vitamin, tea has become a vital part of the local people's lives.

The Hui people have many styles of tea drink methods. BaBao tea is probably the most widely spread minority tea tradition in China. Babao tea can be found in many big cities and every teahouse.

The meaning of Babao is "eight treasures", referring to the many ingredient of the tea. It is also called GuaWanZi tea. The equipment is the same to the SiChuan style GaiWan tea (see GaiWan tea): A small dish-like tray, a cup and a lid attached firmly together to form a whole tea set. Green tea is mostly used for Babao tea. The other ingredients include rock sugar, raisin, medlar, sesame, longan, walnut, jujube, and many other sun dried fruits and nuts. The drinker simply put everything together and adds boiling water. Each brew of the Babao tea has a different taste: the first brew is the taste of tea; the rock sugar will melt mostly in the second brew so the tea soup tastes sweet; during the third brew all the sun dried fruits will release their special aroma. A good Babao tea can serve up to 5 brews.