In Beijing, we enjoyed an afternoon tea ceremony but now in Guilin we had the opportunity to visit a Tea Farm. Here we were able to learn step by step how the tea is grown, picked and prepared. And then naturally, we got to drink another whole bunch of different kinds of tea including the locally famous osmanthus tea (桂花茶, guìhuāchá). Sweet osmanthus and osmanthus tea are particularly associated with the city of Guilin (桂林) which literally means the “Forest of Sweet Osmanthus”. The tea combines sweet osmanthus flowers with black or green tea leaves. Traditional Chinese medicine claims that osmanthus tea improves complexion and helps rid the body of excess nitric oxide, a compound linked to the formation of cancer, diabetes, and renal disease.
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