The Chinese have a saying: ‘柴 米 油 盐 酱 醋 茶 Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea are the seven necessities to begin a day.’ Though tea is last on the list, we still can see the importance of tea in daily life.
A simple meal in Chinese is 粗 茶 淡 饭 Cu Cha Dan Fan, namely coarse tea and tasteless dinner. Even a simple meal is finished off with tea so its importance is obvious.