The true value of China's tea tradition

Guanhua: The Art of Tea opened on Aug 10 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, bringing China's centuries-old tea culture into a contemporary art and lifestyle setting.

The immersive exhibition explores the theme "Observing Transformation, Finding Inner Peace Through Tea", bringing together tea rituals, tea settings, vessels, and traditional craftsmanship. Works featuring lacquerware, botanical dyeing and handmade tea vessels are displayed alongside six themed tea spaces.

Actor and entrepreneur Li Yapeng serves as producer and chief planner, with artist Wang Linhai as artistic adviser, Zhao Jihui as planner, and Zhi Ji, or She Wentao, as curator.

Renowned craftsmen and artists contributed tea vessels to the exhibition, highlighting the idea that objects can carry cultural meaning and that everyday use can itself become an expression of beauty.

The exhibition asks a contemporary question: What is the true value of tea in an age of artificial intelligence and accelerating technology?

China has a tea tradition spanning thousands of years. Chinese tea-making traditions were included on the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2008 and inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2022.

"Tea offers more than a beverage or ritual. In a world increasingly shaped by information overload and efficiency-driven lifestyles, a cup of tea can provide a moment of stillness and self-reflection," says Li.

The exhibition's name, guanhua, refers to observing the transformations of the natural world while allowing oneself to be transformed in the process. This idea inspired Li, who notes that his understanding of tea has been shaped by his tea journeys across China, including more than 100 visits to Yunnan province. Through encounters with tea farmers, craftsmen and producers, he said he came to see tea as "a path toward looking inward", rather than simply a drink.