Reading between the leaves

Liu chose the China Light Industry Press to produce the book as they had already published a series of titles about tea, and their team was knowledgeable on the subject. "The editing process takes longer because you need to verify all the information and stories about tea. We found that some of the stories were actually made up by tea merchants," says Liu. "In retrospect, some of these should have been left out of the documentary."

As a tea lover, Liu learned a great deal about tea during the documentary's production and the editing stages of the book. "Planting and producing tea is actually a heavy work, and not at all like the usual impression of pretty young women picking tea leaves in the mountains. So we wanted to show our audience it is really not easy to produce high-quality varieties of tea."

The documentary has been airing on Friday nights, a prime slot usually reserved for reality shows, and is now being aired on international routes by Air China.

For the second season of Chinese Tea, which is due to air in the second half of the year, Liu is planning to focus on the flavors of tea.

Liu Wei, former deputy chief editor of the Guangming Daily, says the book reminds him not only about the different flavors of tea, but also the stories he enjoyed when drinking tea with people.

"The documentary is like a journey with tea ambassadors, like a modern Silk Road trip," says Liu. "The book will spread the journey farther and wider."