Master of himself and his emotions, the tea lover is also master of his time. He doesn’t drink tea standing up, like a wine lover, but seated in his living room or crouched on a tatami mat.

As Gilles Brochard beautifully writes Gilles Brocharda devotee of the inner journeys provoked by tea, “tasting tea is already leavingto conquer elsewhere”. Unlike wine, tea does not lead to intoxication, but provides a blend of excitement and relaxation. Like wine, however, the world of tea requires years of initiation, tasting, reading, travel and encounters.

For Lyne Wangfounder of Terre de Chinerue Quincampoix, Paris, “it’s impossible to talk about speak tea in general. In China alone, where tea was first discovered over 4,000 years ago, there are an infinite number of terroirs, climates and tea bushes, and of the thousands of farmers who cultivate them, none produces exactly the same tea…”. While grapes are harvested only once a year, the tea plant, which is an evergreen flowering tree, gives at least three harvests a year: spring, summer and autumn! Each harvest,” explains Lyne Wang, “takes place over several pluckings, and each yields a different leaf: a tea from the first plucking will therefore not have the same taste as a tea from the second, third or fourth plucking…”.

Born in Shanghai in 1966, Lyne Wang’s passion for Chinese teas began in 1995. Today, many Chinese students and businessmen come to see it. visit in Paris to rediscover the finest original teas that, in their own country, they had lost the habit of drinking drink In China, most people drink tea without thinking about it. ask questions, they travel little and know little about their country. For example, a Shanghai resident will drink teas from his province, without go to see elsewhere, thousands of kilometers from home, in the poor, underdeveloped countryside or in the mountains where exceptional teas are grown.” Every year, Lyne Wang travels to China’s most remote provinces to meet farmers, some of them very poor, who have never used a single pesticide. “They’ve been making their teas the same way for thousands of years! Cultivated at an altitude of 2,500 metres, their century-old tea bushes are sometimes several metres high, and their leaves are consumed like medicines.”

In her fabulous boutique in the Marais, Lyne Wang has selected only fifteen growers who cultivate the six traditional Chinese tea families: white, green, red, black, wulong and yellow. The golden rule for choose your tea? “Insist on appellation, provenance and date! Otherwise, don’t-youThere is no quality control in China. The most mediocre teas are scented with jasmine or rose to hide their flaws.” A must-taste is his April 2013 white tea called Yin Zhen (“silver needles”) from Fujian province in southern China. This is a spring tea, from the first plucking, with a subtle orchid flavor, that should be serve in a white cup to appreciate its pale color.

For Lyne Wang, good teas smoked over a wood fire are very rare: “Most teas for export are smoked over charcoal. A true smoked tea should be fine, without heaviness or bitterness.” If you like this type of tea, be sure to try his Zheng Shan Xiao Zhongfrom a 200-year-old tree rooted on rocks. After fermentation, its very fine leaves were smoked over a wood-burning stove. The smoky taste is in the mouth, not in the nose, delicate and still persistent after the tenth infusion! But to reach the Everest of China’s great teas, you have to go to visit to Pu’er, a village over 3,000 years old, surrounded by six mountains climate climate and terroir. “Pu’er is to Chinese teas what great Bordeaux is to French wine,” assures Lyne Wang, “except that, since 1970, China has been exporting an ‘accelerated’ pu’er with an unpleasant earthy, musty taste. It takes forty days of fermentation to make a real pu’er. If you want to speed up the process, it will only take ten days, by adding water and heating, hence the musty taste…” Her pu’er Sheng Cha 2009 comes from a 500-year-old wild tea plant, 10 metres high: “The plantation is a forest, so it’s impossible to put pesticides!” This noble tea, traditionally compressed in the form of a wafer, can be kept for twenty years. In the cup, we admire its amber color, its nose of tobacco and a pure, fruity mouthfeel.

Extract from an article byEmmanuel Tresmontant, Le Monde newspaper, August 3, 2013.

“Purists may prefer to take refuge in authentic tea houses, such as Terre de Chine in Paris. Opened fifteen years ago by Mrs Wang, with the modest aim of “making people understand what tea is really all about”, the store is so uncluttered that it could be mistaken for a medicinal counter. But the welcome is warm, wise and generous. The teas are natural (neither flavored nor blended), sold by weight and selected directly, season after season, from small producers all over China. Here, you’ll discover delicate fragrances, unknown “terroirs”, precious vintages and infinitely gentle, precise gestures. Car “to smell tastes, you have to respect the preparations” , says M^meWang. You’ll leave with a few grams of wulong or Yunnan red tea and instructions on how to use it. infuse according to the rules of the art and closer perhaps, in this way, to the spirit of tea.” ARTICLE by Camille Labro, Le Magazine du Monde.

“Terre de Chine, the best of genuine Chinese tea

Lyne Wang is attached to her Chinese origins and the crafts of her country. So she opened Terre de Chine, a boutique specializing in genuine, high-quality Chinese tea, with a varied selection to suit everyone’s tastes.

The choice of genuine tea for a unique tasting experience

Tea is much more than a drink, it’s a true art of living. Green tea, with its high theine content, is best enjoyed in the morning, while black, red or wulong teas are best enjoyed during the day. Daily consumption is the best way to take full advantage of tea’s virtues. Since 1997, Lyne Wang has been selecting the finest teas from China for a unique taste experience. She brings together the six Chinese tea families in her Parisian boutique Terre de Chine.

Privileged contact with Chinese tea producers

For over 20 years, Lyne Wang has been traveling regularly to China to maintain a close relationship with the families of independent producers. This also enables him to keep an eye on production, so that he can always offer quality tea in his Terre de Chine boutique. Teas that come exclusively from the annual harvest, in limited quantities to guarantee freshness. Optimum storage time is two years, to enjoy all their flavours. With the exception of Pu Er Sheng Cha teas, which improve with age.

A wide choice to delight every palate

Each of the six tea families is made up of numerous varieties of tea, with different flavours. Lyne Wang’s first piece of advice is to taste different teas, excluding yellow and white teas, which are more specific, to discover the taste of real tea and identify your own preferences. On the Terre de Chine online store, teas are categorized by families and varieties, by province of production and by taste preferences, among others. In her Paris boutique, Lyne Wang takes the time to get to know her customers, to understand their daily habits and to offer them the most appropriate quality tea.

Terre de Chine has already supplied renowned establishments such as the Ritz, Crillon and Cheval Blanc. and seduced Anne-Sophie Pic’s palate. The boutique aims to offer its Chinese teas in other hotels and palaces.”

Les incontournables, article from January 31, 2022