Tea Culture in the Rest of the World

Tea Culture in the Former USSR

Russia is one of the major tea growing areas in the world, in 1913 around 730 ha were being cultivated and by the 1960's this had increased to over 75,000 ha. This is mainly grown in Georgia by the shores of the Black Sea. The USSR was one of the first places to develop and implement mechanical cultivation aids such as mechanical plucking.

Tea Cultivation in China, Japan and Indo-china

The extent of tea cultivation in China and Indo-china is difficult to assess as much of the growing is carried out on a very small scale by peasants. The cultivation of tea in Japan differs from that of China and IndoChina despite its small scale as it is much more highly organised and technologically advanced. The significant cultivation of tea did not occur in Taiwan until 1895.

Chinese Tea Plantation Picture of a tea plantation in Zhejiang, China, by chloester.

In addition to the major tea countries there are many smaller countries that also produce tea. The area of cultivation ranges massively from a latitude of 40 degrees North to 33 degrees South.

These tea producing countries include countries as diverse as Vietnam, Cameroon, Paraguay, Fiji and Corsica.