從北京、香港、臺北到東京、首爾，快節奏的現代化生活令亞洲的年輕人對喝茶失去了興趣。為恢復茶葉在亞洲至高無上的地位，茶愛好者們正致力于對茶葉進行重新包裝，使它成為受年輕一代歡迎的新時代飲品。

From Beijing to Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul, fast-paced modern life means that tea has little appeal for Asian youth who don't have the patience to wait the 10 minutes it takes to brew tea in the traditional way.[Agencies]

From Beijing to Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul, fast-paced modern life means that tea has little appeal for Asian youth who don't have the patience to wait the 10 minutes it takes to brew tea in the traditional way.

"I don't have any time or relevant tea culture," said Becca Liu, a 25-year-old college graduate in Hong Kong.

"I'm more curious to know how to make coffee," she added.

Determined to restore tea to its exalted status in Asia, tea lovers are trying to repackage tea as afunky new-age brew to a young generation more inclined to slurp down a can of artificially-flavored tea than to sip the real thing.

Tea expert Yang Hai-chuan from Chinese Taipei sells sachets of mixed oolong and green tea leaves at teahouses, marketing them as hip flavored beverages rather than the traditional teas that have been drunk for centuries.

"Consumption of traditional tea is declining because it's not being passed down," said Yang, who teaches tea brewing classes to a handful of students, who sign up mostly because of the coffee-making section in the course.

"Basically there's no one promoting it."

Yang's concoction is just one around North Asia that's sustaining tea, despite pressure from coffee and other beverages, by catering to younger people's fixations on their health and a thirst for novelty.

In Japan, a new tea line is winning fans among young Japanese with its claims to reduce body fat, while a South Korean brand called "17 Tea" is popular for its claims to blend teas that cure a host of ills.

According to a Chinese myth, tea was discovered about 5,000 years ago by Shennong, a legendary emperor of China who was sipping a bowl of hot water when a sudden gust of wind blew some tea tree twigs into the water.

It became a pillar of cultural and culinary life in Asia ever since, spreading to Europe in the 17th century.

The elaborate tea making ceremonies of past centuries are largely defunct across North Asia, although traditional drinkers avoid Western tea bags and devoutly adhere to tea-making customs by pouring hot water from clay pots over tea leaves.

Teahouses across the region, from airport waiting halls to parks and temples in China, continue the tradition but mostly to the older generation who are willing to pay up to $1 per gram for prime tea leaves.

Younger drinkers prefer canned tea, powdered tea, soft drinks and coffee. They increasingly refer to traditional tea as "old people's drink."

Minoru Takano, director of the Japanese Association of Tea Production, admits that canned flavored teas have helped keep consumption levels up in Japan.

"But we are concerned that tea culture will not be nurtured by these drinks," Takano said.

"We are trying to promote making tea by the pot. There are some households that do not (even) have a pot. We are concerned that the tradition and culture may disappear."

（Agencies）

Vocabulary:

funky: 時髦別致，有個性的

slurp ：出聲地吃喝

sachet ：小袋

defunct：已死的，不存在了的

（英語點津 Celene 編輯）