Cha Jing (The Classic of Tea) [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Changxing in Huzhou, Zhejiang province is regarded as the cradle of the Chinese tea culture. Lu Yu's Cha Jing (The Classic of Tea) contains three volumes and ten chapters. Completed in Changxing, it is said to be the first monograph about tea culture in the world.

Lu Yu (733-804) was born in Jingling, Fuzhou (now Tianmen, Hubei province), during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). He lived in Huzhou for more than 30 years and wrote Cha Jing – the world's first book comprehensively dedicating to tea culture -- describing tea's characteristics such as textures, functions, collection methods and ceremonies. 

While in Huzhou Lu devoted all his energy and enthusiasm to the completion of the work, preparing three version of the manuscript and earning the title China's Sage of Tea.