Tea - Drink that Shapes and Unites Cultures

Tradition, spirituality or just pleasure? Whatever it is, tea is not just a drink: all over the world at any given moment, millions of people are enjoying this drink for various reasons, but in every culture, traditional tea ceremonies are unique and authentic.

India is one of 30 countries where tea leaves are grown, which are subsequently used to make a drink that has become part of daily life of most of us.

Legend has it that Indian Prince Dharma, who left China to preach Buddhism, vowed not to sleep during his 9-year-long mission. Near the end of his third year, overcome with fatigue, he tried to chew on a few tea leaves to keep himself awake. The leaves gave him the strength to stay awake for the remaining six years.

Check out what modern tea traditions look like around the world!

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A Syrian Kurdish refugee child from the Kobani area, drinks tea at a camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

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A labourer sips on a cup of tea at the "White Mountain" limestone extraction quarry site near Egypt's southern city of Minya, some 265 kilometres south of the capital, on December 7, 2019.

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An Indian Sadhu (holy man) pours tea for devotees during the annual Magh Mela fair in Allahabad on January 6, 2015. The Magh Mela gathering, which is known as a mini-Kumbh Mela, runs from January 5 until February 17 this year.

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A man carries a tea tray in downtown Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, July 15, 2009. Turkey's Finance Ministry said Wednesday the country's budget deficit has swelled to 23.2 billion Turkish liras (US$15.1 billion; euro10.7 billion) in the first half of 2009, 13 times higher than a year earlier. The government has forecast an annual deficit of 40 billion Turkish liras (US$26.1 billion; euro18.6 billion), an expectation some say is now too optimistic. (AP Photo/Ibrahim Usta)

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A Syrian refugee child drinks tea while standing outside her family's tent at an informal tented settlement near the Syrian border on the outskirts of Mafraq, Jordan, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015.

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Local spectators drink tea and coffee on the dunes during stage six of the Dakar Rally between Hail and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Friday, Jan. 10, 2020.

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Britain's Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall have afternoon tea on the terrace during a visit to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, central London, Wednesday June 23, 2021.

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A picture taken on May 7, 2015 shows World War Two veteran Sardar Akylbekov, 93, drinking tea at his house in the village of Tok-Bay, some 20km of Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek. Sardar Akylbekov served in the 214 Infantry Division from 1941 until 1943. Originally from Kyrgyzstan, he fought on the Belgorod front. Kyrgyzstan will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in World War II on May 9.

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Men drink a cup of tea at a roadside restaurant in Islamabad on June 15, 2022. - A Pakistani minister has caused a storm in a teacup by urging citizens to cut back on drinking "chai" as a way to preserve foreign currency that pays to import the leaves used in brewing the popular beverage.

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A girl offers tea to passing Iraqi Shiite Muslim pilgrims marching from the southern port city of Basra to the holy city of Karbala, ahead of the Arbaeen religious festival, on September 10, 2021. - Each year, pilgrims converge in large numbers to the holy Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala ahead of Arbaeen, which marks the 40th day after Ashura, commemorating the seventh century killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein.

Tea, A Drink That Shapes and Unites Cultures