In a 19th century commercial report the Arab merchant Suleiman told of his travels in China. He mentioned tea as an almost sacred herb, the importance of which was essential in Chinese society; outside Chinese texts, this is the oldest written record about the existence of tea. Tea arrived in Egypt towards the 16th century, having passed through Pakistan, the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. But its progress stopped there and it did not get past the Libyan Desert.

The first evidence of tea in Russia dates back to 1567: two Cossacks - Petrov and Yalychev - referred to it as a wonderful Chinese beverage and decided to drink it regularly. However, it was not until the end of the 17th century that tea became a staple commodity, being imported regularly into Moscow. For nearly two centuries, tea was only available in this city and remained the sole preserve of Muscovites, who were called in a mocking way by other Russians "tea drinkers" or "hot water drinkers"

In their everyday lives, the Chinese do not use a teapot, but prepare their tea in small individual bowls - zhong bowls - into which they place a little green tea and then pour on boiling water. The bowl is covered with a special lid that allows the tea to be drunk without swallowing the leaves. Tea drinkers will continue to re-infuse the same leaves many times throughout the day and will take their bowls with them wherever they go.

In 166 the first tea chests arrived in Amsterdam, Holland: it was the first cargo of tea to be officially registered at a Western port. The Netherlands, at this time, had control over the trade of rare commodities from the Orient, but the English who, a few years later, founded the East India Company in direct competition with the Dutch company, soon questioned their dominance. The introduction of tea in England took place in a specific way: the coffee houses were at the time very fashionable.

In Japan, tea has a very important cultural dimension. More than just an art of good living, it is a cult founded on the adoration of Beauty amidst the banalities of everyday existence. This philosophy has translated itself into the form of an extremely circumscribed ceremony, which takes place in a specific place and every gesture must be strictly followed.