Tea comes from the plant Camellia sinensis , which originates in an area between North Myanmar and South-Western China, an area famous for the high mountains, deep valleys and the different ethnic groups that speak different languages.  The habit of tea drinking must have originated from these people who may have given this beverage different names.   In the southern parts of China, Canton, it is called “Cha”. In Fujian and Formosa (Taiwan), people call it “Teh”.  “Cha” soon spread to the northern and eastern parts of China and became a popular beverage as early as 1300 years ago. Almost at the same time, “Cha” was spread via westward routes such as the Silk Road to Central Asia. To prevent decomposition along the long journey, “Cha” was made into a compact form, “Cha brick”, a main traded commodity along the Silk Road, and the main form of tea consumed in Mongolia and Tibet. Portuguese is the only European language that refers to tea as “Cha”, since they owned ...