The Six Categories of Tea
The Chinese classify tea into six broad categories, each category in turn being further classified into numerous types and grades dependent upon the sub-variety of the tea bush, where it is grown, how the leaf is processed and what type of beverage is produced. The six categories are: Green Tea; Black Tea; Oolong Tea; Scented Tea; White Tea; and Compressed Tea. Sometimes, a seventh category – Yellow Tea is mentioned, but this is an elusive tea type often subsumed within the "White Tea" category! 

Green Tea
Green tea is the most widely consumed tea drink in China, and quite possibly the world! China produces more green tea or 'Cha' than any other country, and most of its production is consumed by the domestic market.  There are many types of green tea, all of which share the characteristic of being light, flavoursome and extremely refreshing.  Green tea is now recognized as an anti-oxidant, and for possessing qualities which guard against certain cancers in human beings.

Oolong - Wu Long
Oolong teas are somewhere between green and black teas in their production methods, and are consumed without milk or sugar. These teas are extremely flavoursome and highly aromatic, yet contain no additives. As with green tea, the best oolongs are hand made, and deserve to be much better known to Western tea drinkers.

Black Tea - Hong Cha
The Chinese actually refer to black leaf teas as "red" tea, which describes the colour of the liquor these teas produce. These are the teas most familiar to Western tea drinkers, and are often taken with the addition of milk and or sugar. Anhui Province and Yunnan Province are regarded as two premier black tea producing regions in China.

Pu'er or Bolei
Pu'er is the general name given to a class of fermented green teas which have been allowed to partially decompose & which are then aged for varying periods prior to consumption. Many pu'er teas are compressed into disc, bowl or other shapes & then dried. These teas have a distinctive musty aroma, but are usually not at all bitter, and are highly valued for their beneficial effects on the digestion, blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels.

Scented Tea
Most commonly these are green teas that have been perfumed, or to which flower blossoms have been added (usually jasmine). There are however black and oolong teas which are made as scented teas also. Rose or osmanthus are commonly used for this purpose. The very highest quality handmade teas are virtually free of any flower petals, the only contribution the flower makes to these teas is the essence of its perfume.

White Tea
These are quite rare teas made from the very young leaf buds of the tea bush. Typically such teas are covered with fine hairs of the tea bud, and have a whitish appearance in the dry leaf, which produces a sweet and delicately flavoured pale infusion. A class of tea that goes stale very quickly. Only made from time to time and in limited areas.