As the title suggests, this is a question often asked. Perhaps the term "White Tea" itself is very special, containing a unique charm. Not only is a type of green tea from Anji called "white tea", but illustrators and home lifestyle magazines also like to use the name "white tea". Nowadays, it has become a trend spreading like wildfire, with white tea blooming everywhere across the country. This undoubtedly further increases the difficulty of understanding white tea.

White tea is precisely white tea, and together with black tea, green tea, oolong tea, dark tea, and yellow tea, it is known as the six major tea categories of China. The place of origin of white tea is Fuding, so it is also called "Fuding White Tea". Around Fuding, there is Zhenghe County, which also has a long history of picking and making white tea. Zhenghe white tea also falls within the category of white tea, but it is distinguished from Fuding white tea due to its different place of origin.

There is a view that white tea is the oldest category of tea. In the author's opinion, this is a very reasonable and insightful view. The earliest use of tea was for "medicinal purposes". From picking and chewing fresh leaves, to boiling soup, to sun-drying and storage, and finally the emergence of the prototype of white tea category and process. In Fuding local area, white tea is both medicine and tea. If the process is exquisite, newly made white tea can still have a medicinal aroma.

The steps (steps, not process) of white tea are extremely simple, with only two links: withering and drying (also called promoting drying). If the tea-making season encounters good weather, directly sun-dry and wither, and then store it. The steps are so simple that there is only one step. If a horizontal comparison is made, the number of steps for white tea is 2, for green tea it is 7, for black tea 5, for dark tea 4, and for oolong tea it is 6 (these numbers are just approximate).

The most easily confused with white tea is green tea. Previously, many articles have distinguished white tea from green tea, and they are very comprehensive. But the author believes that the best way to distinguish is actually very simple - just taste it and you will know. No matter how many articles you read, it won't be as effective.