China has a long history of producing health tea, with records of using tea for medicinal purposes dating back to ancient times. Knowledge about tea's health benefits can be traced to the prehistoric period. As early as the Western Han Dynasty around 200 BC, there were records of tea cakes brewed with ingredients like scallions, ginger, and tangerine peel - the earliest documentation of health tea origins. Health tea developed during the Tang and Song dynasties and became particularly popular in the Ming and Qing periods. During the Qing Dynasty, drinking health tea for disease treatment and health maintenance became common among royalty and nobility. Throughout history, medical practitioners accumulated rich experience in using health tea for treatments. After liberation, China's first Pharmacopoeia included preparation methods for health teas, promoting their development. The Dictionary of Chinese Medicine and various specialized publications documented numerous herbal tea formulas. Many current health teas are successfully developed based on historical proven formulas. Statistics show that China has developed over 350 types of health teas in recent years, with more than 1,000 formulas passed down from historical periods.

Ancient medical texts recorded over 100 types of single-ingredient teas and medicinal tea formulas, such as Ginger Tea Drink from "Zhi Zhi Fang Lun," Chuanxiong Powder from "Formulary," Noon Tea from "Experience Formulas for Hundreds of Diseases," and Epilepsy Treatment Powder from "Medical Insights." Notably, renowned physician Wang Tao's "Essential Secrets from Outside the Capital" dedicated a chapter to "new tea bag formulas," detailing the preparation, usage, and treatments of medicinal teas. Medicine King Sun Simiao, compiler of "Essential Formulas for Emergencies" and "Supplement to Essential Formulas for Emergencies," included ten medicinal tea formulas. During the Song Dynasty, medicinal teas further developed, with works like "Taiping Holy Prescriptions for Universal Relief" and "Comprehensive Recording of Divine Assistance" collecting many folk formulas. Starting from the Ming Dynasty, health tea applications expanded significantly. "Prescriptions for Universal Relief" compiled by Mi Di and others dedicated a section to medicinal teas, introducing eight formulas with detailed indications and usage methods; "Yongle Encyclopedia Medical Collection" also recorded Acanthopanax tea substitutes; Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" included over ten medicinal tea formulas with comprehensive discussions of their functions. During the Qing Dynasty, publications on medicinal tea formulas increased substantially, with works like Zhang Lu's "Materia Medica Meeting the Source" and Zhao Xuemin's "Supplement to Compendium of Materia Medica" recording multiple formulas, particularly Shen Jin'ao's "Tianzhong Tea" being most famous and still used clinically today.