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How to Drink Tea on Smoggy Days?

Tea News · Mar 12, 2026

  Smog may look similar to fog, but it is much more harmful to health. Comparing a mask worn on a smoggy day with an unworn one reveals that the used mask is significantly dirtier. Therefore, it is essential to take protective measures when going out in smoggy weather. Drinking more tea can help cope with smoggy days. Below are ten recommended tea beverages.

1. Orange Peel Tea


Fresh orange peel, brown sugar, black tea, brewed with boiling water as a tea drink.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that fresh orange peel has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, wind-cold dispelling, sleep-promoting, and calming effects. Adding brown sugar and black tea makes it a simple and effective remedy to ward off smog and prevent colds.

2. Radish Tea


Radish, a little vinegar, black tea, sliced and boiled into tea soup, consumed hot three times a day.

Traditional Chinese medicine holds that radish is cool, sweet, and pungent, with the effects of clearing heat, promoting fluid production, cooling blood, and stopping bleeding. Adding vinegar enhances its antibacterial function, providing some auxiliary effect in preventing upper respiratory infections.

3. Scallion White Tea


Scallion white, black tea, chopped and boiled into tea soup, consumed hot three times a day.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that scallion white is pungent and warm, capable of soothing the liver, promoting circulation, regulating yang energy, inducing sweating, and relieving exterior symptoms. Black tea also has the effects of clearing heat, detoxifying, refreshing, relieving fatigue, and antibacterial properties. It can effectively prevent and alleviate symptoms like fever caused by colds.

4. Ginger Slice Tea


Ginger, black tea, boiled into tea soup, consumed hot in the morning and evening.

Traditional Chinese medicine holds that ginger slices are pungent and slightly warm, targeting the lung, spleen, and stomach meridians. They can induce sweating, relieve exterior symptoms, warm the middle, stop vomiting, and warm the lungs to relieve cough. This is beneficial for preventing colds in smoggy weather.

5. Vegetable Root Tea


Fresh Chinese cabbage roots, black tea, sliced and boiled into tea soup, consumed hot twice a day.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that cabbage roots are sweet and slightly cold, with the effects of clearing heat, promoting diuresis, relieving exterior symptoms, dispersing cold, nourishing the stomach, and quenching thirst. In ancient China, cabbage root decoction was commonly used to treat colds with good results.

6. Ginger and Jujube Tea


Ginger, jujube (red dates), black tea, boiled into tea soup and consumed hot in the morning.

Traditional Chinese medicine holds that jujube is sweet and warm, targeting the spleen and stomach meridians. It can tonify the middle, boost qi, nourish blood, calm the mind, and strengthen the body. Boiled with ginger slices into tea, it enhances physical fitness and improves immune function.

7. Three Spicy Tea


Garlic, scallion white, ginger in appropriate amounts, black tea, boiled into tea soup and consumed hot in the morning.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that garlic is pungent and warm, with effects such as relieving exterior symptoms, promoting yang, and detoxifying. It can regulate the exterior and interior, promote yang and blood circulation, and disperse wind pathogens. Added with scallion and ginger in tea, it is effective in treating wind-cold colds and headaches.

8. Garlic Slice Tea


Two cloves of garlic, sliced, black tea, brewed with boiling water as a tea drink.

Traditional Chinese medicine holds that garlic is pungent and warm, with effects such as relieving exterior symptoms, promoting yang, and detoxifying. It can regulate the exterior and interior, promote yang and blood circulation, and disperse wind pathogens. Combined with black tea, it is a simple and effective way to prevent colds.

9. Sweet Ginger Tea


Fresh ginger minced, brown sugar (or white sugar), black tea boiled into tea soup, consumed hot in the morning.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that brown sugar is warm and sweet, entering the spleen meridian. It can tonify qi and blood, warm the spleen and stomach, relieve pain, and activate blood circulation. Adding minced ginger to tea is an effective practice for preventing colds.

10. Two Flowers Tea


Chrysanthemum, honeysuckle, green tea, brewed with boiling water as a tea drink.

Traditional Chinese medicine holds that chrysanthemum is sweet and bitter, slightly cold, with the effects of dispersing wind-heat, calming liver yang, clearing liver and improving vision, and clearing heat and detoxifying. Honeysuckle also has anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, heat-clearing, and lung-clearing effects. Combined with green tea, it can soothe the throat, relieve dryness, and enhance the throat's ability to resist pathogens.

What tea is good to drink on smoggy days? The article above introduces ten tea beverages for smoggy days. Besides drinking more tea, it is essential to wear masks when going out and eat more fresh vegetables.

Source: Chinese Tea Culture Knowledge
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