ROME, ITALY – October 21, 2026 – On Oct. 16, the aroma of freshly brewed West Lake Longjing Tea drifted through a corridor of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s headquarters in Rome, stopping delegates in mid-stride. Between sessions of the World Food Day Forum, more than 700 guests from dozens of countries wandered in to sip, admire and talk tea.
The occasion was “Eastern Zhejiang Tea: A Fragrant Rendezvous in Rome — The World Looks to Zhejiang, Home of Tea,” an international exchange series held Oct. 15–16 at FAO headquarters and on an outdoor plaza nearby. Built around tastings of China’s six categories of tea, it served as a meeting ground where Chinese and foreign tea cultures could learn from each other and where industry players could look for partners.
The timing carried three anniversaries at once. Twenty years ago, an article of great significance in China, “The World Looks to Zhejiang, Home of Tea,” was published in Tea Times magazine. Five years ago came the vision of “making the most of tea culture, the tea industry and tea science and technology.” And the FAO itself turns 81 this year. The event is one of this year’s key initiatives for the China International Tea Culture Institute, aiming to align Chinese tea culture with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to showcase twenty years of achievement in Zhejiang’s tea industry to the world.
FAO set aside an entire corridor for the gathering. Inside, celadon from the ancient Yue kilns and muye tianmu — leaf-patterned tenmoku tea bowls — caught the light, displayed alongside celebrated teas such as West Lake Longjing Tea and Jiuqu Hongmei Tea produced by Hangzhou Longwu Village Tea Co., Ltd., Qianjiangyuan Kaimenhong from Kaihua in Quzhou, and Tiantaishan Yunwu tea from Tiantai in Taizhou. Dignitaries attending meetings at FAO headquarters paused at the tables, repeatedly marveling at the firing techniques behind pieces like the “Xiawei” Longquan celadon tea set and the leaf-veined bowls.
That day’s visitors also included Yin Yuzhen, China’s sand-control hero and one of FAO’s newly named 100 Women Heroes in Agrifood Systems and Rural Development, and her longtime American friend Ronald Sakolsky.
Outside, on the plaza, the same energy took a distinctly Italian turn. Local political and business figures, members of the Chinese community in Italy and curious culture lovers showed up for an open-air tea salon; one guest had ridden a train three and a half hours from Mantua just to be there. As tea masters performed, Guang Defu, vice president of the China International Tea Culture Institute and China’s former ambassador to FAO, traded ideas with visitors, hoping Chinese tea and Italian coffee might strike sparks off each other. Many Italians set aside their usual sugar-and-lemon habit and tried Chinese tea in its pure, unblended form, comparing notes and musing on the aesthetics of a life with tea.
The liveliest corner was “Writing Tea, Sending Blessings.” On fragrant sheets scented with osmanthus black tea and printed with the word “tea” in many languages, UN officials, diplomats and young students traced the Chinese character “tea” stroke by stroke, signed their names, and then tried reading the word aloud in Chinese.
Conversation quickly turned to business. A former member of Mantua’s provincial council invited Tea Times magazine to bring Chinese tea enterprises to a local food fair. A Milan entrepreneur offered gallery space for an exhibition dedicated to Chinese tea. And Italian journalist Melo accepted on the spot an invitation to become a contributing writer for the magazine.
A recurring thought ran through the exchanges: for Chinese tea to go global, shipping leaves overseas is not enough. The industry must build internationally recognized standards, speak to foreign palates in flavors they understand, and export not just a product but a brand, a standard and a way of life.
A cup of Zhejiang tea can bridge mountains and seas. Over two days in Rome — one part diplomatic salon, one part neighborhood gathering — the world caught, through the fragrance of tea, a glimpse of a vivid and living China. New seeds for China-Europe cooperation in tea culture and industry have been planted.
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