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There is something quite distinct about China and Chinese tea that have people holding it quite apart from the rest. To begin with, drinking tea in China must have begun over two thousand years ago, having roots all the way to China's earliest days. Tea is taken quite seriously in China, with a little over five different methods of tea selection along with a very well-documented history of its benefits. Tea is so ingrained in their culture that it is practically impossible to find a household today without it. Seeing as how it is quite important, the one will notice that the manner by which it is served. Chinese tea cups are different from western ones.

The Chinese tea cup, in the most popular and common of tea sets, will almost always has no handle, very much unlike the western version. The tea cup is meant to be cupped firmly by the hand when taken up, and the ring at the bottom is meant to help it stand on its own as well as to be the least hot place for the fingers to touch when pushing the cup lightly upwards to when drinking the tea. The tea cup usually rises low on the saucer with the slightly risen edge beneath it, and is also round in shape, the rip curving outward in degrees that vary depending on what kind of style the potter was going for. The tea cups can vary depending on height and rim span. Some single cups on saucers may appear to be tiny bowls more than anything, like western tea cups with no handle, usually imprinted with Chinese characters and designs. Other cups in sets are round but rise a little higher, like slightly round segments of tube, and usually are found surrounding a rotund tea pot with a pointed spout. The composition of the tea cups can vary between clay, fine white porcelain, and even glass or jade (which is clearly by far the most expensive, but usually seen as precious antiques). Is it also not unusual to see a teacup with a matching cover. This is usually a single tea cup as well and the cover is made so that the heat of the contents of the tea cup stays trapped inside, and is usually used for hot liquids such as tea or soup. Sometimes, possible inspired by western influence, this tea cup would also have a similar western handle.