What made black tea popular in China was the European addition of a
handle to the teapot. Initially the Chinese imported the adaptation
then copied and exported. Essentially the Chinese realized if black
tea was good enough for the Europeans it was good for them. I don't
know of any breakdown statistics for current green-oolong-black
consumption in China. I'd say the Chinese supermarket brand selection
is less for oolong than green-black. Brand name oolong for the
English markets has essentially dried up. Even when it was available
it was more expensive than the other two. The Chinese oolongs are
cheaper than the Taiwan oolongs at my local tea shoppe. It could be
the relatively high European price is due to domestic consumption
which is certainly true for Taiwan. I've been drinking a wonderful
Taiwan Orange Blossom (flowers) oolong from my local tea shoppe.

Jim

(Gyorgy Sajo) wrote in message . com>...
> (Space Cowboy) wrote in message m>...
>
> > When black tea drinking became
> > popular in Europe it became popular in China.
>
> Have drinking of black tea ever been popular in China?? My sources say
> just the opposite. (Save the drinking habit of the Manchu ruling
> class, who was not Han Chinese, but of Mongolian origin.)