Sancha tea is a local traditional drink, which is made of tea liquids with different concentrations and should be drunk in a certain order. It is not only a unique tea culture in Dali, but also an important social and hospitality etiquette.
Three teas are the first etiquette for Dali Bai people to receive their son-in-law. After development, this etiquette has become the highest etiquette for Bai people to receive visitors. Three teas are divided into bitter tea, sweet tea and aftertaste tea, and "three teas" are drunk locally. It also plays a role in regulating interpersonal relationships and spreading national culture. Whether in the street or at the bow of the park, the forms and contents of drinking three teas are rich and colorful.
Three tea sources
The record of "three teas" in Dali was first seen in Xu Xiake's Diary of Yunnan Tour in Tang Dynasty. It is said that on a Lantern Festival that year, Xu Xiake watched the lights in the west building of Stan Temple in Jizu Mountain. "Drinking tea for fun, one tea, medium salt tea and second secret tea" is the embryonic form of "three teas".
Later, Buddhism advocated meditation to drink tea in temples, and pilgrims and tourists also drank it, so the "three teas" gradually developed. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, this way of drinking tea had been widely spread in towns and vast rural areas, and ingredients such as milk fans, honey and walnuts were added. When people hold some ceremonies, weddings and festivals, they specially process and drink "three teas" for entertainment, and their contents and forms are gradually increasing.