Ｖｅｔｅｒａｎ Ｌｅａｄｅｒ’ｓ Ｃｏｍｍｉｔｍｅｎｔ ｔｏ Ｔｅａ

Mr. Wang Jiayang is the honorary president of China International Tea Culture Institute. He has been with CITCI from the first day of its good fifteen years. Now in his 90s， Wang still attaches great importance to tea culture， firmly believing that tea culture highlights a progressive sense of history and worldview and that tea culture generates a peaceful mindset and caters to people’s inspiration and aspiration.

Founder

Although tea originated in China， China woke up in modern times to find the world-class tea producer lagged behind some foreign countries in tea studies and tea culture undertakings. After the modernization drive started in the late 1970s， tea gradually became more than a beverage that quenches thirst and maintains health. Tea became part of culture and lifestyle. The new development called for coordinated guidance and promotion. In the autumn of 1990， eight domestic tea-related organizations took an initiative and held an international seminar on tea culture. Tea professionals from China， Japan， Korea， USA， Hong Kong and Taiwan attended the seminar. Wang Jiayang presided over the seminar. Under his leadership， the successful seminar proposed to set up the China International Tea Culture Institute in Hangzhou. Wang was selected to be in charge of making setup arrangements.

CITCI was founded in 1993 with the approval of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.It was first affiliated with Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Culture. CITCI is now affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture. Wang was elected as the first president of CITCI. It soon became a leading organization in tea-related studies and events in China. Local research institutes were set up in Shanghai， Guangzhou， Yunnan， Hunan， Shaanxi and Chongqing. International seminars on tea have convened at regular intervals since then. Scholars and experts from all over the world meet to explore the important issues of tea culture. With the remarkable social progress that China is witnessing， tea culture has branched out and merged with tourism， education， culture， art， health and medical and health care.

Activist

Wang Jiayang is a high-profile activist of tea culture. Before he retired from the presidency of CITCI， he traveled extensively and visited almost all the important tea plantations across the country in the capacity of an ambassador of tea culture. Most of these tea plantations are high and deep in mountains. We remember accompanying him to visit Chaozhou， the birthplace of Oolong Tea in Guangdong province immediately after the 6th International Seminar on Tea Culture in Guangzhou. We traveled for more than 500 kilometers in mountainous areas. On reaching the area， Wang in his 80s did not take a break. We immediately set off to climb Phoenix Mountain which is 1，200 meters above sea level. Wang took great interest in the history of the tea， its production， sales and plans for the future. He took a photograph with a tea bush planted in the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Wang Jiayang traveled not just to see tea plantations. During these years， he learned from tea professionals， spread tea culture concepts， and promoted tea-related events and activities. He is still frequently engaged in discussions with people from all walks of life on subjects such as promoting tea as our national beverage， including tea culture as an essential part of school education， setting up tea culture courses in school curriculum， including Lu Yu’s Book of Tea into school textbooks， etc. He firmly believes that all this is vitally important to carry on tea culture to future generations. Thanks to the endeavor of Wang Jiayang， the major of tea culture exchanges offered at the Shu Ren University is now the only one of its kind in China’s higher education institutions. CITCI sponsors various training courses and has produced great many tea sommeliers at various levels. Nowadays， tea studies， sado， tea art， and tea rites are all flourishing in China.

Leader

People who know Wang Jiayang know him as a man of courtesy and respect. He is totally dedicated to the cause of tea culture and keeps a low profile， embodying the essence of Chinese culture.

Wang acted as the first president of CITCI from 1993 to 2000. He is highly revered for what he achieved for the tea organization. He decided to step aside for a younger president at the sixth seminar and has been the honorary president since then. Wang still is a high-profiled motive force for tea culture undertakings.

Thanks to activities， events and other endeavors of the Hangzhou-based CITCI， Hangzhou has become a national center of tea-related studies. Many foreigners come to visit Hangzhou every year and they naturally come to pay homage to Wang. In early spring of 2004， a group of 20 plus Korean tea people and musicians came all the way to Hangzhou. They brought tea sets and musical instruments and held a tea party in honor of Wang for his commitment to tea culture studies and promotion. As president of Zhejiang Branch of Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， Wang also made contributions to the promotion of Sino-Japan friendship. He received honors from Japan in 1994， 1998 and 2005.

Wang devotes himself to tea culture and has made great contribution to its promotion. In order to build the China Tea Museum， Wang lobbied the Hangzhou government for approving the land use and relocating residents. He raised money. When the project ran into fund shortage， people from abroad donated generously. A Japanese friend even sold some of his property to raise money. They did all this for the friendship forged by tea culture promoted by CITCI and for the sake of Wang Jiayang.

Brief Resume

Wang was born in 1918 into a poor family in Ninghai County， Zhejiang Province. He joined the New Fourth Army in 1938 shortly after Japan invaded China in full scale. He joined the Communist Party in 1939. He was in the army for the next ten years and in 1949 he worked in various government posts. In 1978， he came back to work in Zhejiang and assumed top positions in the provincial government until he retired from office.

Since he retired from government posts， he has devoted himself to various endeavors. For Wang the amazing time of his life began after his retirement. He has presided over various non-governmental organizations one after another or at the same time. Full of wisdom， experience and youthful energy， he solves problems， comes up with solutions， thus making concrete contributions to society and people and tea undertakings.#8194;□