The first portuguese ships reached china in 1516, and in 1560 portuguese missionary gaspar da cruz published the first portuguese account of chinese tea; In china, tea was first found when dried leaves dropped into chinese emperor shen nung’s cup of hot water and caused the beverage became tasteful with pleasant aroma. This timeline represents over 4,700 years of tea history, from legendary ancient origins to today’s global industry worth billions of dollars annually.
Tea was first discovered as a medicinal drink around 2737 bce in southwest china during shennong's reign, with archaeological evidence confirming tea consumption by the han. In reality, tea drinking was. According to legend, tea was first discovered in 2737 bc by a chinese emperor called shen nung when some leaves blew into hot water.
When the emperor shen nong, a skilled ruler and scientist, accidentally discovered tea. The discovery of tea is shrouded in legends and myths, and it is difficult to pin down the exact origins of the beverage. The story tells that a tea leaf fell into a cup of hot water that belonged to emperor. When was tea discovered for the first time?
While boiling water in the. Tea’s origins can be traced to china, where it is said to have been discovered around 2737 bce by the legendary emperor shen nong, who, according to myth, was boiling. This was the first known cargo of tea to be registered at a western port. Everything in this story started when the chinese discovered tea around 2000 bc during the qin dynasty.
According to chinese legend, the history of tea began in 2737 b.c.e.