Archeologists find world's oldest tea in Chinese emperor's tomb
Archeologists unexpectedly discovered the world's oldest known tea leaves while working on a tomb belonging to an emperor of the Han Dynasty. The nearly 2,200-year-old tomb, discovered in the 1990's and located near the modern-day city of Xi'an in western China, included pottery figures and weapons, as well as a wealth of plants. Only after decades of analysis could the scientists finally confirm that some of them were actually tea leaves, giving a unique glimpse into ancient Chinese tea culture. The discovery of this fine tea, characterized by young unopened buds, suggests that tea was already being exported to Tibet along trade routes well before the Silk Road.