A tea art ceremony is performed at the celebration on Dec 18. [Photo/hangzhou.com.cn]

A celebration on the status of China's traditional tea processing techniques and their associated social practices on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was held in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province on Dec 18.

The status was conferred by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, hosted in Rabat, Morocco, on Nov 29. It consists of knowledge, skills and practices concerning the management of tea plantations, picking of tea leaves, and processing, drinking and sharing of tea.

The Hangzhou government published a declaration on the protection and preservation of the traditional techniques and social practices at the ceremony. The declaration was jointly formulated by 47 tea-related organizations, aiming to increase awareness among the public.

A forum on the protection of traditional tea processing techniques and their social practices was held the same day. It invited guests to participate in free talks on topics such as tea, life, the protection of intangible cultural heritage items and their business value, tea cultural recognition, overseas promotion of tea culture, and the cultivation of intangible cultural heritage inheritors, especially female inheritors.

The latest application is the "largest" UNESCO intangible cultural heritage declaration project China has ever carried out, and it consists of 44 smaller projects from 15 places around the country.

Zhejiang, who directed the application, is home to six smaller projects – all designated national intangible cultural heritage items.

A set of tea wares. [Photo/hangzhou.com.cn]