ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

History of tea

Well hello there little one! Are you curious about the history of tea? That's a great question!

Tea is a yummy drink that many people enjoy all around the world. It actually started in China a really long time ago, way before people had iPhones or cars or airplanes.

Legend has it that one day, around 5,000 years ago, a Chinese emperor named Shen Nong was resting under a tree while his servants boiled some water. Suddenly, leaves from the tree blew into the pot of boiling water and Shen Nong decided to give it a taste. It was really tasty, and that's how people first discovered tea!

At first, people in China just used tea leaves for medicinal purposes to help them feel better when they were sick. But eventually, they started drinking it just for fun too! They would even have elaborate tea ceremonies which were like big parties where people could gather and taste different types of tea.

As time went on, tea became more and more popular throughout China and then started to spread to other countries around the world. The British, in particular, really loved tea and even started planting tea in their colonies like India and Sri Lanka.

Nowadays, people all over the world drink tea in all sorts of different ways - hot, cold, with milk or sugar or honey, and so many other variations. And that's the story of how tea came to be! Pretty cool, huh?
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