Xiwu Banner Milk Tea

Xiwu Banner Milk Tea

　　   Mongolians are passionate about tea. People in other regions often say, "Three meals a day are essential," but Mongolians usually have "three servings of tea a day" and are accustomed to only "one meal a day." Every morning, after getting up, the housewives first brew a pot of salty milk tea for the whole family to drink throughout the day. Mongolians enjoy drinking hot tea, and in the morning they have it along with fried rice. After the morning tea, they keep the remaining salty milk tea warm over a low flame so it can be served whenever needed. Usually, the family has only one proper meal a day when they return from grazing in the evening, but having salty milk tea three times a day—morning, noon, and night—is generally non-negotiable. If the evening meal includes beef or mutton, the whole family will have another cup of tea before going to bed. As for middle-aged and elderly men, they drink tea even more frequently. Therefore, the average annual tea consumption per Mongolian is as high as about 8 kilograms, and often exceeds 15 kilograms.