In an effort to bring the charm of Chinese tea culture to a younger generation of people around the world, NetEase Games has leveraged its digital and interactive medium to shed light on the creative heritage and development of Chinese tea. Through games such as Justice Online, Fantasy Westward Journey, and Wangchuan Dreamland, the company is working towards a longer-termgoal to make Chinese tea "young" again.

　　In the evening of November 29, Beijing time, traditional tea processing techniques and their associated social practices in China were reviewed at the seventeenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. As an important part of Chinese cooking culture, tea culture includes tea ceremonies, tea sets, tea art, and tea poetry, conveying the inclusiveness of this traditional culture.

Justice Online

Tea Fields Recreated · Exciting Gameplay · Making Friends Through Tea

　　Divine Jade: Tea-picking Songs

　　Longjing is located to the west of West Lake, its mist rising to reach the Nanshan Mountains.

　　Chinese tea emerged in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty, tea culture developed into a ubiquitous element of Chinese life. In the game, Justice Online, which focuses on the folk culture in the Northern Song Dynasty, tea culture is presented as being closely related to the world of ancient scholars.

　　Justice Onlineis a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by NetEase Games, featuring martial arts themes. In the game, the production team recreated the tea fields where China's famous West Lake Longjing Tea was originally grown, known as the Longjing Village Tea Fields. The team also adapted a "Tea-picking Song" based on the region's local tea-picking folk songs, inviting many artists from Hangzhou Yue Opera Theater to perform it together. Listen to the gentle melodies of folk songs in the Jiangzhe Area and bask in vast expanses of lush green tea fields, fully conveying the charm of tea in a virtual digital space.

Justice Online: Tea Fight

　　Justice Online also features tea-fighting and tea art gameplay. Tea-fighting is a kind of competition where participants strive to make the best tea possible. It started in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty, becoming a renowned sophisticated pastime of the ancient world. There is a part of the game where the in-game characters teach players about tea-fighting criteria, such as bright and pure color and the perfect brewing duration. Players can also watch Su Dongpo's tea fight with a tea ceremony master. After clearing this stage, the player will receive the "Tea Doctor" title. So far, more than 3 million players have earned this title, becoming famous tea masters in the game.

Justice Online: Tea Art

　　Tea art is an art form in which tea paste is mixed with clear water, after which, beautiful patterns are skillfully painted onto the tea's surface. Tea art originated in the Tang Dynasty and reached the peak of its development in the Song Dynasty. In 2017, it was named part of Fujian's intangible cultural heritage. In the week that the tea art mode was introduced to the game, more than one million works of tea art were created in the game. Players can also obtain the "Trying New Tea" action and the "Tea Art" skill. This tea-pouring action is particularly graceful, showing the elegance of the ancient tea ceremony.

Justice Online: Obsidian Tianmu Bowl

　　In Justice Online, players can also meet up with their friends and drink tea together. Only three and a half of these famous tea bowls remain in the world, and players will find national treasures such as the Obsidian Tianmu Bowl in the game. So far, more than 600,000 players have obtained this rare national treasure in the game. Through the starry black glaze of this item's surface, players can feel the charm and majesty of Chinese tea culture.

 

Fantasy Westward Journey

Tea Tourism Crossover · Tea Dance · Innovative Tea Gift Box

　　Fantasy Westward Journeyis a game brand and franchise independently developed and operated by NetEase Games. With severalsuccessful products under this brand, the games have gradually grown into a national IP. Over the years, the main Fantasy Westward Journeyseries and its productsstrivedto bringnew vitality into traditional culture through digital IPsand explorenew modes of integrating game IPs with cultural tourism.

　　Fuding White Tea, which originated on Taimu Mountain, is the progenitor of the world's white tea. The technique used to brew it is the epitome of a world-class intangible cultural heritage. To promote the excellent traditional culture of Chinese white tea and drive the development of local culture and tourism, Fantasy Westward Journeyrecently initiated a series of tea culture events, cooperating with Fuding City, Fujian Province. In December 2022, Fantasy Westward Journeyand Fuding's local government jointly launched the Fuding White Tea Tourism Crossover Project to build a Fantasy Paradise Teahouse and produce a series of themed content, such as co-branded creative cultural gift boxes and crossover music videos.

Fantasy Westward JourneyX Fuding White Tea

　　Fantasy Westward Journey's Fantasy Paradise Teahouse is based on the scenery of Taimu Mountain. You can take a break, enjoy the view, and have a cup of tea at this teahouse located at a popular scenic spot that is suited to the social preferences of Fantasy Westward Journey's young players, triggering a huge boost in local tourism and making it a trend online. This innovative artistic tea-drinking space is expected to be completed in March next year. At that time, Fantasy Westward Journeywill carry out activities in tandem with the local tea festival in March.

　　Wu Zhijian, the famous Fuding White Tea master featured in the crossover music video.

　　In addition to this tea tourism crossover, Fantasy Westward Journeyalso features the “White Tea Dance”, a new Chinese-style song and dance, which includes two popular Fantasy Westward Journeycharacters, Swordsman and Ling Ling, as Fuding Tea Tourism event ambassadors. The White Tea Dance music video was shot by combining Fuding White Tea culture, intangible cultural heritage, tea-making skills, legends of Taimu Mountain, the local She minority culture, and other elements to reinterpret white tea culture with a newfound youthfulness and inject new vitality into the traditional Fuding White Tea culture. This event is expected to go live in March 2023.

　　Fantasy Westward JourneyX Fuding White Tea Creative Cultural Gift Boxes

　　This type of branding crossover integrates trendycommunication methods with customized white tea gift boxes infused with the essence of culturally creative trends. These gift boxes feature the classic image of Supreme Bubble molded into a tea pet figurine, injecting renewed interest in the traditional world of white tea. At the same time, it also captures the main Fantasy Westward Journeybrand while improving the younger generation's understanding of white tea culture.

 

Wangchuan Dreamland

The Knowledge of Tea · Immersive Tea-fighting Enjoying the Splendor of Tea

　　As a saying goes, "the path to enlightenment is found not in a thousand Buddhist mantras, but in a pot of good tea." In order to present the wisdom of tea-tasting and tea culture, the game Wangchuan Dreamland has launched a "Good Tea" side story. Wangchuan Dreamland is a Chinese-style card game developed by Taoyuan Studio under NetEase Games.

Wangchuan DreamlandGame Poster

　　The "Good Tea" side story introduces the tea-boiling tradition of the Tang Dynasty, the tea-brewing skills of the Song Dynasty, and the tea-making customs of the Ming Dynasty to players through Yu Xuanji, Su Shi, and Liu Rushi. The game combines education with entertainment and tells the story of tea-drinking culture across different historical dynasties. Through this storyline featuring famous characters from the game engaging in tea fights and tea-tasting, Wangchuan Dreamland allows players to truly appreciate the folk charm and cultural nuances of Chinese tea in an innovative digital way, spreading in-depth information and knowledge, so that players can interact with historical figures while learning about tea culture and techniques.

Wangchuan DreamlandTea Fight

　　Through visuals and storytelling that games afford, NetEase Games has presented aspects of China's intangible cultural heritage to today’s younger generation. NetEase Games willcontinue to exploremore diversified ways of sharing global cultural heritageand legacy with the world.