it is thought that there were no differences between men and women
regarding tea inside the home, but that for many years only men were allowed to
drink tea outside the home. It is conjectured that women began to be given permission
to drink tea in public as China modernized. It’s possible through the
research of tea to trace the liberation of women, who had been confi ned as
recluses in their own homes, to the point where they could begin the process of
stepping out into public.