For years we have hosted Chinese experts who traveled across mountains, and masters who collected the wisdom of those who experience the tea tree daily. For years we have hosted enthusiasts of all nationalities at our tea table, sharing emotions, questions and experiences. Tea is about sharing flavors and knowledge, and after ten years since the beginning of our journey, first as tea travelers and then as producers, we want to give a solid structure to our words. We want to train the future professionals, educated and knowledgeable people, provided with the most suitable tools to gather new information, to keep improving, and to build the industry of refined teas, which is experiencing a fast expansion but lacks competent and serious professionals who have the capability of managing it with transparency and authority.

We also want to give everyone the opportunity to improve themselves by building new knowledge, experiencing the complexity of the Eastern terroir that has settled through the ages; and we want to do this by providing the tools to understand tea as an endless becoming. We will follow the teachings and programs of the Chinese Tea Academy, officially recognized by the Chinese Government at a national level, which will issue an exlcusive certificate to those who complete the course and pass the exam. We will keep both the cornerstones of the Official School and those of Eastern Leaves: sharing, conversation, seriousness in teaching, and only top quality teas. Furthermore, for each lesson we will add some Chinese language basics to allow you to both get a grasp of the cultural root of tea through its original character, and to allow you to continue your journey through the lands of tea, communicating independently what concerns your passion - and your job.

Vivian Zhang is a tea master who graduated at the highest level from the Chinese Tea Academy, after attending courses in Beijing and completing her specialization in Kunming.
In 2014 she became a tea producer after founding her company, Eastern Leaves, on Mount Nannuo in Yunnan. Over the years, she has added the various degrees of the official training on tea - from the ceremony to the cultivation - to her liberal education in Ancient Chinese Literature.
In 2016 she graduated with a Master degree in Food and Beverage Management, at Bocconi University in Milan.
Together with Eastern Leaves, she divides her life between the mountains in Yunnan, and our studio and showroom in Milan, where she shares her experiences and the tea leaves she brings from her travels.

Upon passing the exam at the end of the intermediate course, a unique certificate in "Chinese Tea Taster and Connoisseur", legally registered with the Chinese Federation, will be issued by All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, Kunming headquarters.

Students in possession of said certificate are able to judge and accurately describe teas with respect to their own terroir, to brew tea as a professional, to trace the production techniques, and finally to understand and actively participate to market quotations.

The 6th edition of the First Level course in English language is scheduled for January 2021.

The classes are held online through Zoom, and all the teas shipped to your home, wherever you are. We will use audio / video and a live chat, to sum up the keywords of each lesson and your questions during the course, and we will share a presentation with words and photos with your private screens.
You will also receive digital or paper notes before each lesson, in order to better follow the course.
Beside Vivian, the teacher, we always have at least one assistant online to write the key-points in the chat, collect your homework, and to answer your questions.

After each class we share our presentations for self study, the chat log, and some audio files to help you to review the most important words and their pronunciation. During the week we are always available to support you through your individual study both on teas and language.

Every student can get a 10% discount on all our tasting events for 12 months, and access to our alumni group, that is composed by European tea professional and future professionals: our aim is to allow tea knowledge to be shared, as well as recourses; it is clear that the tea market in the west is going to undergo to a major change in its structure and we want to actively support it, together will all of you.

To receive the full course program and to book an online session with us to discuss the course, please write to this email address, we will be glad to hear from you.

Eastern Tea Academy is a project by Eastern Leaves, born around the virtual tea-table we have built and kept alive during the past few months.
Under this name we are going to launch a calendar of virtual tea tastings with the fine and rare teas directly from the Chinese terroirs, and our in-depth Course on Chinese teas promoted by the Chinese government tea academy, exclusive for Europe, now at the 5th edition.
If you wish to stay updated you can write us an email or follow our new Instagram account.
We have a full calendar of online events we look forward to share with you, and of course as soon as it will possibile we will travel again to various European cities, we will host you in our tea-room in Milan and of course... with us in China!