Reddit reviews Chinese Tea Culture

I definitely view it as a technique rather than a ceremony per se. If I go to a Chinese tea shop for a tasting, they serve it gongfu cha style, but it's definitely not done as a ceremony. I serve gongfu cha style at home on the dining room table multiple times a day, including with breakfast -- it's just an easy way to make great-tasting tea rather than a ceremony. When I have friends over we sit around the gongfu cha tray and drink tea for hours while we talk -- it's socialization rather than a ceremony.

Which is not to say that there aren't formal Chinese tea ceremonies. The problem is that people assume there is just one, much like sometimes assume there is one Chinese language (how often have you heard "Do you speak Chinese?" rather than "Do you speak Mandarin? Cantonese? Shanghaiese?" etc).

In my collection I have a great book called Chinese Tea Culture that describes many Chinese tea ceremonies, such as regional marriage tea ceremonies and many others. It seems to be out of print, but the author has a similarly titled one called Tea and Chinese Culture that may be a retitling or new edition.