As Myanmar is a union home to more than 100 ethnic nationalities, one can observe that cultural customs, traditional festivals, and cuisines vary distinctly from region to region without being identical. Yet, one food that can be found at festivities and ceremonies anywhere across Myanmar is ‘Laphet’ (fermented tea leaves).
Today, tea is a leaf consumed by many nations around the world and comes in two forms: fermented tea and dried tea. In Myanmar, the Myanmar people have used ‘laphet’ from ancient times to the present day both as a traditional cultural food and as a staple delicacy served to treat guests at ceremonies and festivals.
In Myanmar’s tradition, tea is consumed in two forms: fermented tea and dried tea leaves. Fermented tea is typically mixed with various garnishes and eaten as traditional tea leaf salad, which is also served to entertain guests as part of cultural hospitality. Dried tea comes in two varieties: black tea leaves and plain green tea leaves. The black tea leaves are brewed and blended with condensed milk and sugar to be enjoyed as sweet tea, while the plain tea leaves are steeped as plain green tea. The Myanmar culture of drinking plain green tea, along with entertaining guests using trays of tea leaf salad – not only in living rooms at home but also at novitiate ceremonies, ear-boring donation feasts, and wedding receptions – has become an enduring tradition.
To proceed with nominating Myanmar’s tea culture to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, collaborative efforts were carried out in 2025 with the Myanmar Cultural Heritage Preservation Group and the Myanmar Tea Cultivation, Production, and Export Association to compile nomination dossiers, obtain endorsements from community-based organizations, and gather documentary photographs.
As Myanmar is a grand union home to over 100 ethnic nationalities, the rich abundance of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage serves as a foundational pillar for elevating national prestige and patriotic pride. In collaboration with relevant organizations, a nomination dossier was submitted to UNESCO on 20 March 2026 to inscribe Myanmar’s tea culture – an indispensable staple at Myanmar festivals, religious donation feasts, weddings, and formal receptions – onto the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The taste of tea as savoured by the people of Myanmar is widely loved. Among the cherished cultural practices of the Myanmar people, people take immense pride in and warmly support the submission of the nomination dossier to UNESCO for Myanmar’s tea culture and tea consumption tradition as a proud intangible cultural heritage.