Florence Samson has been fascinated with tea and tea culture since she was 5 years old. For the past eight years, she's been operating a tea shop-cum-teahouse in Shanghai specializing in Chinese teas.

She has a deep knowledge of Chinese tea culture and history, including its preparation, processing and tasting.

"The secret is to keep changing. Don't always drink the same tea. If you want to keep learning, to push yourself, you have to change. Otherwise your palate will get too used to a certain style, and then it will be more difficult to appreciate the others," said Samson.

Samson drinks at least three different types of tea a day, making her selection based on the season, the temperature, her mood and with whom she drinks the tea.

Situated at the entrance to a tranquil lane on Yongjia Road, the tea shop occupying a three-story villa is called Song Fang, which is Samson's Chinese name. "Song" refers to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) when the trade in tea first prospered, while "fang" is Chinese for the aroma of tea.

Born in Paris, as a child Samson drank tea every morning while her parents were drinking coffee and hot chocolate.

As she got older, she graduated from tea bags to drinking loose-leaf tea.

"People should not drink tea using tea bags. It's actually not so good for the health. And it doesn't taste that good. It's better to have loose tea, real tea leaves," said Samson.

In 1990, she came to Asia for the first time and studied at Hitotsubashi University in Japan as an exchange student from HEC Paris. This was when she started her exploring tea.

"Even though Japanese teas are very famous and I love Japanese tea, Chinese teas are of even higher quality because they use full leaves that have all the health benefits," said Samson.

In China, she traveled to Kunming, Guilin, Yangshuo, Suzhou and Hangzhou where Chinese teas are produced, and learned about varieties such as oolong, Tieguanyin, Longjing and Pu'er. The great variety and flavors amazed her.

Florence Samson runs a tea shop that has a selection of some 70 kinds of teas. Photos: Du Qiongfang/GT

 In 1992, Samson returned to France and joined Christian Dior. The company sent her to Russia to work as the manager of the perfume department. On the border of Russia and China, she got to know more about the Chinese countryside. When she later studied at Harvard University for her MBA, she met her Shanghainese husband, and in 1999 she moved with him to Shanghai.

She spent several years preparing to open her own tea shop and teahouse, visiting many tea plantations in the countryside across China to select tea suppliers. Her shop has some 70 kinds of teas including 50 kinds of Chinese teas, all of which are handpicked and processed.

According to Samson, processing times differ depending on the tea type. Tieguanyin needs 24 hours of work, while green tea is only dried for a little bit at high temperatures. Tieguanyin is usually dried outdoors for around 30 minutes after being harvested, then left in a well-ventilated room before being dried overnight on bamboo rakcs.

Dried leaves are then compressed by machine, sometimes multiple times. Each compression affects the taste of the tea, which means finding a supplier who knows what they are doing is important, according to Samson. One of her suppliers comes from a family that has been in the business for more than 200 years.

However, not all suppliers are so reliable. Samson said she visited one plantation in Henan Province whose owners claimed they could supply any kind of tea. "They said they had Longjing, Tieguanyin and all kinds of teas. How is it possible? Tieguanyin needs to come from Fujian, Longjing needs to come from Hangzhou. You need to respect the origin," said Samson.

She believes tea is healthier than coffee. "I never feel the need to drink coffee," she said. "If you drink tea, you won't suddenly feel awake as with coffee. And the feeling will stay longer. Tea also cleans your body. You feel lighter, more spiritual and happier."