Editor’s Note: The Word of the Week comes from China Digital Space’s Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and frequently encountered in online political discussions. These are the words of China’s online “resistance discourse,” used to mock and subvert the official language around censorship and political correctness.
If you are interested in participating in this project by submitting and/or translating terms, please contact the CDT editors at CDT [at] chinadigitaltimes [dot] net.
“Drinking tea” refers to the widespread practice by the Domestic Security Department police and other authorities of inviting citizens who have been engaged in subversive behaviors to “tea,” where they are interrogated about their political activities and warned against further involvement. One who has been compelled to attend these tea sessions is said to have “been tea-drinked” (see to be XXed).
Read about the experiences of the tea-drinked who had things to say around the time of the 2010 World Expo, the anniversary of Tiananmen and the Jasmine Revolution.
