<p>红茶, like 绿茶, (green tea), are particular varieties of tea.</p>
<p>The &quot;red&quot; and &quot;green&quot; do not standalone as verbs describing color but must be compounded with &quot;tea&quot; to indicate a particular variety of tea.</p>
<p>Thus red and green are not verbs but must be read together with &quot;tea&quot; forming compound nouns.</p>
<p>There is therefore only 中国红茶, (Chinese red tea), i.e. a variety of tea popularly known as 红茶, (which is actually black, but who would drink a tea called 黑茶, &quot;black tea&quot;?, which figuratively could mean something &quot;bad&quot; in the tea)</p>
<p>There is no such thing as 红中国茶, meaning &quot;red Chinese tea&quot;, which in this case, the 红 would be a verb. You could call it that if you could find a type of tea from China that is actually red in color. But then it would not be &quot;红茶&quot; anymore.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-23T16:18:49.353Z
黑茶 exists in Chinese, it is the name of a kind of tea. So does 白茶. For example, 普洱 is a kind of 黑茶 instead of 红茶.
River
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-23T16:22:14.087Z
Really?  OK, learn something today; perhaps we also have 蓝茶?
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-23T16:23:53.503Z
Oh, I did not know 普洱 is a kind of 黑茶. I've never called it that though.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-23T17:26:58.347Z
"中国茶类的划分有多种方法，公认的是根据制作方法和茶多酚氧化（发酵）程度的不同，可分为六大类：绿茶（不发酵）、白茶（轻微发酵）、黄茶（轻发酵）、青茶（也叫乌龙茶、半发酵）、黑茶（后发酵）、红茶（全发酵）" Ref:http://zhongce.sina.com.cn/article/view/2490/
River
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-24T03:48:22.860Z
Yes, I've been told that. Many S-E Asian traditional Chinese families in the old days have a huge pot of tea made in the morning and family members drink only this and nothing else throughout the day. If this practice is carried on, many "modern" chronic illnesses could be minimized, I believe.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-23T15:56:25.313Z
2020-10-23T16:12:49.510Z
2020-10-23T16:12:49.510Z
Wayne Cheah
<p>Chinese and English have the <strong>different</strong> word orders in adjectives.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>East China Sea  中国东海</p>
<p>South China Sea 中国南海 <strong>(see below)</strong></p>
<p>Simplified Chinese characters 中文简体字</p>
<p>Traditional Chinese characters 中文繁体字</p>
<p>native English speaker 英语母语用户</p>
<p>native Chinese speaker 汉语母语用户</p>
<p>black Chinese tea   中国红茶 [yeah, Chinese think it is red, not black]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>By the way, Chinese and English also have a <strong>opposite</strong> word order in addresses.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Paris, France  法国巴黎</p>
<p>London, England, UK   英国英格兰伦敦</p>
<p>Beijing, China   中国北京</p>
<p>North China 华北</p>
<p>South China 华南</p>
<p>Northeast China 中国东北地区</p>
<p>mainland China 中国大陆</p>
</blockquote>
<hr />
<p>The examples above are normal cases. However, there do exist abnormal cases — English-grammar Chinese.</p>
<p>For example,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>North America 北美洲</p>
<p>South America 南美洲</p>
<p>East Asia 东亚</p>
<p>Central Asia 中亚</p>
<p>West Asia 西亚</p>
<p>South Asia 南亚</p>
<p>South China Sea 南中国海 <strong>(see above)</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Those are really English-grammar Chinese, literally translated from English. According to Chinese grammar, they should have been called 美洲北部, 美洲南部, 亚洲东部, etc, but those English-grammar Chinese terms are more prevalent now.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-08T21:34:45.713Z
South China Sea is 南中國海. It encompasses China's South Sea 中國南海.
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-29T09:58:54.413Z
@joehua That's just English-grammar Chinese, though frequently used.
Victor
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-29T20:51:51.967Z
Not according to this page (https://www.zhihu.com/question/48419794)
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-08T13:38:19.767Z
2020-12-11T02:29:49.210Z
2020-12-11T02:29:49.210Z
Victor
<p>So, since 红 is a verb, it should precede any other attributive.
Still, if I Google both phrases, it seems that the latter form is prevalent.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-23T15:15:28.283Z
红茶 (red tea) is a noun
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-23T15:29:06.090Z
black tea 红茶 (Yes it is a different colour) | Chinese black tea 中国红茶.
Bósài
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-02T11:33:54.153Z
how is 红 a verb?
wada
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-13T01:53:00.027Z
@wada all adjectives in Chinese are verbs, the adjective "red" can also be interpreted as the verb "to be red"
小奥利奥
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-23T10:29:01.993Z
@小奥利奥 hmm... can you make a sentence that uses 紅 as a verb?
wada
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-23T18:29:18.337Z
@wada 那个公共汽车很红。
小奥利奥
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-24T22:18:27.443Z
@小奥利奥 红 can mean different things when you use it as a verb, and it cannot be used as a verb in formal writing.
wada
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-24T22:37:06.550Z
@wada https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_adjectives#:~:text=Chinese%20adjectives%20(simplified%20Chinese%3A%20%E5%BD%A2%E5%AE%B9%E8%AF%8D,stative%20verb%20to%20describe%20them.
小奥利奥
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-24T23:16:41.853Z
@小奥利奥 try to use 红 as a verb in formal writing. "那个公共汽车很红" sounds like English more than Chinese
wada
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-25T01:34:30.857Z
@wada and yet, its grammatically correct. sorry, i don't make the rules and I'm not a poet.
小奥利奥
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-25T01:38:14.260Z
@wada and what exactly do you find fault with? the example given on the wikipedia page i linked is "天黑了", is it the "很" in my sentence that rubbed you the wrong way or are you stubbornly refusing to recognize colors as verbs
小奥利奥
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-26T05:57:16.260Z
@小奥利奥 https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/42103/does-%e9%82%a3%e4%b8%aa%e5%85%ac%e5%85%b1%e6%b1%bd%e8%bd%a6%e5%be%88%e7%ba%a2-sounds-right/42104#42104
wada
<verbs>
What's the correct word order and why? Should it be 红中国茶 or 中国红茶？
# What's the correct word order and why? Should it be 红中国茶 or 中国红茶？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-10-23)

So, since 红 is a verb, it should precede any other attributive.
Still, if I Google both phrases, it seems that the latter form is prevalent.

**Tags:** verbs
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 红茶 (red tea) is a noun  
> **username_2**: black tea 红茶 (Yes it is a different colour) | Chinese black tea 中国红茶.  
> **username_3**: how is 红 a verb?  
> **username_4**: @wada all adjectives in Chinese are verbs, the adjective "red" can also be interpreted as the verb "to be red"  
> **username_3**: @小奥利奥 hmm... can you make a sentence that uses 紅 as a verb?  
> **username_4**: @wada 那个公共汽车很红。  
> **username_3**: @小奥利奥 红 can mean different things when you use it as a verb, and it cannot be used as a verb in formal writing.  
> **username_4**: @wada https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_adjectives#:~:text=Chinese%20adjectives%20(simplified%20Chinese%3A%20%E5%BD%A2%E5%AE%B9%E8%AF%8D,stative%20verb%20to%20describe%20them.  
> **username_3**: @小奥利奥 try to use 红 as a verb in formal writing. "那个公共汽车很红" sounds like English more than Chinese  
> **username_4**: @wada and yet, its grammatically correct. sorry, i don't make the rules and I'm not a poet.  
> **username_4**: @wada and what exactly do you find fault with? the example given on the wikipedia page i linked is "天黑了", is it the "很" in my sentence that rubbed you the wrong way or are you stubbornly refusing to recognize colors as verbs  
> **username_3**: @小奥利奥 https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/42103/does-%e9%82%a3%e4%b8%aa%e5%85%ac%e5%85%b1%e6%b1%bd%e8%bd%a6%e5%be%88%e7%ba%a2-sounds-right/42104#42104  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2020-10-23. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

红茶, like 绿茶, (green tea), are particular varieties of tea.

The "red" and "green" do not standalone as verbs describing color but must be compounded with "tea" to indicate a particular variety of tea.

Thus red and green are not verbs but must be read together with "tea" forming compound nouns.

There is therefore only 中国红茶, (Chinese red tea), i.e. a variety of tea popularly known as 红茶, (which is actually black, but who would drink a tea called 黑茶, "black tea"?, which figuratively could mean something "bad" in the tea)

There is no such thing as 红中国茶, meaning "red Chinese tea", which in this case, the 红 would be a verb. You could call it that if you could find a type of tea from China that is actually red in color. But then it would not be "红茶" anymore.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: 黑茶 exists in Chinese, it is the name of a kind of tea. So does 白茶. For example, 普洱 is a kind of 黑茶 instead of 红茶.  
> **username_5**: Really?  OK, learn something today; perhaps we also have 蓝茶?  
> **username_5**: Oh, I did not know 普洱 is a kind of 黑茶. I've never called it that though.  
> **username_6**: "中国茶类的划分有多种方法，公认的是根据制作方法和茶多酚氧化（发酵）程度的不同，可分为六大类：绿茶（不发酵）、白茶（轻微发酵）、黄茶（轻发酵）、青茶（也叫乌龙茶、半发酵）、黑茶（后发酵）、红茶（全发酵）" Ref:http://zhongce.sina.com.cn/article/view/2490/  
> **username_5**: Yes, I've been told that. Many S-E Asian traditional Chinese families in the old days have a huge pot of tea made in the morning and family members drink only this and nothing else throughout the day. If this practice is carried on, many "modern" chronic illnesses could be minimized, I believe.  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2020-11-08. Score: 0

Chinese and English have the **different** word orders in adjectives.

> East China Sea 中国东海
>
> South China Sea 中国南海 **(see below)**
>
> Simplified Chinese characters 中文简体字
>
> Traditional Chinese characters 中文繁体字
>
> native English speaker 英语母语用户
>
> native Chinese speaker 汉语母语用户
>
> black Chinese tea 中国红茶 [yeah, Chinese think it is red, not black]

By the way, Chinese and English also have a **opposite** word order in addresses.

> Paris, France 法国巴黎
>
> London, England, UK 英国英格兰伦敦
>
> Beijing, China 中国北京
>
> North China 华北
>
> South China 华南
>
> Northeast China 中国东北地区
>
> mainland China 中国大陆

---

The examples above are normal cases. However, there do exist abnormal cases — English-grammar Chinese.

For example,

> North America 北美洲
>
> South America 南美洲
>
> East Asia 东亚
>
> Central Asia 中亚
>
> West Asia 西亚
>
> South Asia 南亚
>
> South China Sea 南中国海 **(see above)**

Those are really English-grammar Chinese, literally translated from English. According to Chinese grammar, they should have been called 美洲北部, 美洲南部, 亚洲东部, etc, but those English-grammar Chinese terms are more prevalent now.

> **Comments:**
> **username_8**: South China Sea is 南中國海. It encompasses China's South Sea 中國南海.  
> **username_7**: @joehua That's just English-grammar Chinese, though frequently used.  
> **username_8**: Not according to this page (https://www.zhihu.com/question/48419794)  

---

