Abstract: Objective To examine the association between tea drinking and susceptibility to breast cancer. Methods A hospital-based case-control study was conducted. Breast cancer cases (n=464) and nontumorous patients (n=464) were recruited from two affiliated hospitals of Sun Yat-sen University between April 2012 and September 2013. Each individual was interviewed with a questionnaire including socio-demographic factors, dietary habits, menstrual and reproductive histories, disease and family histories, living habits and physical activity. A multivariate unconditional logistic regression model was used to estimate the association between tea drinking and breast cancer risk. Results The average age for cases was (46.78±10.36) years (mean±SD) and for controls (46.58±10.84) years. Two hundred and nineteen cases (47.2%) and 263 controls (56.7%) had the habit of often drinking tea. The logistic regression analyses were adjusted for age, family income, physical activity, passive smoking, coffee drinking, family history of breast cancer in a first-degree relatives, and history of benign breast disease. A significant negative association was found between tea drinking and breast cancer risk (OR=0.74; 95% CI, 0.56-0.97). The frequency and amount of tea drinking had dose-response relationships with breast cancer risk (all P trend<0.01). Further analyses revealed that only oolong tea drinking had a negative association with breast cancer risk (OR=0.62; 95% CI, 0.42-0.93), and the risk decreased with the increased amount of oolong drinking (Ptrend<0.05). Stratified analysis by menopausal status showed that the significant negative association between tea drinking and breast cancer risk were found in postmenopausal women (OR=0.58; 95% CI, 0.36-0.94). Conclusion Tea drinking was negatively associated with breast cancer risk. This potential protective effect may be restricted to oolong tea drinking women and postmenopausal women.