Taiwan Oolong of 尋 The Lost Art 味 Oolong 失 An Interview With He Jian (何健), Owner of the Yeh Tang 落 Tea Culture Research Institute 的 茶人: Yan Jie (顏婕) Donated By Wushing 傳 統 He Jian is one of the most influential Chajin (tea people) in Taiwan. He has been promoting tea culture for more than 烏 thirty years. He is one of the world’s leading experts on Yixing teapots. His humble demeanor and love for kindness have 龍 made him a very important teacher to us. His perspective on Taiwanese teas is invaluable and we are honored to intro- duce him to our tea community. magine yourself savoring a cup of flavor, in pursuit of a fragrant curl of Nangang style, each very different aged Wen Shan Baozhong tea from steam that wafted, dreamlike, through from the other. I1979. The tea leaves have witnessed history. Of the two tea growers, Wang the passage of more than thirty years to Shuijin represented the Wen Shan bring you this sweet, mellow tea liquor Baozhong tea-making method, using with its warm, clean fragrance. As you Wen Shan Baozhong a technique borrowed from Wuyi tea breathe in, your nostrils are filled with (Pou Chong) 文山包 that involves twisting the tea leaves. the scent of tea, soothing away life’s With the existing Wuyi method as stresses and anxieties. Our search for Wen Shan is situated in the south- a starting point, he developed a pro- this traditional Taiwanese oolong fla- ern and south-eastern regions of the cess with a more thorough oxidation vor brought us to the Yeh Tang Tea Taipei Basin and was Taiwan’s ear- and roast, resulting in a stronger fra- Culture Research Institute on Taipei’s liest tea-growing area, with tea first grance and a deeper, reddish-colored Yongkang Street, where we listened being cultivated there in 1810. Wen liquor. Because of its distinctive flavor, attentively over the teacups to vet- Shan Baozhong tea originated in Tai- some people are still quite enamored eran tea master He Jian as he tirelessly pei’s Nangang district in the late 19th of this stronger-scented, Wen Shan- recounted the stories behind Taiwan’s century. Its founding fathers were style Baozhong tea. Wei Jingshi, on traditional oolong tea varieties: Wen two natives of Anxi County in Fujian the other hand, modified the Wuyi Shan Baozhong, Muzha Tieguanyin, Province, Wang Shuijin (王水錦) tea-making method used for the Wen Dong Ding oolong, and Eastern Beauty. and Wei Jingshi (魏靜時) who immi- Shan style, changing the whole pro- His passion was contagious, and we grated to Taiwan. They established a cess right from the withering stage to fell in love with tea again. Master He’s tea plantation on a hillside of Neihu produce a more lightly oxidized tea tea and stories did more than inform Village in the Qixing region (near the with a greener liquor and a lighter, us; they left us inspired. Through his old Nangang Village), and started to sweeter fragrance. This was the Nan- words, we were carried along on a produce tea. From that point on, two gang style of Baozhong tea—the pre- journey through time, following the distinct styles of Baozhong tea gradu- decessor of the Wen Shan Baozhong rise and fall of that traditional oolong ally developed: Wen Shan style and tea that is commonly seen today. 43 寶 臧 Taiwan Oolong The term “red water” (referring to the color of the liquor) that dates back to the period of Japanese occu- pation was in fact used to distinguish the Wen Shan style from the Nan- gang style of processing. In 1921, the Baozhong Tea Institute was estab- lished in Nangang to promote tea production and pass on knowledge of tea-growing and manufacturing techniques to the local tea farmers. At that time, the bulk of the tea leaves were exported, together with those produced in the neighboring areas of Pinglin, San Xia, and Da Dao Cheng, with whom Nangang enjoyed close and mutually beneficial business ties. Later on, due to several factors such as mining and urban development, tea production in the mountains of Nangang slowly began to decline. The center of Nangang Baozhong tea production gradually began to shift toward Pinglin, where the envi- ronment was more favorable. From 1975 onward, the tea market gradu- ally became geared toward domestic consumption, and these two villages Eastern Beauty after heavy oxidation. that had sprung up because of the tea industry—Nangang and Da Dao Cheng—slowly went into decline. Baozhong tea has a light, elegant flavor and a distinct fragrance, and is well-regarded in the market. Fur- the favorable soil quality and climate, ist attraction, many businesses sprung thermore, the price of Baozhong tea is the area of the plantation expanded up in the area, and the influx of labor completely determined by the quality rapidly and Muzha became a Tieguan- and resources changed the face of the of the tea itself. The difference is obvi- yin-growing region. The main fea- local industry, causing the tea indus- ous, unlike tea leaves from most tea tures of the manufacturing process try to decline. The main internal fac- regions where the price is relatively included using leaves from the origi- tor, on the other hand, was that as uniform and there’s no way to dis- nal Tieguanyin bush varietal, followed farmland was passed down through tinguish the quality. In my opinion, by relatively heavy oxidation, repeated generations of tea growers, it was Baozhong tea’s distinctive flavor makes cloth-rolling, and hand-roasting. continually redistributed and divided it the most classic example of Taiwan- This created a unique flavor with a into smaller and smaller sections, dra- ese tea, and one of the best teas to rich, strong fragrance and a hint of matically decreasing the area available represent the small and refined char- tart fruitiness, and led Tieguanyin to for planting. Because of these core acter of Taiwan. become famed as a regional specialty external and internal influences, it tea that’s representative of the tradi- was inevitable that Tieguanyin would tional art of Taiwanese tea-making. undergo a fundamental change. Muzha (Mucha) In recent years, the characteris- In addition, the advent of tea Tieguanyin 木柵鐵觀音 tics of Tieguanyin, from the aroma to competitions had an influence on the the mouthfeel, have all changed a lot flavor of Tieguanyin. The authorities During the period of Japanese from that early style. So what were the hoped to stimulate the tea economy, rule, tea masters Zhang Naimiao ( main factors that contributed to the so from their perspective, the more 張迺妙) and Zhang Naigan (張迺 evolution of Tieguanyin’s flavor? The tea varieties entered in the competi- 乾) imported Tieguanyin tea seed- external factors include the develop- tions, the better. In order to keep the lings from Anxi and planted them on ment of tea plantations in Maokong competitions running, they needed to Zhanghu Mountain in Muzha Dis- in the 1990s that were aimed at sight- expand the area of origin of the raw trict (also called “Mucha”). Due to seers. After Maokong became a tour- tea leaves, so tea growers moved to 45/ The Lost Art of Oolong Pinglin to grow their tea, and started tional manufacturing method. If we Beauty’s distinctive taste and vigorous, to make Tieguanyin using tea leaves can promote the proper appreciation energizing liquor was received with from the Pinglin region. Tieguanyin of Tieguanyin, then people will rec- great enthusiasm and became very teas from areas of mainland China ognize its true rarity and worth and popular. also entered the arena alongside there will naturally be a market for it. Eastern Beauty can only be pro- Muzha Tieguanyin, slowly diluting Once demand is established, it will duced in one season of the year the distinctive traditional flavor of have a stimulating effect on the wider (global warming has caused the quan- Tieguanyin. industry. tity they are able to produce in win- I believe that the rarer the pro- ter to diminish). This makes it very duction of traditional Tieguanyin difficult for small-scale tea farmers to becomes, the more we need to high- make a living from growing it, and light the few remaining great tea arti- Eastern Beauty the production of Eastern Beauty tea sans, tea bush varietals, and tea-mak- 東方美人 in Taiwan is gradually decreasing. ing methods, to set a benchmark for The tea plantations are small and the the industry. I hope that this high Eastern Beauty tea is also called resources concentrated, which makes benchmark will become the pride of “Peng Feng tea,” or “Bai Hao (white it relatively easy to hand-select the Taiwan and set an example for Anxi, tip) oolong.” It’s mainly produced in choicest tea leaves that have been bit- so that once it has gained prominence, the Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli ten by the small green leaf-hoppers its uniqueness will be better recog- areas of Taiwan. Its most recognizable whose saliva gives the tea its char- nized. To truly capture the “Guan- characteristics are its delicate, linger- acteristic sweetness. Because of this, yin spirit” that is so sought-after in ing honey aroma, and the way it com- the same few people tend to take the traditional Muzha Tieguanyin tea bines the traditional taste of oolong top prizes in the tea competitions. (named for Guanyin, the Bodhisattva with the richness of red tea—of all the Add to this the importing of teas of Mercy), you really need the genu- oolongs, it’s the closest in flavor to red from outside Taiwan (and other fac- ine Tieguanyin varietal, plus the tradi- tea.