10 | Friday, April 5, 2019 DAILY HOLIDAYTRAVEL

Editor's Note: Qingming Festival is an important time in the lunar calendar for farmers to plan their agricultural activities. It has particular significance on culture, partially deciding the quality, and henceforth price, of the tea leaves. China Daily picks four famous types of tea that are produced at four equally renowned mountainous areas across the country at which you can sip the beverage, enjoy the landscape and embrace the season of spring. Tea tourists infuse new life into rural China

Traditional cultivation, harvesting and sampling of the restorative leaves — as well as their plantations’ bucolic locales — is proving to be a draw for the country’s city dwellers

aroma of the tea that he decided to a unique natural floral and fruity a coat of small white “hairs”, which is Scent from for 1,000 years give it a more elegant name to tone. essential for high-grade . match its lingering note on the pal- “Premium biluochun is sold at Local people pluck only the earli- ate. 9,000 yuan ($1,340) per kilo,” he est buds to get the best flavor. For Since then, it has become one of said. “Some will even be sold as high the high-grade biluochun, one kilo- By CANG WEI in Nanjing tea, with tightly rolled leaves that grant”, the tea is said to have been the most coveted varieties, as 24,000 to 36,000 yuan a kilo- gram of dry tea requires as many as [email protected] resemble the look of snail meat, and discovered by a nun from the Dong- favored by the rich and powerful. gram.” 14,000 to 15,000 tea shoots, as the is harvested in early spring. ting mountain in spring. As she ran- The major tea plantation is in Today, biluochun is also planted buds are so delicate and tender. As one of China’s top ten famous Biluochun has a history of more domly plucked a few of leaves of the Suzhou, province, where in and province, Biluochun is usually brewed two tea varieties, biluochun is renowned than 1,000 years and was original- plant and brewed them in spring the climate and soil are considered but the tea leaves are larger and the or three times, with different aroma for its five outstanding characteris- ly produced in the Dongting water, she was surprised by its won- the best for the cultivation of the taste is nuttier. and taste each time and since the tics: Its unique shape, fruity fra- mountain area near Taihu Lake, derful scent, blurting out the words variety. The core production area The best harvesting season for the tea-making process does not grance, floral aroma, white feathery Jiangsu province, China’s third “scary fragrance”, which then in the city is around 2,000 hec- tea is generally considered to be include a fermentation procedure, appearance and early picking sea- largest freshwater lake with became used by the local people. tares. before the Qingming Festival, mak- biluochun maintains its natural son. majestic scenery and abundant The name stuck until the reign of Ji Xiaoming, secretary of Suzhou’s ing it one of the earliest green tea antioxidants. The name of the tea, biluochun, agricultural produce. Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynas- Dongtingshan Tea Association, said varieties to hit the market every literally means “green snail spring” Originally called Xiasharenxiang, ty (1644-1911). During his visit to Tai- that the biluochun trees are grown year. This particular timing is what Zhang Shaowei contributed to this as it belongs to the category of green which literally means “scarily fra- hu Lake, he was so impressed by the among fruit trees so that it features is believed to give the dry tea leaves story. Local“rock” star grows Wuyi Mountain trade

By HU MEIDONG in Fuzhou counties and villages will focus on and XIN WEN in Beijing improving tourism services. “We are dedicated to building Around Wuyi Mountain in Wuyi Mountain into a world-class south China’s Fujian province, tourist destination, and there are April marks the beginning of tea plans in place to develop more picking season, a period that lasts bed-and-breakfast establishments more than a month and a time and eateries that will help to drive when visitors from all over the up employment and income country come seeking what they among the locals,” he said. consider to be the best tea. More than 80,000 villagers are The mountains where tea trees involved the tea industry, account- are grown provide an extra bonus ing for one third of the area’s total for connoisseurs of the leafy infu- population. The total value of the sion, as they mostly boast pristine local tea industry has reached 2.1 landscape and scenery. Among the billion yuan ($318.2 million). tea trees planted around Wuyi More than a money spinner, the Mountain, dahongpao, is perhaps sought after leaf also stands out as the most famous variety. a symbol of the tranquil, spiritual Famed for its rich, long-lasting life enjoyed by many through the aroma, dahongpao is a traditional brewing and sipping of tea. tea that is made from the foliage of Such a lifestyle is considered a trees that grow in rocky gullies luxury by many urbanites and, nearby streams and rivers. thus, lures them back again and A mild climate is a prerequisite again, not only for the opportunity for growing the tea trees and to enjoy the restorative beverage, abundant rainfall is necessary but to get away from their hectic which is how Wuyi Mountain city lives. became the best place for cultivat- It has created a boom in what ing such “rock tea” varieties. has been dubbed as “slow travel”. More than 800 kinds of tea tree Itineraries of such “slow travel” have been planted in the Wuyi getaways include hiking through Mountain region and the area has the lush forests — which are home become the origin of many diversi- to many mammal and bird spe- fied species. cies, as well as 2,200 categories of Coveted “fuzz tip” is the peak for connoisseurs Tea has become the brand and flora — along with a quintessential image of Nanping city, which is tea experience which starts with a home to the UNESCO Natural and visit to the plantation, and finishes By ZHU LIXIN in , chant, Xie Zhengan, managed to nature has turned some of the peaks boasts thousands of years of history Cultural Heritage site where Wuyi with a . [email protected] turn the leaves of an obscure plant into sculptures, seemingly carved in China. Mountain is located. Its fame has A special tea competition, into a beverage coveted in big cit- painstakingly by human hands. It As melted snow refills the creeks been widely celebrated both at which involves a number of tea is one of the ies like Shanghai, which even now has made the area one of the most and brings waterfalls back to life, home and abroad. experts picking the best produce most pricey and sought-after green still takes five hours to reach by famous natural landscapes in Chi- and budding flowers paint a colorful Tea has gradually grown into to of the year by examining the color tea varieties in China. Despite its road. na, attracting millions of hikers. contrast against Hui-style architec- an industry that has helped boost of the beverage and the lasting name, which literally means fuzz tip The success of Xie in populariz- On the other hand, the clouds are ture, — one of the most celebrated rural revitalization plans to take effect of the taste, is also open to from Yellow Mountain, a mountain ing the tea in Shanghai has been so also believed to form a natural layer building styles in China — Huang- advantage of the natural resour- tourists. range with an area of 160 square great, that Caoxi Road in Shanghai of shelter, blocking the sunlight and shan in spring has always been in ces, fisheries and plantations. kilometers in east China’s Anhui was named after Xie’s hometown. allowing the tea leaves to produce favor among tourists. The newly Xu Weize, former mayor of Nan- Contact the writers at province, it remains a controversy But Wu Weiguo, a local tea expert more nitrogen content and their dis- curated experiences of tea picking ping, said earlier last year that its [email protected] which part of the mountain, charac- who has been studying the planta- tinctive aroma. and processing have provided tour- terized by its oddly-shaped peaks, tion and the history of the tea varie- Though, Wu admitted, it might be ists another reason to stay for a cou- pines and clouds, boasts the best ty for nearly three decades, difficult for average drinkers to tell ple of days more, according to produced example of the tea. attributed the charm of the drink, the difference between native mao- officials of the local tourism bureau. The most common consensus, which features a subtle floral tone, feng tea leaves and “transplanted For those who want to increase agreed by both local tea-makers and to its ecology rather than its process- ones” in other regions. their tea trivia and knowledge of the tea connoisseurs around the coun- ing technique. That’s why the tea Official tea picking season this local leaf, a museum run by the try, is that a small town in the south- can be only labeled as Huangshan year is scheduled to begin on April 8 sixth-generation descendants of Xie ern part of the mountains, called maofeng when its raw leaves are and will kick off with a special cere- is a fascinating place to visit. First Fuxi, is the birthplace of the tea. produced in the region, regardless mony. opened in 2006 and later expanded The tender, needle-like of how they are picked, baked or More than just an event on a local to a whopping 7,000 square meters, is believed to have originated in dried. agricultural calendar, tea picking supplemented by a , the the late 19th century, when a local The moist clouds ringing the has also grown into an added attrac- museum offers a detailed review of merchant tried to make a living in mountain have eroded the granite tion for tourists to travel and visit the cultivation of maofeng and how a remote village after becoming a — which is the major composition of the mountain in springtime, as it grew to become one of the top war refugee. By creating a unique the mountain — into 88 peaks of up there is a reignited interest in the national tea varieties over course of tea baking technique, the mer- to 1,900 meters. The magic hand of traditional beverage, which already the last century. Brewing interest through ecological cultivation

By YANG JUN in Guizhou jing Mountain is at an altitude of adjoined mu of flat fields,” said Hu pesticides on tea plants to 120 types, [email protected] around 2,500 meters and remains Jicheng, vice-director of the prov- the highest in the country. one of the country’s least polluted ince’s agriculture department. Also, by incorporating tea planta- If being newly crowned as one of areas. “But the tea industry is actually tions with forests, an ecological bal- the 28 must-visit destinations for Now the biggest tea grower both blessed by such characteristics, ance has been naturally created to the year of 2019 isn’t enough to visit by size and volume in the country, since high altitude and a moist cli- grow “clean tea”, as Hu put it. Fanjing Mountain in Southwest Guizhou processed 362,000 tons of helps nurture good tea,” he In the case of Fanjing Mountain, China’s Guizhou province, there is tea in 2018, according to statistics added. which is home to 382 vertebrate spe- one more attraction that might lure provided by the provincial agricul- However, instead of highlighting cies, including wild pandas, clouded visitors — its green tea named tural department. That amount is a certain variety or tea with a deli- leopards and the planet’s largest cuifeng, meaning emerald-colored almost three times that of the Unit- cate aroma, the agriculture depart- habitat of gray snub-nosed monkeys pinnacles in Chinese. ed Kingdom’s annual consumption ment promotes the area’s pollutant- — 700 in total — the nature reserve With a tea-growing history dating organized its first International Described as “a sacred Buddhist of tea in 2017. and chemical-free features as its cut- has been dubbed one of the most as far back as the Ming Dynasty Culture Festival, as part of site and a place rewarding hikers “Our agronomy used to struggle ting edge to compete with some of well preserved “green reservoirs” in (1368-1644), villages in the moun- its efforts to not only upgrade its tea with bizarre rock formations and with our unique geography and cli- the more famous tea producers in the world. tainous region have largely relied on processing industry, but to also above-the-clouds views” by the mate characteristics, which can be other provinces. Its rich biodiversity also earned it the production of tea to get out of encourage more tourists to come National Geographic Traveller mag- described as no three consistent According to Hu, the province has a place on the list of UNESCO World poverty. and sip tea amid the phantasmagor- azine, which compiled the list, Fan- days of sunshine, and no three raised the number of prohibited Heritage Sites last year. Last year, the local government ic beauty of Fanjing Mountain.