GLOBAL EA HUT & Magazine 國際茶亭 September 2019

武 夷 神 山仙 之 岩地 茶 Wuyi Mt. Cliff Tea Extended Edition GLOBAL EA HUT ContentsIssue 92 / September 2019 Tea & Tao Magazine Rou肉桂 Gui

Wuyi Mountain is a must-see pilgrimage for all tea lovers. It is one of the most ideal places on Earth to grow tea. It is also one of the most gorgeous places Love is on Earth. Travel there with us, as we explore the ge- ography, history, folklore and of this changing the world powerful place together in greater depth than be- fore, drinking a great Cliff Tea along the way. bowl by bowl Features特稿文章

19 Wuyi Cliff Tea: 53 Legends of Cliff Tea: Geography & Terroir Shui Gui (水金龜) By De (無的) 55 Wuyi Cliff Tea: 29 The Majesty of Wuyi Mt. Traditional Hand-Processing By Xian Geng (黃賢庚) By Huang Xian Geng (黃賢庚) 35 Legends of Cliff Tea: 77 Legends of Cliff Tea: 大紅袍 ( ) Ji Guan (白雞冠) 武 37 The Garden Grades of 79 Rock Bones & 肉夷 Cliff Tea Floral Fragrance 正 By Wu De (無的) By Tsai Yizhe (蔡奕哲) 岩 43 Legends of Cliff Tea: 83 Special Offer: Tie Luo (鐵羅漢) Four Great Names 45 The Poetic Names of 桂 85 The Inscriptions of Cliff Tea Wuyi Mountain By Wu De (無的) By Huang Xian Geng (黃賢庚)

傳統文章 Traditions 特別加長版 03 Tea of the Month “Rou Gui,” Traditional Cliff Tea, Wuyi Mountain, 91 Voices from the Hut “Life-Changing in Wuyi,” © 2019 by Global Tea Hut By Kristina Clark All rights reserved.

95 A Call to Action recycled & recyclable No part of this publication may be Help us to build the best Tea Center the world reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys- tem or transmitted in any form or by has ever known. Help us spread the word! any means: electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other- 97 TeaWayfarer wise, without prior written permis- Liva Olina, Latvia Soy ink sion from the copyright owner. n September,From the weather begins to cool downthe and Back in the day, iteditor was my first tea love: the tea that inspired we can sometimes tea outdoors. Most of our me to forget whatever busywork I was up to and sit down 2019 fundraiser have arrived, and we can start for another kettle. It called me to explore and learn more, digging into this year’s amazing offerings. We have to research, read and travel. The first time I went to Wuyi, Isome incredible tea this year, including one of the best teas I was blown away… we have ever offered in any Light Meets Life fundraiser. We There are no words in all the tongues of men or gods also start drinking more traditionally processed , to describe the glory of Wuyi Mountain. It is more than aged oolongs and Cliff Tea around this time, which is per- just a beauty of the eyes; it touches the heart. Entering the fect for this month’s Extended Edition. It is, of course, way park changes the way you breathe, walk and feel. It is a better when we all drink tea together. pilgrimage for tea lovers, and for more than twenty years I There are a tremendous number of stunning teas on our have made it a priority to travel there at least once a year (I site for the fundraiser this year! Also, as many of you no have only missed one year, as I was busy serving tea to you). doubt know, I have recently published a book called Fallen I have hoped that we could collect all our writings Leaves. A signed hardbound version can be purchased on on Wuyi, translate some parts of amazing books and invite the “” section of our website and a paperback from some authors who also love Wuyi, like Master Tsai Yizhe Amazon. All proceeds will help us build your Center, Light (蔡奕哲), and gather it all in an Extended Edition. This Meets Life. is one of the most comprehensive publications on Wuyi As we continue to move forward towards a new Center Mountain and Cliff Tea in the English language. It is also for all of you, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank one of the issues of Global Tea Hut that I am the proudest all of you for so much love, tolerance and support all these of in all the many issues we have made so far. I hope the years. You who have come to the events we have hosted reading of it inspires you as much as the creation of it did around the world, I bow to you. Thank you so much for all for us. Aside from a trip to Wuyi, this issue will be the next the kindness, support, smiles and love. It has touched me best thing to help you cultivate a real understanding of this so deeply how far some of you traveled to come have tea magnificent place and tea. But I do hope that you all get with me when I was abroad. And those of you who have the chance to visit one day. It is a must-see for a tea lover. sacrificed to come here to and take ten-day courses, (Maybe a Global Tea Hut Annual Trip?) May you all stand filling this Center, Tea Sage Hut, with purpose and inspi- beneath these magnificent cliffs, cup of amazing Cliff Tea in ration, reason and life. I also would like to honor all of you one hand, the other on your heart, transcended and uplift- who have subscribed to this magazine and contributed your ed, inspired to walk further down this Dao of Cha… resources to continue this project. I also know there are all kinds of unseen help and support, like spreading the word about Global Tea Hut or Light Meets Life, as well as those who have carried teaware about town, offered space for cer- emonies or done any number of other awesome good deeds to help keep the tea flowing. Finally, I would like to own Wu De any and all mistakes made in these magazines, at our events or at our Center and bow deeply once more for your toler- ance and patience throughout this tea life we have shared together. I love you all more than words can tell. And no matter what, even if I end up back in a small hut with only a single cracked bowl and some , I would share it with you. I pray we have the chance to share many more bowls of tea. And if we don’t, I wish you a thousand, thousand bowls, each one the Morning Dew! –Further Reading– These Extended Editions are the highlight of my year as an author and editor, as they offer a chance to break our backs in service of greater depth. It is always a deep and last- This month, we recommend re-reading the June ing source of joy, pride and inspiration to explore the topics 2015 issue, which was all about one of our Annu- we all know and love in a much more thorough way. And al Global Tea Hut trips, which we took to Wuyi. there is no topic that I am as inspired by as Wuyi Cliff Tea. All of our past issues are on our website for free. For me, Cliff Tea was my first passion. In college, I took Share them with your friends as well when they the train quite some distance to get tins of Wuyi Cliff Tea. come over for tea!

2 of the

ver the course of this month, we have the great around the courtyard for their outdoor withering, we see pleasure to drink one of the most valuable and bug bites all through many of the leaves. The old Master, high-quality teas we have ever shared in this mag- Huang Xian (黃賢義), says that “this is a good year, azine. Wuyi tea has recently grown in fame, resulting in you see.” The bites ensure that the ecology was healthy, full very exorbitant prices. Fine Cliff Tea is amongst the best, and rich, which means the tea will be great. Master Huang most subtle and purest teas on Earth. And as the demand knows that Nature makes fine tea, and before humans get for fine tea has grown exponentially, so has the renown of involved and start using skill to dry the leaf, one needs Wuyi, and fine, well-made teas like our Tea of the Month. high-quality raw material. This is why master chefs do their It is therefore only through the generosity of our dear own shopping. They know that high-quality ingredients are friends, the Huangs, whom we will discuss in more detail in half the dish. Having a healthy, balanced ecology is just the the Deeper Session article coming up, that we could share start of fine tea. It also takes the perfect weather. Heaven this tea with all of you. Through a love of tea and a spirit and Earth must therefore come together to make fine tea. of sharing, they have generously donated this month’s tea The bug bites also mean oxidation. When a bug bites a in its entirety to all of you. Raise a bowl to their kindness! leaf, the rim around the hole turns red, as the leaf has start- Rou Gui (肉桂) is one of the most famous varietals of ed to oxidize in that location. This added oxidation is good Wuyi Cliff Tea. Our Rou Gui comes from old trees in Hui for traditional processing, in which the oxidation of Grotto (慧苑坑) in the park. Like most varietals of tea is heavier (usually between 40 and 70 percent). Tradi- Cliff Tea, Rou Gui began in the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). tional processing also means a heavier roast, but one of the The name literally means “cassia,” which is an evergreen problems we often encounter with Cliff Tea is that the roast tree common to Taiwan and China, the bark of which is is too heavy. People often report that they bought various used to make the spice cinnamon. We will discuss all the varietals like Rou Gui, Bai Ji Guan (白雞冠) and ways that Cliff Teas are named later in this issue, but one of (水仙) and then brewed them at home, only to find that the more common types of name is based on the fragrance they all taste the same—like heavy roast. When we asked of the tea. Rou Gui is one such tea, named after its flavor/ Master Huang about this, said that any step in tea pro- aroma, which is said to resemble the cassia plant by some duction should enhance the tea without leaving a trace of and cinnamon bark by others. Some say its leaves also re- itself, roast included. He said that most Cliff Teas were tra- semble its namesake. ditionally allowed to sit until of the fol- The Huangs produce half-handmade teas and ful- lowing year to let the roast mellow, but nowadays it is often ly handmade teas. The fully handmade production is too sold in the autumn (like our Tea of the Month). expensive to donate in these quantities, so our Tea of the Brewing this tea to bring out its finest qualities will be a Month is half-handmade. This means that the harvest and bit of a challenge for some of us, but if you do hit the sweet withering were done by hand, but the shaking, firing and spot, this tea is full-bodied, fragrant and powerfully rich rolling were done with machines. They did a charcoal roast and smooth with a long-lasting aftertaste. If you brew it for us, which was a very kind gesture and an added bonus lighter, you will definitely be able to taste the cinnamon/ to the quality of this amazing tea. Crafting any oolong tea cassia notes of the varietal. Spend a proper amount of time with skill is very difficult, and maintaining a high level of with this tea, would you please, as it was a very generous quality with machines is very challenging. gift. It deserves some appreciation and care. It will reward Fine oolong tea starts with a healthy environment. As you for the time and devotion with a precious session that the leaves come into the factory and we watch them spread will be a tea highlight of your year!

3 Rou Gui (肉桂) Wuyi Mt., China 烏武 夷 Traditional Cliff Tea 正 龍岩 茶 Han Chinese 茶 ~300-500 Meters Tea of the Month

A Deeper Session Further Exploration into Our Tea of the Month

ver the course of this month, As we so often discuss in these is- factors, we can reproduce the same we will be drinking an amaz- sues, tea is its location. Place is tea and plants in larger, identical quantities 茶 ing Wuyi Cliff Tea named tea is place. This is often referred to as in different places around the world. Oafter the cassia trees that flourish “terroir.” As we will discuss in much But this factory philosophy to farming throughout southern China, “Rou Gui more detail later on in this issue, Wuyi eliminates the local ecology and its role (肉桂).” It is amongst the best teas we is a very unique place with a very spe- in production, treating all soil as the have ever sent and will be an amazing cial geography, flora and fauna unlike same conglomerate of chemicals that tea to sip with our tea family around anywhere on Earth. This means that we control by adding this or that, and the world while we once again dive tea is “immovable,” as it was often views plant species as products that can deeper into a topic, doubling our mag- called in ancient times. In part, this be blueprinted and then produced on azine towards greater, vaster and more means that moving tea to another area a large scale. open vistas of tea wisdom. Throughout creates a completely different tea. This No matter what environment we this issue, we are going to cover Wuyi is something tea lovers before us un- grow plants in, the environment plays and the Cliff Tea that grows there in derstood very well. a role, as does the human relationship greater detail than ever before, tak- In modern times, we have come to that environment. A philosophy ing a long trek through the park with to view agriculture in terms of indus- that treats a mountain as a blank can- plenty of tea stops. Here, let’s brew up trial production. We see plants as a vas, and ignores the flora and fauna a deeper session of this Rou Gui and “product” and the place where they that are growing and thriving in bal- talk about an aspect of this tea we don’t are grown as a medium or factory, ance there is akin to an oppressive so- always cover… and think that by controlling certain ciety colonizing a foreign place for its

5/ Rou Gui (肉桂) resources and ignoring the rights of the methods and craftsmanship of the lo- Tea are a huge aspect of what makes local natives (which human history is cals who developed ways of processing Cliff Tea become Cliff Tea. In these also fond of doing). This is also like that tea over many, many generations. articles, we often discuss the natu- building architecture that stands out And those generations have not only ral part of tea, perhaps leaning too and apart from Nature. But there is evolved and refined those methods, far into the need for healthy, natural a more cooperative philosophy based but honed them through decades of and biodiverse ecologies to grow fine on designing buildings that harmonize practice passed down to children who tea, and sometimes neglecting the with Nature and feel like they have al- will practice for decades before hand- importance of the Human element ways been there. ing them down again, and so on. in tea. Fine tea is always the work Growing sterile, reproducible tea When you remove a tea from its of a good ecology and healthy trees that can be blueprinted anywhere in environment and from the cultural (土, Earth), the right weather and tim- the world via cloned cuttings of trees legacy that crafts it, it becomes lifeless, ing (天, Heaven) and the skills, crafts- and agrochemicals, in the end, pro- like a cheap touristy copy of the origi- manship, devotion and work of people duces just what it sets out to: a cloned, nal. Cliff Tea must be grown between (人, Human). The human element is sterile, lifeless “product” that lacks the the cliffs of Wuyi, in other words, and as critical as the natural factors. unique characteristics that made that processed by the people who have been There are three aspects to what - varietal famous in the first place. Fac- doing so for centuries. mans bring to the equation of fine tea: tors that are undoubtedly related to The centuries of prayer, devo- first is the heritage and history run- the unique environment it comes from tion and lifelong commitment to ning through their blood. If you trav- and the culture, history, processing refining and improving Wuyi Cliff el to India and take a cooking class,

6 Tea of the Month you will be awestruck by the locals’ secrets—methods of processing the the human being as a natural part of ability to make great curries without tea. For example, the Huangs, who we the environment. This spiritual affinity recipes and their innate spiritual con- will discuss shortly, often say that when to the tea includes prayers and rituals nection to the spices they use. How oolong tea is made properly, the liquor (common to all tea-growing regions), de- many times have you been in a city and should be golden, not reddish as most votion to the trees and spirits of the land, chosen a restaurant because it was “au- Cliff Tea is. And their Cliff Teas are soil and water, as well as prayers and de- thentic,” which means the cooks were certainly golden, as you will see when votion to their own ancestry. The care for of that nationality? And wasn’t it bet- you brew our Tea of the Month. The the land and resources handed down to ter? There really is something to this. methods for making a golden tea, as them includes spiritual maintenance— There is a generational and spiritual opposed to a red one, are very detailed, something all our ancestors understood. bond that is handed down. It is hard refined and take a lifelong commit- to put into words, but hand-processed ment to achieve. Even if you had the 2) The methods of production handed tea possesses something that machines recipe, in other words, you would need down in families, often secretly. These cannot reproduce, and when it’s done to have started practicing in childhood “recipes” are then refined each genera- by genetic ambassadors whose ances- and dedicated your entire life to the tion, so that what is being handed down tors have been working with these very honing of these skills to reach the lev- is improved upon, like any local art or leaves for centuries, there is a magic el of mastery of the Huangs. And they craft. that cannot be reproduced. There is a represent more than ten generations of magic oil in the hands of locals that is such devotion and skill. 3) The skills that can only be honed to permeated with tea spirit. These, then, are the human factors this degree by a lifelong commitment to Aside from the more spiritual side that go into the production of fine tea: this craft. One must be born into it, so of affinity, called “yuan fen (緣分)” in that one can start practicing at a very Chinese, there is the more concrete 1) An unsaid spiritual connection to the early age, and therefore have many more refinement of skills that are handed environment where the people live, to years of practice than an outsider possi- down generationally in tea families. the trees and the processing of the leaves. bly could. This is where the methods in Like recipes, these are often guarded Remember, terroir includes culture and #2 find their outlet, their application. It is one thing to have theory, which could be shared with you if you gained the family’s confidence, but it is a whole oth- er thing to actually be able to apply that theory with your own hands. In tea pro- duction, these skills include knowing the environment and trees to a very subtle degree, understanding the climate spir- itually, astrologically and scientifically to know when to harvest, and then, of course, all the amazingly refined skills needed to dry the tea, from withering to shaking, firing to rolling, and roasting to sorting.

In a world where the human influ- ence all too often harms or outright destroys Nature, upsetting the bal- ance of local ecologies and extincting species that play a decisive role in the overall health of their environments, it is easy to emphasize, or even exagger- ate, the wild, natural influences. But in focusing just on natural environments, we forget that it is human philosophy, mindset, heart and devotion that pro- tects these environments in the first place. In order to grow living tea, in other words, we need humans to pro- tect natural tea gardens. The human also is central to fine tea in so many ways. And that brings us to some of the finest tea farmers we have ever met in decades of tea travel, the Huangs (黃) of Rui Quan (瑞泉).

7/ Rou Gui (肉桂)

Tea of the Month Rui Quan

On the upward of a moist-eyed they too are leaving fulfilled by a mag- the most skill and management. As bow to my host, Huang Sheng Hui ical trip and in awe of their hosts’ self- a semi-oxidized tea, it requires many (黃聖輝), after thanking him once lessness. The many years they lived in a stages to wither, bruise, de-enzyme and again for all he’s done, we glance over small, remote village still inform their roll to get the right level of oxidation. his shoulder into the hall of the guest- modernized lives. In that way, they are This formula may sound simple, but house and up at the golden statue of a part of the heritage and wisdom we any skill seems simple when presented Xuan Zang (玄奘), who long ago de- all need to learn from if we are to create to beginners in the most basic list of fied royal decree banning international a world truly worth living in. The gen- procedures. To the master, there is in- travel and left China to roam around erosity they have shown us year after finite variety in every one of these stag- India. After sixteen years and many year throughout our tea journey makes es, based on the water content in the adventures, Xuan Zang returned home them some of the greatest mentors for leaves, the weather, sunshine, tempera- with thousands of sutras, relics, statues our Center, and a powerful influence ture, etc. In terms of processing skills and other Buddhist treasures. As we in its creation. Guiding by example, (gongfu), oolong is definitely the most stand bowing our farewells to Master they’ve helped us to define the princi- refined of all tea genres. And all oolong Huang, we think we understand what ples that we believe to be at the core tea processing, as well as many of the it must have been like to leave India of Tea spirit: sharing leaves as an act of varietals, originate in Wuyi Mountain, for home with so many treasures, feel- kindness and asking nothing in return. making the Cliff Tea produced here ing as if we too were departing with From our viewpoint, the Huangs’ the eldest of this princely caste of tea. a few dozen horses’ worth; and like tea is at the pinnacle of the most re- Amongst such royalty, there is surely a Xuan Zang, most of our fortune is wis- fined tea being produced today. Of all king, just as every mountain has up- dom as well—Tea wisdom. But Master the kinds of tea, oolong is the most per reaches, and then finally a peak— Huang dismisses our thanks with the complicated to produce, requiring Huang Peak. saying: “The people of one house don’t talk like two house people (一家人不說兩家事).” It’s said to im- part familiarity when you are being too formal. It means that “we are family,” “make yourself at home” or perhaps “don’t be afraid to ask for anything you need.” It also expresses a kind of loving-hospitality, suggesting that you speak as you would to your own peo- ple in your own home. Oftentimes such polite sayings deflate over time into superficial manners, but there are those rare people who are living tra- ditions—people whose hospitality is genuine and heartfelt. The fact that it really is their pleasure to have you as a guest beams from their eyes, and you feel honored and loved. You feel the way you do when you go home. We’ve been fortunate to meet such traditional people now and again in our travels, but none more kind or generous than the Huangs. Huang Xian Yi (黃賢義) and his sons truly see the Buddha in the guest and the guest in the Buddha, inspir- ing us to be better hosts after we return home. Every visit to Wuyi, we have felt a sense of homecoming to a distant but loving family. They are gracious with their home, food, tea and their wis- dom. And when you ask around, you see that others feel the same way—that

9/ Rou Gui (肉桂) 瑞泉茶

If oolong is the most refined of two, stops and looks up with a faraway remove their shoes before entering the teas, and Wuyi Cliff Tea its brightest gleam in his eyes: “We are building a garden and weren’t allowed to talk at example, the teas made by the Huangs glorious cathedral that will house the all during picking. With a bright smile at their studio, Rui Quan, are the last prayers of people for many generations and a sparkle in his eyes, he told us of vista, from which we can climb no to come,” he says. The Huangs are that a time when an elder uncle came into higher. Let’s explore some of the rea- third builder. his grandfather’s smoking a sons why… Tea has only been a commodity pipe and his grandfather chased him for maybe a thousand years, and only out, not letting him live the infrac- in earnest for hundreds. Before, and tion down for the next three days. In even through that time, there have honor of that, the Huangs also start The Heart用心做 been many thousands of years of tea the picking season with prayers and a as sacred plant medicine. The terraces silent walk to the gardens for the first You can make tea for a lot of rea- that hold the tea gardens in the park harvest. sons. You can do it to support your are made from tens of thousands of True Cliff Tea (正岩, ) family or because it is what you know. stones that were quarried thirty kilo- is only harvested once a year, like all One stonemason just cuts bricks to meters away and carried into the park, tea was traditionally—before the in- certain dimensions all day. When and then placed lovingly in ideal spots dustrial “Nature as resource” philos- asked what he is doing, his fellow in a way that has lasted the centuries. ophy began to motivate tea and oth- stonemason says that he is here work- You can feel the Human/Nature coop- er agriculture. This means that the ing for money to support his wife and eration in this. Our host, the eldest son families in Wuyi must earn their en- children. The third man, cutting the Huang Sheng Hui, told us that in his tire income from the output of these same stones in the same way as the first grandfather’s time, tea pickers had to few very intense and stressful weeks.

To the far left, we see the grandmas- ter at work. Huang Xian Yi (黃賢義) is one of the most sensitive tea producers we have ever met, and a deep smell is often enough to know exactly where a tea is in its journey. To the left, Sheng Hui makes incredibly convincing and loud animal calls with bamboo, which is how the farmers used to communi- cate over distances when they lived in the park. Below, Sheng Hui smells some of their old trees and his father shows us our magazine, which he carried in his back pocket for months, as he was so proud to be featured in such a way by “true Chajin.”

10 Tea of the Month

This ensures focus and heart from then had to weed by hand, find ways the latter part of that period, the words them all. But beyond that, the Huangs of managing pests and ways of fertiliz- that the old father used to convince his have a true passion to make better and ing that may not increase production son to come back home, for us, sum better tea, and a reverence for Tea. As as much as the chemical alternatives. up what makes the energy of Rui Quan the old master Huang Xian Yi told us “We decided that if the tea was better tea different from other producers in about the many decades when tea was for people and the land we love, then Wuyi and other tea mountains we have sold for almost nothing—not enough it was worth the extra effort. We knew been to. The old father said to his son, to feed a family—we realized that the other people would care the way we do “Meditation and study of scriptures is people who carried those stones thir- and pay a bit more for finer tea.” That good spiritual cultivation, but making ty kilometers weren’t economically decision came out of a heart devoted to tea is also spiritual cultivation.” motivated to do so. While they may being a tea maker, not just making tea have made part of their living from for money or because that is what you tea, it wasn’t the reason why they were do—but because that is what you are, Handcrafted 手工製作 willing to go to such great lengths to heart and soul. honor Tea. It was because they revered From the ages of twenty to twen- Out of the passion to make fin- these trees, and through them found ty-six, Huang Sheng Hui lived in the er teas as a Way (道, Dao) of life, heritage and culture that connected Xin Monastery, studying Bud- the Huangs realized early on that it them in a living way to their forebears. dhism and volunteering as a lay novice. would have to be done by hand. No Long before others in the area, the He had an inclination to leave home machinery is as sensitive as the hands Huangs made a decision very early on and become a monk, but he was the of a master, shifting and changing the to bear the extra costs and produce all eldest son and his father needed him processing methods based on the tea. their tea organically. Of course, they to help with the work at home. During For example, if the tea leaves have

11/ Rou Gui (肉桂) To the far left is the very spot just under Shui Lian Dong (水簾洞), up the stairs and under the overhang, where the Huangs once had a booth selling their tea for around a dol- lar a jin (500 g). They also served roadside boiled tea by the bowl for passersby for some pence (like all good tea sages). Sheng Hui still remembers sitting in the hot all day and how very few people bought their tea, even at that amazingly cheap price. To the left, Sheng Hui straps on a basket. He has not forgotten how to climb the mountains, striding away from us like a mountain goat, even though the incline was very steep and we were struggling to keep up at all. The garden around Shui Lian Dong is all very, very old Shui Xian (Water Fairy, 水仙) trees owned mostly by the Huangs. The trees are tall and gorgeous. Above, Sheng Hui looks out at the Water Curtain from underneath the beginning of Rui Quan rock, “肉桂,” one of the “ninety-nine rocks” of Wuyi with striations and beautiful patterns flowing down to the old tea process- ing facility shown on p. 15. Traveling through this nostalgic memory with Sheng Hui is one of our favorite pastimes, as the stories about the “good ol’ days” always make us smile. Life was truly idyllic for the farmers who once lived in this park, surrounded by its glory and all its Tea! more water, the firing (殺青, sha qing) duction of handmade tea every year. ating incredibly fine tea, produced by should be done with long, upward In that way, his sons all continued to master hands; they are also protecting pulls that scatter the extra moisture, practice making tea the way they had and preserving important cultural her- whereas tea from a dry season should first learned back when they still lived itage. In the last ten years, as a direct be fried in little inward rotations that in the park, with a chance of one day result of the influence of the Huangs, hold the leaves in the wok and preserve becoming the master their father is. more and more producers in Wuyi are the water content. They eventually started making more making larger quantities of hand-pro- Like the other families in Wuyi, the than half their tea in this way, becom- cessed tea. It still does not represent Huangs bought modern machines to ing the only family in Wuyi producing any amount in comparison to indus- produce more tea, more quickly and large quantities of fully hand-processed trial tea production, but change is pos- efficiently. In most houses, the elder Cliff Tea. sible. masters then make a small batch of Producing tea fully by hand in some hand-processed tea to give to im- the traditional way is unheard of in portant clients, good friends or govern- the oolong world. You would be hard 國家公園裡 ment officials. Over time, this meant pressed to count a single hand’s worth Inside the Park that the traditional processing skills in the whole world. We know of only would eventually not be handed down two in Taiwan, though there might be The Huangs own around fifty acres to future generations—yet another others. And even those who know how of some of the best gardens in the aboriginal art leaving this superficial to produce tea by hand and do so very park, all with heirloom trees, many mechanical world for some other. This rarely create large enough productions of which are centuries old. But they would break the old master’s heart, so to share with anyone. In this way, the aren’t the only family to have access the Huangs began increasing their pro- Huangs are doing more than just cre- to zheng yan tea (“true Cliff Tea”).

12 Tea of the Month Many aboriginal families are produc- People began to recognize how much The stunning escarpment is a gi- ing true Cliff Tea, but Rui Quan is the heart they put into all aspects of their ant brushstroke of browns, yellows only family producing their tea inside tea production, from caring for the and oranges that are different from the park itself. In the late 1990s, when trees organically to producing the tea the dark blue-gray or red of the other Wuyi became a UNESCO protected by hand. Eventually, they achieved cliffs in the park. And from this giant park, the aboriginals were relocated some renown. Saving all their money, cliff, a thin waterfall has ever flowed, to a small village on the other side of a lifetime’s worth, and working togeth- swayed by the wind back and forth like the river that demarcates the national er with local and federal governments, a summer curtain billowing before an park. They were given subsidies and their dreams finally came true: In the open window, and then falling into a low-interest loans to build a small vil- mid-2000s, the Huangs were given pool beneath where the Huangs once lage there. They built simple, modern permission to convert the only build- bathed in the warm seasons. The green gray houses with shared walls along ing in the park, an abandoned, run- valley and centuries-old Water Fairy several little streets. The families then down government office, into a tea- (水仙, Shui Xian) trees all around converted the first floors of their hous- processing museum that would protect made it feel as if we’d strayed into a es into tea-processing facilities and live the cultural heritage of Wuyi tradi- dream. upstairs. The Huangs also have a house tional tea processing. They spared no Their tea-processing facilities were in the village, where they too processed expense and left no detail undone, in- also located there, along the large cliff, their Cliff Tea for many years. cluding the walls, which they re-built and the ruins of it still stand. The bluff The old master of the family, using the traditional mud bricks that and ledge on which the old process- Huang Xian Yi, has often told us that were used to build the tea-processing ing facility rests is called “Rui Quan,” moving out of the park, his home and facilities in the old days in the park. which means “Auspicious Springs,” inheritance, broke his heart in a way This same mud from inside the park and is, of course, the inspiration for that can never be healed. He said that has an energy to it, but more impor- the family’s brand. every time he crosses the river and tantly, it allows the masters to control The modern produc- leaves the park, his body feels different. the humidity and temperature much tion in Wuyi is often sad, like much We asked him if the same could be said more skillfully. They also installed the of the world. The sons have had easi- for the tea. “Of course,” he exclaimed, bamboo poles to wither the tea in the er lives, but the old father has seen his “the energy in the leaves shifts. Also, way it should be. share of hard times. Despite that, he the hike to get the leaves is already a Apart from the tea-processing facil- is quick to smile with joy. Fortunate- long one, and when you add the time ities, the museum has several tea rooms ly, Wuyi was not directly affected by it takes to then transport the leaves to hold events, a library and many tea WWII, as the Japanese never invaded by vehicle over to the village, it can antiques. Aside from the monks of or bombed this rural area. Most of the sometimes take too long, affecting the Tian Xin Monastery, Rui Quan is now people we have asked about this attri- overall withering of the tea. And that the only Wuyi Cliff Tea produced in- bute it to the protective energy of so is the most important stage in process- side the park itself. This makes Rui many thousands of years of medita- ing fine oolong tea.” Furthermore, the Quan tea the “zheng zheng yan.” tors, monks, hermits and other spiri- small village was designed to be simple tual aspirants who have lived and prac- and affordable rather than architect- ticed here. ed to create the finest tea. Having no In the late 1970s, the families in outdoor space, the tea produced there Heritage遺產 Wuyi were forced by the government is all withered on the road, or in the to grow rice, and many tea trees were adjacent parking lot, exposed to car “Rui Quan” teas have been pro- uprooted by officials. In the Qing exhaust and the dust of traffic. Tradi- duced for more than three hundred Dynasty (1644–1911), there were tionally, fine Cliff Tea went through its years, though they officially branded more than eight hundred varietals of outdoor withering on round mats sus- the name in 2003. Huang Sheng Hui Cliff Tea. Over time, that number has pended on long bamboo poles that al- is the twelfth generation in a line of been reduced to around fifty, many of low airflow from underneath. For these master tea producers. For almost all which were lost at this time. In 1982, and many reasons, the Huangs knew of that time, the family lived inside the government returned the tea trees that to produce the best Cliff Tea, it the park in several locations, finally to the aboriginal people, leasing the would have to be done in the park, as settling in the Water Curtain Cave land to different families. Great coun- it always had been. But how? Building (水簾洞, Shui Lian Dong) area where cils were held to divide the old gardens in the park was illegal. the past five generations of Huangs amongst all the people living there With that dream as a guiding star, lived in the same large house with four based on how many relatives each had. they never let go of the idea, saving all wings and a courtyard in the center. We asked the old master if there were that they could with the hopes that Sheng Hui took us to the location of many arguments over who got which such an opportunity would come. Be- his old house and showed us a giant garden at that time. He said, “No, in cause of their dedication to hand-pro- tree planted by his grandmother. All those days people were used to village cessed tea and protecting cultural her- that remained of the old house were life and council. And while some gar- itage, they began to attract true tea tiles scattered around the forest floor, dens or trees were famous, all the tea lovers over time, including our own like the generations of memories left was good. There wasn’t any low quality master, Ping (林平祥). behind. tea in those days.”

14 Tea of the Month Even though they began farming commitment to tea, that he contin- The second theme that threads tea again, the government took the fin- ued producing it despite the fact that through the fabric of all our conver- ished tea and paid them very moderate it didn’t even provide enough for his sations, leaving us embroidered with wages. They barely earned enough to family to live. He truly does love Tea Tea spirit, is the influence of the park buy clothing, tobacco, oil, soap and with all his heart and that is an import- itself. We love the stories of when fa- sundries. All of their food had to be ant aspect of living tea! thers or sons were boys, leaping over self-cultivated, which meant that when As we talk with the Huangs each rocks on the way to school, catching they weren’t caring for the tea gardens year, three recurring themes always in- fish with their hands, or occasionally or processing tea, they were farm- spire us: The first is how deeply their meeting hermits or monks meditating ing vegetables, raising pigs and doing ancestry is rooted in the park, and how in caves. Sheng Hui often grabs leaves other chores. “It didn’t feel like work, little life there was affected by the out- or bamboo and makes incredibly vivid though,” Huang Sheng Hui says. “It side world. The old father laughingly and convincing bird and animal calls felt like life. It wasn’t something you relates how the people had different with different leaves in his mouth, tell- had to do, but who you were. And the names for things from the outside ing us with a big smile that this was vegetables we grew were amazing… world than what they are called by how people communicated across We still remember how delicious they mainstream society. The son relates mountains back in the day. They told were. You can’t find such nutritional how his entire school from first to fifth us of a time the whole village saw an food nowadays.” grades was only nine students, all of immortal walking across the tops of In 1993, the old master began pro- whom he still knows today. You get the trees, or the father and his young ducing tea with real heart, and loving the feeling that these are a rooted peo- friends coming upon a cave inhabit- what he did. He began investing all his ple—people who grew up with their ed by an old hermit that was glowing soul in making better and better tea, blood and sweat irrigating the land with an otherworldly light. Life inside which he would sell in small packets their ancestors also bled and sweat on, the park was even more beautiful than to tourists for nine RMB a jin (斤, with lives rooted in a rich culture and a walk through its glorious paths can just over one USD for 500 g) for his calendar of holidays, harvests, wed- now reveal glimpses of. And one can highest quality tea. He also would boil dings and funerals that connect them understand the broken-hearted sad- stems and some leaves and sell bowl tea in a tangible way to their lineage. With ness that comes with being moved to passersby for some pence. The mon- sparkling eyes, Huang Sheng Hui told out, not to mention the end of the vil- ey wasn’t enough to have a savings, but us that, “In those days, wedding feasts lages and traditional culture that sur- they were happy living in the beautiful would go on for seven days, bringing rounded them. But the grief has not park, making such fine tea to share. the whole village together. These days, overwhelmed the Huangs; they still This demonstrates the old master’s you just eat one meal for a few hours.” treat you like you’re a village neighbor, 瑞 泉

15/ Rou Gui (肉桂) and they still carry their culture and a great teacher supports everything The third, youngest son, Huang heritage in their hearts, shaking, frying you do unabashedly, especially some- Sheng Qiang (黄聖强), is the accoun- and rolling them into their tea. one with as much integrity as Master tant for the family. And all three have The last, and most glorious, topic Lin. Over time, the care and love the children, so there is hope for tradition- we always discuss is Tea Herself. We Huangs have put into their tea have al, hand-processed Cliff Tea. always leave grateful to tears that we brought them abundance and suc- In 2006, the Chinese government have had the fortune to meet in this cess. They have come a long way from afforded the Huangs with a precious life people who revere and honor Tea selling bowls of boiled tea to passers- and rare honor, recognizing Huang as more than just a commodity—as a by for a few cents. When the gardens Xian Yi as a “Grandmaster of National way of life, a sacred plant and a rich were divided up in 1982, the Huangs Heritage Skills (國家非物質遗產製 and deep spiritual culture. The Huangs owned around five acres of trees. They 做技藝傳承人).” This title is only giv- truly love Tea. And all the Wuyi sto- have since increased their stewardship en to national treasures who preserve ries, from the legends that surround to roughly fifty acres, with some of the culture, and very few tea producers the varietals’ names to the more per- brightest and best teas in the park. have been given it. Master Huang re- sonal stories, like the one we just told When we asked them about their fused the title and had the government about the old grandfather scolding an future goals, both father and son said bestow it on his son, Sheng , uncle for three days because he smoked that they hope to pass on these tradi- instead, feeling that the tradition and around the trees—all of it leaves you tions to the next generation. Current- heritage of Wuyi was important, not humbled. As we walk through the ly, all three of the sons are mastering he himself. This sentiment also gives park, we see and feel the terraces as al- different aspects of the business. The us hope that these traditions truly can tars and the trees as worshiped saints. eldest son, our host Huang Sheng be handed down and survive into the And all that reverence isn’t just fancy Hui, is in charge of customer service future. talk to sell their tea; the Huangs have and marketing. His time in the mon- We hope that you recognize how gone through great hardship and put astery shows in his natural ability to precious this month’s tea is, and what forth constant, diligent hard work to love kindness and treat others. The a tremendous gift as well. It was craft- produce the best tea they can, sparing second brother, Huang Sheng Liang ed from old trees in one of the most no expense in time or money to im- (黄聖亮), works directly with the old idyllic spots for tea in the world and prove what they do for its own sake. master to inherit the processing skills. processed by the eleventh and twelfth In the late 1990s, the Huangs met He has, in fact, just taken over supervi- generations of master tea producers. Master Lin Ping Xiang, forming a deep sion of production in the last couple of And not just great tea makers or even and lasting friendship that has also led years, while his father looks on quietly, great people—the Huangs are also our us to them. It says a lot when such helping here and there. great friends.

To the far left, Sheng Hui bows in welcome at the location of the traditional Rui Quan tea-processing facility in the park, near Shui Lian Dong (水簾洞). The same mud bricks were used to cre- ate their current facility as well. Immediately to the left is the tree Sheng Hui’s grandma planted right outside the original location of their house, which is now a forest. The only remnants were tiles poking through the forest floor here and there. It was hard for these people to leave their home, but Sheng Hui is happy it is protected and shared. Above, Sheng Hui perched on a rock, and we drank last year’s version of the very old Shui Xian (水仙, “Water Fairy”) tea growing across the way; using spring water from a nearby spring and surrounded by the beauty of the Water Curtain, the tea tasted oh so sweet. It was the treasure memory of the day!

16 Tea of the Month

Brewing沖泡技巧 完成好Tips茶 This month’s precious Rou Gui Cliff Tea really is the quintessence of gongfu tea. As we have discussed in previous issues, “gongfu tea” originally referred to Wuyi Cliff Tea, not a brewing method. Remember, “gongfu” means “mastery through self-dis- cipline.” Oolong tea requires more talent, skill and know-how than any other tea. Not only is it more complicated, with more steps in the processing, but the skill of the one conducting the processing will make or break a great oolong. It requires a deep affinity with oneself and tea to know when to stop withering, for example, and great skill and a centered heart to fire or roll properly. Of course, when one receives such a finely crafted tea, one would want to brew it in a way that honored all the hard work, skill, craftsmanship and tradition that went into it by brewing it properly. And that is a big part of how “gongfu tea” as a brewing method evolved. Gongfu tea, both as brewing and as Cliff Tea, is analogous to owning one’s first handmade, well-crafted purple-sand from Yixing. Hundreds of years of tradition taught and informed the hand of the potter who made it, but they also devoted a lifetime to the craft, honing their own mind, life and hands. Combined with all the hard work of miners, clay makers and others, the final result actually took five hundred years to complete. And when it reaches us, we hope to honor all that effort by using it well and properly—by also caring for it and handing it down to future generations of tea lovers. There is no tea more worthy of starting a gongfu practice than this month’s tea. In order to bring out the best in this month’s Rou Gui, you will have to brew it gongfu. If you absolutely cannot brew this Rou Gui gongfu because you do not know how or lack the tools, then you can put a few (just two to three) striped leaves in a bowl and have a wonderful ceremony. But this tea will not shine the way it was intended to without preparing it using the brewing methods that grew up with such tea. In brewing this month’s tea gongfu, the amount of leaves will be absolutely paramount. There really is no tea more finicky than Cliff Tea. It is either extremely superb and marvelous or it can go sour, taste off or even tart. Of course, that could be due to the quality of the tea as well—both in terms of the garden the leaves came from and the processing skills of the makers. In our case, we are sitting here this month with an incredible sample of beautiful tea. It will require our skill, our gongfu, to prepare it to its highest potential. Always start with fewer leaves. It is easy to add more mid-session (though not ideal), while it is always a waste to pull out leaves. Start by covering the bottom of your pot while still being able to see the bottom, like the first falling of autumn leaves. Aside from using the right materials—a good kettle and stove, nice porcelain cups, a good Yixing pot and a nice teaboat, as well as good water and tea, of course—preserving the heat will be the most important practical detail in finely brewing this month’s tea. This means showering your pot both before and after , as well as pre-warming the cups. The more consistent the temperature is, the better the tea will be. The next step after that is where self-discipline comes in. After consistent temperature, we must work to make our movements as slow, gentle and graceful as possible, so as to disturb the tea as little as possible, letting the brewing happen effortlessly…

Leaves in a bowl Gongfu

Water : spring water or best bottled The amount of tea will be Fire: coals, infrared or gas paramount for this month. Heat: hot, fish-eye, roughly 90–95 °C Try covering the bottom of Brewing Methods: leaves in a bowl or the pot, but you can still gongfu (gongfu is better) see the bottom. Always Steeping: longer, flash, flash, flash, then grow- start lighter and add ing (2-3 stripes is better in a bowl) more. It is a waste Patience: twenty to thirty (gongfu) to take tea out.

17/ Rou Gui (肉桂) 工簡 夫明 茶 武地 理 和 風 夷土 茶

Wuyi Cliff Tea Geography & Terroir 茶人: Wu De (無的)

Wuyi Cliff Tea

or hundreds of years, tea lovers connection these mountains have to energy would attract spiritual seekers have followed a journey leading Nature, the incredibly rich mountain for millennia. These graves also high- into the northern wilderness of waters and the old tea bushes grow- light an important point, which is that FFujian province, where cliffs and riv- ing amongst these cliffs have gathered aside from the three major religions of ers touch the sky with a dancing grace saints, sages and seers since time im- China, there is a fourth, often neglect- that is otherworldly. The rocks here memorial. Though it was the power of ed heritage: the aboriginal people and are covered in calligraphy, carved to Nature that attracted them here, their their wisdom. commemorate dignitaries who came spiritual cultivation over thousands of There are Daoist caves that were to pay respect to this land above the years also lends to the power and mag- once essential stops on meditation clouds and poems written by famous nificence of this place. tours that led to immortality, and scholars and unknown travelers—each Some of the oldest evidence of hu- some say there are still hermits high compelled beyond constraint, over- mans in Wuyi are sky tombs up in the up amongst the peaks of Wuyi even flowing with the emotions that such cliffs that were used in ancient times today. The Daoists believed that if one beautiful rivers, cliffs and bends in the for burial. Walking through the park, meditated through all seasons in each sky inspire. And of course, there is the one still finds evidence of the scaffold- of eleven sacred mountains, immortal- tea, called “Cliff Tea,” for its liquor has ing used to reach high-up natural caves ity was assured. This was one of many within it all these elements. in the cliff faces where bodies were methods for achieving transcendence. Undeniably sacred, Wuyi is one of once laid to commune with Heaven And in that method, Wuyi Moun- the only mountains in China where and Earth. It was no doubt the beau- tains was the final stop—the gateway Daoist, Buddhist, Confucian and ty, spirit and power of this place that to Heaven. There are Daoist shrines Neo-Confucian temples abound in attracted these early humans to make throughout the park even today. May- such close proximity. The powerful this a sacred burial ground. The same be a session there is what’s left?

21/ Wuyi Cliff Tea: Geography & Terroir 風土Terroir “Terroir” is a French word that is generally used in discus- sions of wine, but it is so applicable to tea as well that most tea lovers have adopted it into their discussions of the Leaf. Terroir denotes the special characteristics of a place, found in its geolo- gy, geography, climate and even cultural heritage, which interact with a cultivated plant species to create unique expressions. Ter- roir is the soil and weather of a particular region; the geography and culture of the people and their relationship to the plant, and even the microorganisms and their interaction with the plants. Every place has a unique soil composition, pH, minerals and cli- —all of which create a distinctive tea. When we talk about a tea’s terroir, we are speaking to the unique environment that created it, one which couldn’t be reproduced. Even if you took a grafting of a tree and cloned it elsewhere, it wouldn’t be the same, since the sun would be weaker or stronger, the soil composition different, etc., etc. We are also talking about the cultural heritage of the place, which also makes its natural products unique—from the prayers and beliefs, history and lore to the processing tech- niques for drying the tea. In tea, terroir means that a tea is the place where it is grown. You cannot take cuttings from one place and plant them some- where else and expect them to be the same tea when literally ev- erything will be different, from the climate to the soil and from the micro-ecology to the people and methods used to process the tea. Cuttings taken from Wuyi to Taiwan in the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), for example, became something uniquely Taiwan- ese and modern efforts to re-create one region’s tea elsewhere never fool the connoisseur. This is perhaps most true of real Cliff Tea, as one seeks to drink the incredibly rich, lush and unique terroir that makes Wuyi such a magical place, and that makes the tea there so different from other teas.

For hundreds of years, Buddhist smell of antiquity to the area. And yet, place, along with all the accumulated monks and nuns have tended their own more often than that, you turn a cor- power of the millennia of their prac- tea gardens here, helping to establish ner and find yourself between two tall tice, has a subtle influence on the tea the rich tradition that has made this cliffs, the sun’s rays visible brushstrokes produced here, one that cannot be put magnificent park an essential stop on that gently end in highlights upon the into words. any tea journey. The Heavenly Heart greenery and sparkle on the crystal wa- Wuyi is amongst the most mag- Monastery (天心永樂禪寺) and its ters—and then you realize that it is not ical places on earth. Painters, poets adjunct Hui Yan Temple (慧苑寺) the temples that have made this place and spiritual aspirants have all sought in the center of the park have been sacred, but rather a mystical and mys- and failed to capture the feeling of this there for centuries. They are full of old terious charm that drew the wandering place. The beauty is transcendent. It is shrines and a peaceful energy. Heaven- ascetics here in the first place. more than gorgeous vistas or even the ly Heart is also magnificent as it is sit- Wuyi is a vortex. It is more than poetic flourishes of a brush trying to uated atop a bluff and surrounded by just gorgeous. The beauty here affects capture what it feels like to be there. seven large cliffs that all look exactly the system in a visceral way, - We all try our best, but those who have like elephants (it is really stunning how ing the way you feel and breathe. It is been there know what we mean when much the cliffs do resemble these - a beauty beyond just pretty scenery. we say that we also fail in all but in- jestic creatures, which are, of course, Traveling through the park, one under- vitation alone: visit Wuyi, for the love also important in Buddhist iconogra- stands why most indigenous cultures of Tea! phy). spoke of healing sites in Nature that And all of this spiritual power, gor- On a visit, you can’t ignore the in- were pilgrimage spots. All of the spirit geous Nature and unsaid power are in fluence these old temples have had, and power that drew spiritual seekers the tea we call Cliff Tea, so you can also bringing a tradition of holiness and the and masters from all traditions to this visit from the cup!

22 Wuyi Cliff Tea

The World Cultural and Heri- Garden of Wisdom), Niu Lan Grotto In recent years, however, tea has been tage site of Wuyi Mountain has been (牛欄坑, Cattle Pen), Daoshui Grot- planted all throughout the Wuyi area, regarded as a national treasure since to (倒水坑, Pouring Water); the two including outside the park. We will the Han Dynasty. The many gorges, mountain streams, the Xiang Jian talk more about the “grades” of Wuyi rivers, cliffs and other scenery have (流香澗, Flowing Fragrance), and the tea in terms of where it is grown later inspired countless poets, painters and Wu Yuan Jian (悟源澗, Original En- on, but for now you should remember authors. The park itself is approxi- lightenment). There are also two “nests” that as we discuss all the things that mately seventy square kilometers, and where tea is produced: the make Wuyi tea unique, we are talking most of the famous “36 peaks and 99 (竹窠, Bamboo Nest) and the Jiu Long about “zheng yan (正岩, real/true Cliff crags” are around 400 meters above Cao (九龍窠, Nine Dragon Nest). Tea)” produced in these seven areas. sea level. There are numerous water- Each of these seven locations is unique The environment here produces ways, the most famous of which is in terroir and in history, and certain tea like no other on Earth. It is called the “Nine Twist River,” whose nine varietals of Cliff Tea thrive in differ- “Cliff Tea (岩茶, Yancha)” because the bends have been eulogized countless ent areas, often because that is where old bushes lie between natural gorges. times throughout history. Its source they come from. Learning the subtle Many of the beds that host these small is around two thousand meters high- difference between teas produced in gardens are manmade, but a deeper er and to the east in another park, the these seven areas is akin to learning the trek into the park will yield plenty of Hang Gang Mountain. differences between mountains in Yun- natural settings, with very old bush- The tea is all produced in a small nan in terms of puerh types. There is es, wizened by hundreds of years. area of only 7.6 kilometers, commonly a whole world of Cliff Tea that awaits These cliffs enhance and become the known as the “San Keng Liang Jian” exploration! tea bushes in an amazing variety of (三坑兩澗, Three Grottoes and Two Traditionally, all tea production ways, surging all the forces of Nature Mountain Streams), which are com- was in these areas, and the further you through this channel towards humans. prised of the Hui Yan Grotto (慧苑坑, go back in time, the narrower the area. Cliff Tea is the cliffs, in other words.

Wuyi Mountain

23/ Wuyi Cliff Tea: Geography & Terroir There are many amazing and pow- This is why it is essential that tea, and That is one of the most important erful ways that the Nature here in Wuyi other well-made agricultural products, lessons a Chajin can learn. Tea leaves makes it one of the most ideal places to be produced in rich biodiversity. The do not arise out of an extra-dimen- grow tea on earth. Though we can dis- biodiversity above the ground certainly sional portal; they grow out of the tree. cuss a few of the features that make the influences the life and vibrancy of the And where does the tree get the energy tea here special, there are many more ecology beneath the surface as well. to produce leaves? From its environ- that defy description. Even the poetry There is no way to underestimate ment. This is another way of saying carved so beautifully into some of the the influence of various organisms on that tea is its environment. cliffs by great men and women who each other. What relationship snakes The park area of Wuyi Mountain visited here long ago cannot capture have to tea trees is hard to say. The is filled with rich biodiversity, teeming those unspoken powers. But let’s dis- connection may be four or even seven with millions of species of flora and cuss what we do know. links away, as the snakes influence an fauna. This rich biodiversity makes it a organism that influences an organism great place to grow tea. Though tended and so on until we get to the tea tree. tea gardens may appear beautiful to the Biodiversity & the Soil The greater the diversity and balance human eye, they are often deforested in a natural ecology, the healthier ev- ecosystems, and as we kill and/or drive All fine tea starts and ends with ery species in that environment will be. away all the living beings from an area soil, as does all plant life. Soil is not And the healthier the tea trees are, the so that we can produce monoculture, a static medium things grow through; better the tea will be. We can express we also decrease the vibrancy of the re- but a living being with spirit life and this clearly as: maining species and the soil. movement, energy and flow. It is also a great ecology, teeming with trillions of organisms, visible and microscopic, A tea leaf is the tree’s expression of its relationship to its all of which play a role in soil health. environment.

24 Wuyi Cliff Tea

As the great tea saint (陸羽) This also plays a subtle role in the suitable for tea since long before Lu Yu said in the Tea Sutra (茶經), “tea pre- quality, vibrancy and energy of the tea made that claim famous. fers rocky soil.” Tea some of its grown here. After the rains, a stroll through moisture from the air and likes to grow Wuyi Mountain will offer views of a deep roots through loose soil where the greater variety of waterfalls than you moisture does not pool. Wuyi Moun- Water have ever seen. There are long curtains tain is a rich, volcanic area (the west that billow in the wind, gushing tor- of the park is volcanic and the east is Water is always such an essential rents that dance over rock-faces; there sandstone), full of minerals. The soil is aspect of tea, both as it flourishes in are small, tinkling fairy falls that you so loose and gravelly here that rock ter- Nature and in preparation. And as one can stand under and watch the sunlight races had to be built in order to create strolls through the park, the crystal play rainbow through the falling drops; tea gardens—otherwise the tea trees streams and dripping falls that high- and so many more beyond count. The would be eroded away. light every turn also emphasize the crystal-clear streams that flow through The flow of water over the roots of coursing pulse of the mountains, flow- the park are all clear enough to see the the trees and the mineral-rich, biodi- ing through the Earth to the trees and bottom, and often hold the sunlight in verse soil means that the tea trees here on to us. The water that streams down gentle ways that touch the soul. thrive. The loose soil also means that these cliffs is full of rich minerals, not All of the power of this water cre- the trees can extend their roots deeper only from the countless rocks with- ates the life of tea and other flora and into the earth. Since there is volcanic in the park, but also from the higher fauna here. The biodiversity and health activity underneath, this means that mountains to the east. This irrigation of this place begins with this water and they can also absorb the geothermal has also helped to create the rich, rocky all the incredible, multi-faceted ways it energy of the earth, including warmth. soil that tea sages have said is most flows to and through the tea trees.

葉 Living Tea 子 Living tea is an especially important concept when it comes to 是 Wuyi Cliff tea, as the real tea, grown in the park, is so special due 樹 to the fact that it meets these criteria, at least for those growing 真 it properly. (We will talk about the “grades” of Wuyi Cliff Tea in 與 another article later on.) Living tea is: 環 1. Seed-propagated, as opposed to cuttings. 境 關 2. The tea trees have room to grow—upwards to produce large 正 crowns, and between trees, allowing the plants to organize them- 係 selves. 的 3. Living tea is grown in full biodiversity, surrounded by natural 表 ecology. 生現 4. Living tea is, of course, grown without the use of any agro- chemicals (the Terrible Trio: pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers). 5. The relationship between the farmer and trees is one of respect 態 and reverence. Within the character for tea is the radical “Hu- man,” as Tea is a relationship between Nature and Human.

6. No irrigation or fertilizer of any kind (even organic fertilizer). This allows the trees to be independent, developing strong and deep roots and connecting to the energy of the mountain. 茶

25/ Wuyi Cliff Tea: Geography & Terroir

Wuyi Cliff Tea The Cliffs The Cliffs of Wuyi are where it gets produce more sugars, while the more flavor.” There is truth in this, as tea its name from. They alter the tea in a purplish light of the evening results in trees do “drink” moisture from the air, variety of ways. They are mostly blue- more amino acids and various kinds which is in part why they prefer that black volcanic cliffs filled with an in- of proteins. The unique environment water flow over their roots rather than credible variety of minerals, which of here in Wuyi has resulted in a tea stagnating in the soil around them. course erode into the water and soil. If with a very unique profile of hydroxy- Besides protection, rich oxygen and you are interested in the energetics of benzene, amino acids, , caf- minerals, the cliffs also participate in minerals, Wuyi cliffs are also covered feine and other elements, which all tea production in one other important in crystals as well. affect the nature and quality of a tea. way: during the day, the rocks and cliffs The cliffs on both sides protect The cliffs here also aid in tea pro- absorb the sunlight in the form of heat, the trees from wind and other natural duction, as they funnel daily mist which they then release throughout the dangers, as well as shielding the bush- into the valleys, assuring that the tea night, comforting the old bushes with es from too much sunshine. Many of trees are always humid and moist. Lo- a consistent temperature at all times. them allow the morning and evening cals have for centuries called this the This is especially important during the light to gather on the bushes. Studies “Breath of Heaven,” claiming that the harvest season, when slight tempera- have shown that the reddish-orange tea trees breathe in the Qi of the mist ture fluctuations can affect the quality light of the morning causes the trees to and rocks, lending them their “rock and abundance of the harvest. 岩岩有茶兮

Harmony & Balance While we can explore the different of the smooth, soft water the trees also elements of Wuyi tea production, the drink. Eating the amazing local vege- harmony of sun, rocky soil, water, mist tables and walking around a bit more, and air is really not something main- you realize that like the tea trees here, tained or controlled by the hands of you’d be healthier living here as well. people. The best teas are created by But not all Wuyi tea is high quali- Nature first, and human second. Be- ty; not all of it is environmentally pro- sides the qualities pointed out here, tected or processed by hand (or even there are a million subtle ecological with any skill). It is therefore import- relationships between other plants, in- ant to understand a bit about the four sects, animals, the mountains and sky, grades of Wuyi Yancha and have some which we’ll never fully understand. But guidelines for identifying them, which is there any need? A nice hike through we will do in the next article of this is- the park trails to an undisturbed gar- sue… den, quiet these hundreds of years, which leaves you with an impression that a thousand, thousand poems could never capture—in awe of Nature and your place in it. Perhaps there is no need to know why Wuyi tea is like none other on Earth, especially when you can drink it. The same sunshine that’s in the leaves warms your skin, as you reach down to scoop up some

27/ Wuyi Cliff Tea: Geography & Terroir 28 The Majesty of Wuyi Tea 武夷山的壯麗 茶人: Huang Xian Geng (黃賢庚)

Throughout this issue, we will offer some translations from Huang Xian Geng’s seminal Wuyi book “On Wuyi Tea (武夷茶說),” which is among the most important Chinese books on Wuyi tea. Huang Xian Geng is the author of several books on Wuyi tea and and a bit of a local treasure to Wuyi people. He has been researching the topic for decades, and it is an incredi- ble honor to offer his insights for the first time ever in English. In this article, he shares his insights into the special geography of Wuyi and then discusses the local tea god of Wuyi.

he superior natural environ- tion to evaporation is 63:37, which cial favor of Mother Nature, a place ment that nurtures Wuyi equals a relative humidity of around that “distills the essential grace of T Cliff Tea is key to its out- 80%. There are about 1,350 sunlight mountains and rivers.” standing quality. The first factor in hours per year, and the average wind Wuyi tea offers the drinker its dis- its uniqueness is the position of the speed is 10 meters/second. The aver- tinctive “rocky charm,” a unique flavor Wuyi mountain range: the main peak, age air pressure is 744 mm. Each year known as “yan yun (岩韵).” It is often Mount Huanggang, nicknamed “the sees around 200 frost-free days and described as having “bones of rock and roof beam of China,” and several 100 days of fog. The average amount a floral fragrance,” or “yangu huaxiang dozen surrounding peaks of more than of cloud cover is 7.6 units. Altogether, (岩骨花香).” It is a tea of excellent 1,000 meters in altitude, are all in an this makes an excellent climate for quality; “it is mild and not cooling in area exposed to a cold wind from the tea. The third factor is that the soil at Nature and can be stored for a long north and a warm coastal wind from Mount Wuyi is composed of volca- time without spoiling. The fragrance the south, creating a unique micro- nic conglomerate, gravelly sandstone, grows purer with time, and the flavor climate. In addition, Mount Wuyi sandstone, sandy shale and shale. This richer. It has a sweet taste and a full features unique landforms, with tow- soil type is ideal for tea, as tea sage Lu fragrance.” ering peaks and steep gorges, chains of Yu writes in the Tea Sutra: “Tea grows Ancient authors have sung the peaks and hills interlaced with moun- best in eroded, rocky soil.” The fourth praises of Mount Wuyi’s wonderful tain streams, giving rise to the poetic factor is that the region has a 77.9% natural environment in many a poem description: “the mountains wind and forest cover rate, which is 4.2 times and essay. One example is a poem by curve, each peak embraced by flowing China’s national average, providing a Shen Han (沈涵), who once served water.” This forms a landscape with thriving ecosystem for Wuyi tea. as a royal tutor at the Qing court. It “the shade of tall mountains and the “Jade-green streams and cinna- was written during a visit to Mount light of the morning sun,” making it bar-red mountains,” sheer peaks and Wuyi at the invitation of Zi ideally suited to tea. The second factor deep gorges, lofty mountains and se- (王梓), the Chong’an country magis- is the climate: the average temperature cluded springs, gravelly soil with erod- trate, while Shen was in on an in this region is around 18°C, with ed rock, dense fog and abundant rain, educational inspection trip. The poem around 2,000 millimeters of yearly plentiful shade and morning sun… goes, “The fragrant peaks raise their rainfall. The ratio of yearly precipita- It seems Wuyi Cliff Tea enjoys the spe- heads like fairy maidens; on their dewy

29 slopes, cave mouths are veiled with them”; by the same token, the land of tom of Niu Lan Hollow… Seen from pearly clouds.” This paints a picture of Mount Wuyi plays its part in shaping afar, the tea gardens resemble minia- the unique environment in which Cliff this wonderful tea. A place is the tea, ture potted gardens, with the tea plants Tea grows. and there is no place on Earth like echoing the tiny plants and flowers, During the Republic of China era Wuyi Mountain. each treetop forming a different shape, in the early to mid-1900s, Wang Ze- each with its own distinct leaves. From nong (王澤農), a researcher and test- ancient times, the tea plants and the ing group leader at the Central Minis- mountain landscapes have reflected try of Finance Trade Committee’s Tea Enjoying Tea Among Na- each other’s radiance, becoming the Research Institute, emerged as a ded- ture’s Landscapes defining scenery of Mount Wuyi. Visi- icated advocate for the importance of tors from past to present have enjoyed Wuyi Cliff Tea to China’s tea industry. The tea grows on the cliffs, and the the pleasures of tea and scenery at With tireless dedication, he surveyed, cliffs support the tea. Such a perfectly Mount Wuyi with great delight. tested and analyzed the soil of the harmonious and intimate connection A U-shaped route winds around Mount Wuyi tea region, producing a between tea and landscape is rarely the mountain for several kilometers, paper of nearly 60,000 words entitled seen, even among China’s many ma- taking travelers on a journey through The Rocky Soil of Wuyi Tea. This invalu- jestic mountains and picturesque land- Wuyi tea culture. It passes through able work provided scientific evidence scapes. This is why the tea from Wuyi is Da Keng Kou, Jiu Long Ke, - in support of the opinion that “the called “Yancha (岩茶),” or “Cliff Tea.” ma Gang, Daoshui Hollow, Liux- mountain’s soil is well-suited to tea,” as Picture the Da Hong Pao (大紅 iang Stream, Qingliang Gorge and stated by Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) 袍, Big Red Robe) tea plants clinging Zhangtang Stream—a landscape of scholar Huobo (徐火勃) in his Re- tightly to Longfeng Cliff; Bu Jian Tian towering peaks and steep ravines, search on Tea. (不見天, Lost the Sky) making its with streams crisscrossing the land. Thus Wuyi Cliff Tea’s outstanding home in Jiu Long Creek; Ban Tian Here, the rocks and cliffs form weird quality is born of its unique natural (半天腰, Belt of Heaven) perched and wonderful shapes, transporting environment, a heaven-sent paradise halfway up Matou Cliff’s Sanhua Peak; you into a world of myth and magic for tea. There’s a saying in Chinese that or Shui Jin Gui (水金龜, Golden Wa- where your spirit roams free and un- “people are shaped by the land around ter Tortoise) quietly nestling at the bot- hindered by the dust of the world.

30 Wuyi Cliff Tea

Here, the arresting landforms make Wuyi Caicha (菜茶, “Vegetable Tea”) fluid essays in their minds; and poets you picture the heaving and rending tea plant population and gave these need only open their mouths for the of the earth’s crust over the millen- special teas eye-catching names. Of verses to come flowing forth. Count- nia. Here, the ancient cave dwellings course, part of this was simply tea mer- less poets and scholars have sipped tea in the cliffsides naturally make you chants creating an aura of mystery for and gazed at the landscapes of Mount imagine the lives of the ancient Chi- marketing purposes. Who could have Wuyi over the centuries, leaving as nese people who lived there. And scat- known that this would end up forming their legacy a vast ocean of poems and tered among it all stand the elegant tea a unique part of Wuyi tea culture, in- essays. These have filled a book, Mount plants, appearing like bashful young spiring the imaginations of generations Wuyi Records, overflowing with literary ladies. Strolling through these secluded of tea drinkers? grace and containing many poems and mountains, you may meet any num- The close of spring and the eve of essays about tea. ber of wonderful tea characters… Zui summer is the best season for flights of In the book, (618– Xishi (醉西施, Drunken Xishi) will fancy. Where better to sip tea and lis- 907) scholar Xu Yin (徐夤) witnesses rumple your clothes, Yu Lian Huan ten to stories than in the Da Hong Pao a poignant scene: “In Wuyi’s tea gar- (玉蓮環, Jade Lotus Ring) will en- Tea Hut, surrounded by its nine peaks, dens in the warmth of early spring, the gage you in an intimate tête-à-tête, Sai or to drink tea and enjoy the scenery new buds are plucked as an offering to Wendan (賽文旦, Supreme Pomelo) than at the Hui Yuan Buddhist Tem- the spirits of the earth.” Dynasty will grace you with its subtle fragrance, ple, where “guests will gladly drink tea writer Fan Zhongyan (范仲淹) por- Shui Hong Mei (水紅梅, Red Water instead of wine, and dwell in mountain trays the rousing spectacle of a Wuyi Plum) will delight your heart and gaze, huts with bamboo groves for neigh- tea competition: “The winner rises to and Lao Hong (老來紅, Old Red) bors”? This is a land of towering cliffs, the status of an immortal; the loser will make you blush with its flattery… of elegant pine and shady bamboo, of feels the boundless shame of a surren- Where did Wuyi Cliff Tea get such an birdsong and chirping cicadas, of flow- dering general.” Yuan Dynasty (1279– array of evocative names? They origi- ing streams and bubbling springs, of 1368) writer Zong (趙孟 nated in the late Qing (1644–1911) the pure, serene fragrance of tea and 熧) contributes a detailed account of and early Republic of China (1911– the sweet, rich Wuyi “rock taste.” Here, the Wuyi Imperial Tea Garden, while 1949) eras, when Wuyi Cliff tea was at people drink tea with gusto; tea plants Ming Dynasty composer Duo its zenith. At that time, tea makers se- take deep breaths of negative oxygen (陳鐸) sings a lively ode: “In Wuyi they lected distinctive Huaming and Dan- ions; painters quickly dash out inspired harvest the spring tea under a gentle cong variants from within the original compositions; writers instantly outline rain; the new leaves sprout profusely,

31/ The Majesty of Wuyi Tea Every season, before the first picking, the Huangs pray to the tea god, Taibo (楊太伯), for a successful year. Throughout the year, they also pray for protection of their trees. Sheng Hui told us he also prays that more locals in the Wuyi area will wake up to the importance of using natural farming methods to protect the natural environment in the park. All the pickers get a bonus on the first day. This en- courages them to start the season off right. The statue at the Huangs’ processing facility and museum is a genuine Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) statue, which has had many prayers laid before it. It is likely that Yang Taibo was, in fact, a real person who lived during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). It is very common for sages, saints and seers to slowly become gods in China, growing with their legends. In fact, most tea regions worship Lu Yu (陸羽) in the same way as Wuyi locals worship Yang Taibo. In fact, most of Fujian has a different tea god, as you may recall from our August 2018 issue, in which we explored the region of Anxi and discussed their “tea god.” a fine tea to be cherished again and scenery, filling your time with hillside in the mists of time. He was born in again!” Even the Qianlong Emperor, rambles, taking the time for a leisurely the city of Fuzhou in Jiangxi Province, he who could “not spend a day without brew—these are the deepest delights of and was the first person to plant tea on tea,” penned the exclamation: “Wuyi Mount Wuyi. Mount Wuyi. He tended his tea plants tea is the finest in all of China; with diligently and was a skilled tea maker; such pure and harmonious flavor, how his destiny was intimately intertwined can one praise it just once?” The great with tea. He also had an honest and contemporary master Zhao Puchu (趙 Yang Taibo, warmhearted spirit, and got along well 朴初) also once enjoyed a moment of The Wuyi Tea God with the other people in the village. repose at Mount Wuyi, inspiring the The mountain people took to calling line: “May I grow old drinking tea.” In times gone by, all the tea fac- him “Taibo (太伯)” as a sign of their Nowadays, Cliff Tea is an insepara- tories at Mount Wuyi had a particu- esteem, a term of respect whose mean- ble part of any trip to Mount Wuyi: lar feature in common: in the seat of ing is along the lines of “Great Uncle” admiring the tea gardens, sipping a honor in the main hall or dining room or “Honored Gentleman.” As time wonderful brew, appreciating the art sat a spirit tablet dedicated to Yang went by, people forgot his real name. of tea. Hundreds of the houses and tea Taibo (楊太伯). Some had the god’s He saw out his final days in Mount shops await you, each offering a place name written on red paper; some had Wuyi, and after his death the tea to while away the hours sipping tea. it carved on hardwood. On normal growers began to revere him as a dei- If you happen to buy some along the days, there would be a stick of incense ty. They gave his spirit tablet pride of way, the shop owners will naturally be and a candle lit in front of the tablet; place in their main halls and bestowed pleased, yet they extend the same warm to mark the beginning and end of tea him with the honorific title “ welcome to those who aren’t looking to season and days when fairs were held, (公)” after his name. Thus he became buy anything. before enjoying their celebratory meal, “Yang Taibo Gong.” The village peo- An astute person once said, “The the tea workers would first place a por- ple also showed their respect to his mountains and rivers of Wuyi are one tion of the delicacies there as an of- wife; her surname was , and during big teapot,” and you can certainly see fering to the god. This was done with her life they called her “Li Taipo (李 the truth in this. The true charm of great reverence. 太婆),” “Great-Grandmother Li.” Af- Wuyi lies in its wonderful Cliff Tea. Legend has it that Yang Taibo was a ter she passed away, she was honored Roaming the mountains admiring real person who lived during the Tang along with her husband; people made the tea, sipping tea and admiring the Dynasty; his actual name has been lost offerings of incense to her as well.

32 Wuyi Cliff Tea

They gave her the title of “Li Tai- sides—remote, isolated places. Out- pensed opinions. As the story goes, one furen (李太夫人),” or “Madame Li.” side of the tea-processing and planting year on Chinese New Year’s Eve, a man Tea-growing households have wor- season, only a solitary person was left unexpectedly arrived at the Hui Yuan shiped them devoutly since antiquity, to mind each factory, with no family Tea Factory. It was the caretaker of the and the baotou (包頭, foremen) of in tow. According to ninety-year-old Luxiu Tea Factory, which was up on the tea factories honored them as de- Zhongxiang (周鐘祥), who was the northwestern mountaintop of Hui ities. Hence, the popular legends sur- once a baotou, in his youth there were Yuan Cliff. He had run all the way over rounding these tea gods became widely only two women living on the whole of and was gasping for breath, his face known among the local people. Mount Wuyi; in later years the baotou pale as a ghost. After gulping down It’s said that Yang Taibo Gong not slowly began bringing their wives and some hot tea and catching his breath, only protects the tea factories and families to settle at the tea factories. In he started to speak. “This afternoon I presides over all tea-related activities, such a desolate and lonely place, it’s no cooked a few dishes,” he related, “and but can also bestow the blessing of a wonder that there were many reports I was planning to make an offering to bountiful harvest—the dearest wish of “ghosts” on the mountain, and the the tea god and the other local gods, of any tea factory baotou. A bountiful baotou made sure to pray to the gods then get straight into the New Year’s harvest of tea leaf meant the baotou for their blessing and protection. celebrations and have a drink or two. stood to make more profit, as those In the years preceding the Sino- But I was just cooking the pork when, who were savvy with their calculations Japanese War (1937–1945), a par- what do you know, a hand reaches up quoted the tea bosses a price based on ticular kind of “ghost” made itself from beside the stove to beg for some the quantity of tea that the factory known—one that would lead a person food. ‘Wait a minute,’ I said, ‘it’s not produced. So, the baotou were partic- into a gully and stuff their ears, nose done yet!’ Then I quietly scooped a bit ularly devout in their offerings to Yang and mouth full of silt. At that time, of the scalding pork fat and poured it Taibo Gong, never forgetting to light there was a person at the Qingyun Tea onto the hand. Well, I tell you, that their customary stick of incense in his Factory nicknamed “Shui (水 ‘ghost’ shrieked its way across a good honor. If he accepted their offerings, 毛)” who once went to visit the latrine few mountaintops, and I took off and he would not only bless the tea factory in the middle of the night and was led ran all the way down the mountain as with peace and smooth operations, but off by this kind of ghost. When the if I were a ghost myself…” Could the would also lend a surreptitious hand others at the factory noticed that he “ghost” from the caretaker’s story also to the factory workers—when the had been gone an awfully long time, have been a mandrill or another kind processed leaf was being weighed for they lit torches and began searching all of wild monkey? Nobody really knows. inventory, Yang Taibo Gong would sit over for him. Eventually they found Afterwards, the tale circulated around in the bamboo weighing basket along him sitting in a gully not far from the the region for quite a few years, and with the tea, and Madame Li would lift factory with silt all over his face, his the factory later closed down. the counterweight slightly, to increase eyes staring blankly ahead. When they All these strange happenings, and the final weight of the tea. Because the tried talking to him, he remained in many more, instilled a deep fear in the tea shops sent their own representa- this stupefied state and didn’t respond. caretakers and tea workers. So, this is tive who measured and recorded the It took two slaps across the face from why the baotou at the mountain tea weight of the tea on-site before sealing the baotou, Zhou Jieliang (周接亮), factories were especially pious in their it up and taking it away from the fac- to bring him to, and even then they offerings to Yang Taibo Gong, praying tory, if the weight came up a bit short couldn’t get a clear word out of him. that he drive away any ghosts or evil when the tea leaf was weighed again at Researchers in later generations stud- spirits and ensure the peace and securi- the tea shop, well, naturally that had ied these accounts and attributed it to ty of the tea factories. In the tea-grow- nothing to do with the baotou. There’s the mischief of a crafty monkey called ing communities of Mount Wuyi, an old folksong that people used to a mandrill. Interestingly enough, its Yang Taibo Gong really is God! sing in the Wuyi Cliff Tea factories that , “shanxiao (山魈),” lit- goes: “Yang Taigong and Li Taipo; one erally means “mountain demon,” as it’s sits in the basket and the other tips the named after a type of mythical goblin scales.” (The lines rhyme in the origi- by the same name. This same type of nal .) This cheerful ditty inad- incident reportedly also happened at vertently exposes the ruses the factory the Leishi, Baiyun and Taohua tea fac- baotou used to short-change the bosses tories. and absolve themselves of all respon- Another venerable tea master, sibility. eighty-one-year-old (國師), Another reason that the baotou also has an interesting story to tell. As The old tea god is a part of the land were so devout in their worship of an aside, his real name is Chen Jinzao and make-up of Wuyi Mountain. Re- Yang Taibo was to reassure the local (陳謹造), but he earned the nick- member, terroir includes culture, which tea workers. The Cliff Tea factories of name “Guo Shi,” an old term meaning means the spiritual heritage of the the past were scattered between crag- “State Teacher,” thanks to his extensive people also creates the tea, as it flows gy peaks and across steep mountain- knowledge of tea and frequently dis- through the leaves.

33/ The Majesty of Wuyi Tea

傳 O說 The Emperor’s 大紅袍 Crimson Robe

he Lord of Heaven and Earth, One day, the emperor himself sent When Shen awoke, he was in a the Eighth Tang Emperor of for Shen. He asked Shen to leave on simple room that smelled of incense. the Seven Kingdoms, had just an important mission. He was to travel Monks were praying over him. He Tbeen married. In honor of his new to a distant province to retrieve a very thanked them profusely for bring- bride, he bestowed tributary titles and ancient scroll. It reportedly contained ing him to their monastery. Surely he lands upon all the members of her the secrets of life. The emperor stressed would have died otherwise. Still, Shen family. He gave her parents a great and the importance of Shen’s trip, playing wasn’t in the clear yet. He had a deep fertile land to the west, and owing to to his pride and helping him to forget cough and occasionally turned the rag his sharp mind and vast knowledge, he how much he would miss the library, red when he covered his mouth. The appointed her brother Shen as the offi- his writing, and how poor he was at monks’ healer had somberly told him cial court scholar. He was to research traveling. Shen had always had a del- that there was little to be done. He the vast royal library and join in the icate disposition. should begin to chant and pray. The council that advised the emperor, his After a long and weary journey, monk offered to teach Shen how to die. voice representing the wisdom of past Shen reached the distant city in the Shen gave the monk his official gold ages. Shen couldn’t have been happier mountains. The officials there greet- medallion in exchange for their kind- if the gods’ nectar had showered him ed him ceremoniously. He exchanged ness. It was all he had. When the abbot unawares. In those days, many court the chests of treasure the emperor had found out, he was touched by Shen’s positions were hereditary, so Shen wore put in his keeping for the scroll that selfless gift and sent for a small canis- the gold seal that signified his position was needed, and stayed on to study ter from his room. The small silver box on a cord around his neck, near his some of the other scrolls in the library was covered with sacred runes. The old heart. He never took it off, even when there. After some time, Shen decided abbot’s wrinkled, golden hands gently bathing. He told his sister that the seal to make the return journey to the pal- twisted the jar open and the room was was worth more than life itself, as it ace. The elders there warned him to filled with a blossoming fragrance of would also be for his son one day. He wait for spring, but Shen had already grace, deeper than the incense even. spent his days amidst the hoary scrolls stayed longer than he should have, Inside there were a handful of elegant- of the largest library in the kingdom. and didn’t want to upset the emperor. ly curled leaves resting in a nest of silk. He loved the smell of the scrolls, their He trudged on through the mountain The abbot ordered hot water and a soft touch as he oh-so-gently unrolled passes; his fur coat bundled up to offer silver kettle was brought. As the leaves them. He loved the art of the words shelter from the storm. But Shen fell steeped, their aroma permeated the before he even began to read. But what ill nonetheless. He tried to keep go- room with ribbons of Heavenly steam. Shen loved most was to suffuse himself ing, growing weaker with every pass- Shen was given a cup of the brew to in the legends and times before. Old ing mile. Finally, he collapsed and the drink. The first sip unraveled in his stories were as good as tea! world went black. mouth and filled his body with celes-

35 tial warmth. It was the most delicious it just as he had once worn his royal of life, not in a scroll but in some magic thing he had ever tasted. It seemed seal. It was his most prized possession. leaves.” The emperor told him that he to reach down past the corners of his A year or two passed and Shen had but to ask and his very wish would body and massage his soul. went about his business writing and be granted. “Anything in my power,” Over the course of the next week, studying in the library. Then, one cold offered the emperor. Shen was honest. Shen would be given the magical herbs winter the emperor suddenly fell ill. He replied that the magic had not been once a day. He was already beginning Shen’s sister came to him crying. She his and proceeded to relate the story of to feel better. The taste of the liquor said that the court doctors all said it his sickness, the hidden monastery up was so delightfully strong that it would was hopeless, the emperor’s lungs were in the beautiful mountains of Wuyi, last for hours, resurfacing with every bloody and he was having difficulty the monks and their magic bushes. breath, even after he had eaten his por- breathing. The end was near. The em- The emperor ordered a caravan to be ridge dinner. peror had been kind to Shen and his readied right away. By the time the snows started to sister, and he couldn’t bear the thought With Shen’s help, the emperor melt from the passes, Shen was com- of his suffering. He ran to the emper- traveled to the monastery himself. To pletely recovered. He promised to re- or’s quarters and asked all the doctors the monks he gifted gold and the best turn to the monks some day. The ab- to leave. He held the emperor’s hand of the religious scrolls and reliquaries bot showed him the six magic bushes and brought forth the small, silver from the royal library and treasury. He that created the herbs that had saved tin from his robe. As the monks had also gave each of the six tea bushes a his life. He said that the bushes had al- done for him, Shen brewed the leaves long red cape, woven of the best silk in ways been there, beyond the history of and helped the emperor to sit up and all the kingdoms, and embroidered be- the monastery even. He gifted Shen a drink them. It took only one day for yond even what he himself wore. The small silver tin of their leaves. He said their magic to work. The court doctors robes were to be placed on the bush- that only four such tins were harvested called it a miracle. By the time spring es in the cold of winter to keep them each year. came, the emperor was fully recovered. warm. He decreed that the tea trees Shen returned to the palace and He summoned Shen to the court and were to be regarded as beyond the Lord gave the emperor the scroll. He was said, “Shen, I asked you to go forth of Heaven and Earth himself. And so rewarded with gold. He didn’t tell any- and bring back to me a scroll that con- each winter the sacred tea bushes were one of his adventure that winter, or of tained the secrets of life. In that you wrapped in the emperor’s capes in all the treasure in his robe; that he knew failed.” Shen’s sister, the queen, gasped. their glory, beyond any man or king. was far more valuable than any amount The emperor grinned slyly, “For that And there they sit today, the original of gold. For what were riches without scroll didn’t contain the secrets of life.” “Da Hong Pao.” life? He carried the silver tin with him He paused. “But you Shen, were ulti- everywhere, close to his heart. He wore mately successful. You found the secret

36 The Garden Grades of Cliff Tea 園區種類的岩茶 茶人: Wu De (無的)

A lot goes into the quality of a fine tea, from the weather down to the micro-details of the master who watched the tea and knows when to stop the withering or rolling, not to mention the skills needed to roll, shake or fire properly. However, long before the master has plucked the leaf, there is quality in the garden, in the natural world that creates the leaf. Not all gardens are created equal. In this next section of the magazine, we will explore the four types of gardens traditionally used in Wuyi to produce tea, as they are still important to quality.

his is a discussion of garden Though it gained a reputation for pro- Tea.” The trees in the park tend to types in terms of the grade of ducing fine tea, the reputation can be older and grown with the proper Cliff Tea. It does not take into outpace the quality, in other words. distance between them, so their roots Taccount several other factors that also This happens with all tea, and the have room to breathe, growing deep determine the quality of the raw mate- best example other than Cliff Tea is and wide to absorb all the wonderful rial (leaf). For example, which garden puerh, where hype surrounding certain nutrients of this amazing place. They in the park the tea comes from will mountains that genuinely produce fine aren’t tended excessively by people, ei- also influence the quality. Also, is the tea can grow to such an exaggeration ther. Some of the small, terraced gar- varietal suited to that location or was that the tea from those places becomes dens are so surrounded by vegetation it planted there because the farmers unaffordable. that the tea is not easily discernible don’t have gardens elsewhere? The age Before we talk about the four types to the untrained eye. Of course, these and health of the trees will also influ- of gardens, it is also important to point trees are often organic and harvested ence quality, of course. And finally, the out that only half the quality of any by hand only once a year. agricultural principles of the farmers oolong tea is in the garden/trees (here There are, however, several “distinc- who tend the tea will be paramount, we are just talking about the garden). tions” of zheng yan, starting of course including whether or not they do what The other half is in the processing skills with the trees themselves. It is a big they do only for money and do not of those who craft the tea into its final park, and different locations are bet- care much about quality, love what product. Consequently, raw material ter for tea growth than others—plac- they do or give their heart and soul to from an inferior tree or garden will es where the trees are older, the water growing fine tea. Of course, this also still be a way better tea when dried by and minerals better, or perhaps the includes the use of agrochemicals (or a master, as opposed to mis-processed mist and sunshine is perfect. As men- not, ideally). tea from the best tree or garden. tioned above, the cliff walls absorb the It should also be noted that quality day’s sunshine and release it at night, and price are not always commensu- so many locations in the park stay at rate. As certain gardens have developed Zheng Yan (正岩) a constant temperature and humidity a reputation, especially for the varietals during the growing season. This means that originate in that location, prices The highest grade of Yancha all that the location of the trees in the have grown, and the reputation of a comes from within the protected park park has a huge influence on its quali- place is not always equal to its quality. itself. “zheng yan” means “true Cliff ty, and also the price.

37

Wuyi Cliff Tea

Another important factor relates to is completely hand-processed, though “Iron Arhat (鐵羅漢, Tie Lou Han),” the fact that the park is such a famous there is also semi-hand-processed and for example, is known to taste of burnt tourist destination. Thousands of peo- machine-processed tea. It is easy to dif- bamboo, while “White Cockscomb ple walk through every day, following ferentiate the hand-processed or semi- (白雞冠, Bai Ji Guan)” tastes of lychee. the clear and defined paths constructed hand-processed from the machine-pro- If the roast is too heavy, these flavors by the government. Consequently, the cessed varieties by appearance alone, are lost. In fact, almost all zheng yan tea gardens near these paths are all in- as the latter produces more uniform was traditionally stored for six months ferior. The noise, cameras and even the leaves, all about the same shape with to a year before drinking, so that what- breathing of thousands of people all the same kind of twist, whereas the ever roast there was mellows out, leav- affect the quality of these gardens. The hand-processed teas display a variety ing behind the flavors of the leaf. Like best gardens, on the other hand, are of sizes, shapes and twists unique to all oolong, mastery in roasting is when deeper into the park—down dirt paths each leaf. the roast affects the flavor in a positive that take you to silent places well away Even zheng yan from a single gar- way without leaving behind any trac- from all the crowds. Like all plants, tea den will be sorted several times and es of itself. The exception to this rule also responds to human interaction, a variety of grades will eventually be is the “mistaken” zheng yan tea, which emotion and even the human voice packaged. A lot can go into the distinc- is heavily roasted. Some percentage of itself. Before the strict ban put into ef- tion. The tea processed by the hand of tea is sorted down, due to all kinds of fect around 2002, friends picked some the master, for example, may be the mistakes, natural and human. This tea of the famous Da Hong Pao from the smallest quantity each year, as his job is set aside with all the “down-sorted” original bushes, processed it and drank is mostly to teach and supervise his tea. At the end of the processing pe- it a few days later. While the tea was younger relatives and employees. riod, there is then a bulk of this tea amazing, coming from such old and A true master never roasts genuine all mixed up. This pile of mixed tea powerful bushes, their guide said that zheng yan from within the park heavily. is then heavily roasted to cover up compared to earlier years, the quality A lot of people have only tried heavily- the differences in the leaves and sold had diminished. When we asked him roasted Yancha and therefore have under the generic, all-encompassing why, he responded that it was definite- probably not tasted much zheng yan, “Da Hong Pao (大紅袍, see the aside ly because of the thousands of people which is produced in smaller quanti- on the opposite page)” that denominates who come and take photos and make a ties and is more expensive as a result. all low-quality tea from Wuyi. Many lot of noise around the trees each day. Each of the thousands of varieties of of the best heavily-roasted teas are of Of course, much of the mastery of Yancha, like “Golden Water Tortoise this variety, as they at least come from oolong tea is in the complicated pro- (水金龜, Shui Jin Gui)” or “Old Man’s zheng yan. A look at the wet leaves can cessing, so this is a major factor in the Eyebrows (老君眉, Lao Jing Mei),” often show if the tea was blended, as end product as well. The best zheng yan has very distinct flavors and aromas. they will be different shapes/sizes.

39/ The Garden Grades of Cliff Tea 大紅袍 “Da Hong Pao” Da Hong Pao (大紅袍, The Em- All of the zhou cha and wei shan “Bei Dou Yi (北斗一號)” or peror’s Crimson Robe) is the “King of tea are supposedly cloned versions of “First Generation Bei Dou.” Bei Dou Cliff Tea.” In fact, most people in Chi- the original mother trees, and so al- is a place in the park. In the 1970s, a na refer to all Wuyi tea as “Da Hong most all of that tea is also sold as “Da farmer took cuttings from the mother Pao” (much more often than they call Hong Pao.” And since that tea rep- trees there, which is much more docu- it “Yancha”). The problem is that “Da resents the vast majority of all Cliff mented than the supposed “first gen- Hong Pao” has become a very gener- Tea, almost all Cliff Tea in the world eration” trees down by the river and ic term. Originally, Da Hong Pao is called “Da Hong Pao,” which is, outside the park. The trees there are referred to the six old mother trees of course, why people all over China direct descendants of the six mother located in the Jiu Long Keng (pp. 19- know Cliff Tea by that name. trees, and the place was chosen due to 20). Since then, it has been used to There are many other ways that a similarity in its terroir to Jiu Long discuss a whole lot of different teas. the term is generalized, making it Keng, where the mother trees are. Various houses make blends of ambiguous at best. A deep explora- Other than the six mother trees, their tea, which they call “Da Hong tion of Wuyi Cliff Tea should include the term “Da Hong Pao” is really just Pao,” for example. They may take all this caveat. There is no need to make too generic and ambiguous to be of their mis-processed tea of various va- this a polemic, but as you dive deep- much use in a serious exploration of rietals and roast it all heavily to cov- er into Cliff Tea, you should keep in Cliff Tea. It misleads more often than er the differences and call that “Da mind that real “Da Hong Pao” should it brings clarity, in other words. Hong Pao.” Many shops, just refer to the six mother trees. Since We really have no problem with and other brands also will call what- those trees are hardly ever harvested, calling tea “Da Hong Pao.” It just is ever is the best tea of each year “Da and whenever they are sold publicly too general a term, and there are way Hong Pao.” In such cases, the term it is for astronomical sums, the clos- too many claims about “direct de- simply means “Grade A” for that par- est ordinary mortals like us can get scendants” of the mother trees for this ticular brand or shop. to real Da Hong Pao is what we call name to be useful.

Zheng yan, or “true Cliff Tea,” grows in the park between cliffs with all of the qualities that make Cliff Tea special. But different gardens are better or worse depending on water flow, the minerals in the soil, biodiversity and whether the humans protect the garden properly. All zheng yan is better than the other grades of Cliff Tea, discussed on the next page, but the garden on the far left is obviously better than the two on this page in terms of biodiversity and natural power. Un- fortunately, agrochemicals are used in the park.

40 Wuyi Cliff Tea

Ban Yan (半岩) that could be called zheng yan. For the dens in Wuyi, so that now all the ban most part, these trees lack what the yan can be called “zheng yan.” Essen- This is what you could call “Half- best quality Yancha has: cliffs on both tially anything within the road that de- way Cliff Tea.” It grows on the hills and sides, which not only absorb and re- marcates the border of the park is now cliff sides of the immediate edges of the lease heat, as we discussed earlier, but “zheng yan,” even though nothing has park. A lot of these gardens are planted also drain minerals down from both changed in terms of the tea’s terroir, in the traditional way, like zheng yan: sides into streams of nutrient-rich wa- and therefore quality. It is still ban yan, on terraces with a meter or so between ter for the trees. This water also keeps even though it is no longer called by each tree, which is left to grow strong the soil aerated, loose and gravelly. that name. and old. Some of these gardens are ac- As with zheng yan, processing will tually quite old as well, and some are play a huge part in determining the even organic, though much less than quality of a ban yan as well. Much less Zhou Cha (洲茶) in the park. of this tea is hand-processed, as it does Ban yan can be a shady division, not warrant the attention and cost in Down in the flatlands between because some of the gardens that are energy. Hand-processing oolong tea the park and the river that separates just outside what the government has is very labor intensive, and during the it from the new village, several planta- demarcated as the park produce better harvest season many of the masters get tions of tea have been created. The soil tea than some of the worst locations very little sleep. there is rich, and the humidity is ade- within the park. Also, a lot of ban yan Unfortunately, three years ago the quate. Some of these trees are also old, is right on the border, and there are local government of Wuyi initiated a though less than the previous kinds of trees just on the other side of a cliff change in the determination of gar- tea (thirty years is old here).

41/ The Garden Grades of Cliff Tea To the far left is a garden of zheng yan for comparison, as it is helpful to see and feel the differences. The two pictures to the direct left are zhou cha, grown down by the river. This tea is often picked with machines that shred the top of the tea tree and fill large white sacks with shredded tea leaves. Above is ban yan, which is sold as “zheng yan” nowadays, even though it is obviously nothing like the tea on the opposite page. Below is tea grown in the hills outside the Wuyi park area, which is called “wei shan” tea. Here the agrochemicals have made the fields dusty, and the soil lacks any power. There is also no biodiversity here, just dust and tea.

In this category, much of what All of this tea is heavily roasted, which, world. This tea is all about mimicking makes Yancha special is lost. The dis- as we discussed, is almost always done Wuyi tea, with heavy roasts to cover tinct flavors of certain varieties of Yan- to cover up inferior quality leaf, and up any trace of flavor that could pos- cha have as much to do with their spe- sold as generic “Da Hong Pao.” Most sibly infuse from the tea itself. Basi- cial location in the park as they do with of this tea is sold raw to large factories cally, these are farms that have, over the genetics of the trees themselves, that machine process it. (In fact, some the years, jumped on the “Da Hong which is why tea masters in Wuyi only farmers have even begun to sell their Pao” bandwagon and converted their really refer to the six original trees as zheng yan to the factories rather than land to tea production to cash in on “Da Hong Pao.” Even grafting clones process it themselves.) the growing interest. We have some of and planting them elsewhere will even- this tea from a trip in 2001 that to this tually result in a new variety of tea as day still has not lost its roast, so that the trees adapt and interact with their Wei Shan (外山) when you open the jar or brew the tea, new surroundings—like the first gen- the roast-flavor and aroma is as strong eration “Da Hong Pao” planted in the Literally “Grown Outside,” this tea as it was the day it was roasted. Zhou now-famous Bei Dou area. is propagated in the hills surrounding cha and wei shan represent around 60 Also, farming by the river ceases to the park. It shares in none of the rich- percent of all Yancha. This accounts for be about quality and starts to march to ness that makes Wuyi tea special. This somewhere between 60 and 70 percent the economic drum. For that reason, tea is all from lower altitude, inorgan- of all Wuyi “Cliff Tea” produced. very little of it is organic, and it is of- ic, hedged and pruned little trees that ten harvested year round, as in other are over-harvested into the ground, tea-growing regions around the world. like in most tea-growing areas in the

42 傳 O說 鐵 The Iron 羅 Arhat 漢 hey say that the tea from Nei it warriors, only fighting for light. He jian. Immediately upon hearing the old Gui Cave (內鬼洞) is called wasn’t bad at his studies, but An master’s story, Shao An knew they would T “Iron Arhat” because of the excelled at martial arts, soon rising to the meet, and that this was the teacher he lineage of masters who lived at its feet. top of the novice monks in training. needed to show him how to subdue the When you look at a teacher who has a When he was around twenty-five dragons in his mind. He prayed to his teacher, it is hard to know where to start, winters, Shao An was in the fittest con- little statue and set out on the road. so you just pick a point in the chain and dition of his life. The master decided After many adventures, Shao An see if the story of one link can somehow that the monks would defend a nearby wound up in Mt. Wuyi in northern - speak for the whole chain… farming village that was being looted jian. He met many great masters there, Shao An left home at an early age. by bandits regularly, and many of the but none that fit the description of the He was too anxious for farm life, always defenseless villagers had been hurt or old master from Shaolin. There were too stopping mid-work to wonder at the killed. In the battle, Shao An wounded many hermits to count, but for some horizon. And he was the fifth son, so re- his arm. His two best friends were killed, reason, his ears perked up when a vil- nouncing the world to be a monk would as well. The monks did drive the bandits lager mentioned an old hermit living in bring honor and merit to his family. His off, in search of a less-protected village to the Nei Gui cave. Shao An decided he father sure didn’t need another mouth loot or cause other trouble. Shao An said would try his luck, but the cave was hard to feed, especially one who daydreamed prayers for the bandits to his small iron to find. On the path, he came across an more and harder than he worked. And Arhat when he prayed for his friends to old woodsman, chopping up a dead tree so, at the age of fourteen, the local priest be reborn in the pure land. for firewood. He asked him if he had shaved his head, and Shao An left on a The battle shook Shao An deeply. He heard of Nei Gui cave or the old master. pilgrimage to find a teacher. felt that the violence brought dishonor to The woodcutter said that the cave was His mother wept. She insisted that his ancestors who had given up this body up and over the nearby cliff, that it took Shao An take the little cast iron Arhat and its work to a temple for good mer- some climbing to get to, but that there from the family altar, knowing he would its. Here he was embroiled in violence, was no master there; the cave was aban- need a small icon to do his prayers until and the bad karmas of injury and harm. doned. Determined to find out for him- he found a home in some temple. She He asked and was granted permission to self, Shao An climbed the cliff, shuffled wrapped it in brocade. Along with the leave Shaolin in search of a hermitage to around a boulder and nimbly descended fresh gray robes, the first new clothes cultivate himself spiritually. down into one of the most beautiful val- Shao An had ever owned, this was all the After traveling for years, and spend- leys he’d ever seen. There was a stream family had to give him. He was renounc- ing time with many renowned Buddhist so pure it sparkled, three old tea trees, ing wealth, after all. Saying goodbye was teachers, Shao An heard of a great master a pleasant, shaded grove and a nice cave bittersweet for Shao An. He knew he’d with a story much like his own. He had big enough for a hermit’s home. It was never see his family again, but he also once been a Shaolin monk and warrior the kind of place that would never get longed to see what was beyond the small who traveled the land protecting the de- too hot or too cool, full of sun, great wa- hills around the village he had spent his fenseless. Until, after so many battles, ter, tea and shelter—the perfect place to entire life living and working within, al- his reputation began to get the best of practice. ways staring out at the horizon. him. All kinds of martial artists, bandits Shao An searched the cave. Inside, Full of a spirit of adventure, Shao An and ruffians began seeking him out just there was a woven grass mat, which was first traveled south to the Shaolin mon- to test their mettles against him, and he well cared for, an old stove and kettle for astery, where he lived for more than ten wound up defending himself just for the boiling tea, three cracked and cleft tea years, studying Buddhism and martial sake of martial arts. The rumor was that bowls, some small sundries, herbs and arts. He learned to read and write, stud- the old man had decided to forsake his that was it. The cave was neat and tidy. ied sutras and also learned to raise his leg quest and retreat to a cave, never to have Shao An decided to wait for the hermit straight up and hold it there for hours at been heard from again. The young monk who lived here, and if there was none, a time. The old master who taught them who told Shao An this story said the this would be the perfect place to spend kungfu emphasized that they were spir- old man was last seen in northern Fu- a year or two meditating.

43 One of the most pleasant weeks of and cultivation there was in tea. He had empty, deeply and vastly open so that Shao An’s life passed by in ease. He med- previously thought of tea as a friendly even talking is hard, let alone moving. I itated as his teachers had taught, prac- beverage shared between villagers when feel like I could sit here all day and not ticed Qigong at dawn and dusk in the they chatted, or at inns along the road. move a muscle!” small grove and sun-dried tea leaves from But the old master taught him how and The old master laughed: “You see, my the three old trees for boiling. One late when to properly harvest and process the boy, my kungfu is better than yours!” night session with leaves from the oldest precious leaves from the three old trees, Many years later, when the old mas- tree instigated one of the most powerful all of which he had named. He taught ter was long gone, and Shao An was all meditation sessions of his life. He felt Shao An the proper spells for harvest, alone, he quietly awoke one day and said at one with this place, and realized that and for infusing the drying leaves with his prayers to the old iron Arhat in its he was not a Shao An experiencing one- sun, moon and starlight, being sure to little altar embedded in the back wall of ness with the mountains, but rather the ask permission from the old trees them- the cave, praying that all his merits be mountains experiencing Shao An. selves for the medicine. And beyond just given to his parents and ancestors. He At the end of the week, as he sat out the proper water, drawn from the right went out to gather vegetables and fire- in the meadow one morning meditat- spring and boiled perfectly on charcoal, wood. Life was good. Though his body ing, he was startled by a bucketful of the old master taught him a ceremony creaked and cracked more than it had icy water from the stream splashed right for setting the bowls up, turning them, when he was young, he was still alive and into his face. Wiping the water from his pouring and even how to hold them Nature was still free to experience Shao brow, he saw the old woodcutter stand- when you drink. The whole thing took An. “And who could be unhappy with ing over him glowering. “Get out of so much devotion, practical skill and friends and teachers like you!” he said here!” the old man shouted. “I have been concentration that by the end of it, Shao out loud, patting one of the old tea trees waiting a week for you to leave! Now you An found that it cultivated his mind as on his way out of the meadow. As he have overstayed your welcome!” At once, much as his meditation or martial arts worked, he smiled occasionally, thinking Shao An realized how foolish he had practice. of the meal and tea he would enjoy when been. The old woodcutter was the her- One day, after a particularly fine he got back home. mit master he sought. Now that he knew tea that had been transcendent beyond On returning, to Shao An’s great sur- what to look for, he saw the spirit and words, the old master leaned in close to prise, there was a young monk meditat- wisdom in the old man’s eyes, though his Shao An and asked him how he felt. “I ing in the meadow. He was a sprig of a simple, dirty clothes and hat had thrown cannot even move,” Shao An replied. “I man, so young he looked out of place in him off when last they met. feel as though my limbs are rivers that the old grotto. But he was meditating… “I have traveled thousands of kilome- have flowed away. My body is complete- Shao An knew just what to do, and went ters, passing through untold dangers, in- ly pacified, and my mind is still and straight for the old bucket… cluding risk to my person and soul, from Shaolin to here. If you think some icy water will drive me off, my master, you are sorely mistaken,” Shao An said, ob- sequiously kowtowing to the old monk. The old man left Shao An in the meadow for three whole days, going to and from the cave collecting food and water, drinking tea and doing his own exercises as though Shao An wasn’t there. Finally, on the third morning, as Shao An went through his morning Qigong routine, the old master tsked him and came over, correcting the placement of his foot with a shuffle. He lightly pushed Shao An near his armpits and he was lift- ed clean off his feet and thrown several feet back. Before he could fall, though, the old man caught his arm and steadied him. The bond had been made, as it had over and over again since before time. For many years, master and stu- dent practiced together. The old man was happy to have some help with the chores, so long as Shao An didn’t talk much, and Shao An was learning deep- er aspects of martial form, Qigong and meditation than ever before. He also never knew how much power, insight

44 The Poetic Names of Cliff Tea 詩意名稱岩茶 茶人: Wu De (無的)

There are many, many ways of naming Cliff Tea. There were once many more varietals than there are today. All the varietals of Cliff Tea are types of var. sinensis, also known as “small-leaf” tea trees. And some date all the way back to the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Learning the ways in which Cliff Tea is named can help the Chajin interested in exploring these cliffs to get some bearings and also to discover some lesser-known types of Cliff Tea, of which there are indeed many. While our kettles boil, let’s recite the names of Cliff Tea...

ver since the Song Dynasty within it. And no two tea seeds are are called “gametophytes,” which are (960–1279), Cliff Tea produc- alike. They will each produce a com- the male and female cells, is the mi- ers and connoisseurs have been pletely unique tea tree, which is why tea nor stage. Through cell division (called Enaming teas made from single trees. has done so well traveling to different “meiosis”), the sporophyte creates a Every varietal must, by definition, climates. If you plant a thousand seeds, gametophyte, which is then fused have been a single tree at some point. the chances that one of them will sur- through cross-pollination with that of Because tea is a sexual plant, it mutates vive are high. Unfortunately, very little another plant, with the help of either when it is seed-propagated, which tea in the world is seed-propagated. insects (like bees) or pollen spread by means that every tree will be unique. The reason, of course, is industry and the wind. After the gametophytes are When trees were appreciated, then, the commodification of tea. Sadly, tea fused, a zygote is formed with chromo- cuttings were taken to reproduce them faces many of the problems that haunt somes from both the male and female elsewhere. all agricultural products. Most tea plants. Then, through “mitosis,” which Before we turn to the names of Cliff plantations use cuttings from a tree, is also a kind of cell division, this new Tea, we thought we would discuss the planted to produce another. These are, plant will grow to maturity. This is life cycle of a tea tree, especially Camel- in essence, clones. Farmers do this to how tea is naturally propagated, in sci- lia sinensis var. sinensis (small-leaf tea achieve uniformity of flavor. Also, with entific terms. trees). Most plant books use a lot of a few hundred or even thousands of It took millennia for trees like tea botany jargon, which we will try our different trees, all with different needs, to develop sexual cross-fertilization. It best to unpack using layman’s terms the farmer would potentially have a lot is also tremendously difficult for such so we can understand the life cycle of more work to do. Clones are easier. trees to fertilize one another, since the our beloved “Thea” a bit more, as well Like all sexual plants, Camellia sin- mates cannot move towards embrace as her rare flowers, which some of you ensis undergoes an alternation of gen- in the way that animals and people may have never seen. erations. In tea trees, the production can. As a result, plants have developed As we mentioned, Tea is a sexual of what botanists call “sporophytes,” magnificent ways of fertilizing each plant, which means that it is cross-pol- which are the spore-producing gener- other, enticing insects to pollinate linated. A tremendous amount of nat- ation of a plant, having two match- them, using the wind, etc. There is a ural energy goes into the creation of a ing chromosome sets, represents the reason for all this, and it is powerful tea seed, including bugs and forest, sun dominant stage in the life cycle of a to think about, since it is connected and sky. Each one carries great energy tea tree, while the production of what to the proliferation of life on Earth.

45

Wuyi Cliff Tea

Carl Sagan said that the evolution varieties of tea trees: large- and small- done this to larger and more diverse from asexual to sexual reproduction on leaf. Large-leaf tea trees can live thou- areas, our meddling has begun to have this planet was as significant as the be- sands of years. The oldest one we’ve a global impact, changing the Environ- ginning of life itself, as it allowed for all dated is 3,500 years old! (The trunk ment (with a capital “E”) rather than the creative power in Nature to assert is about seven people around.) There just the places where we farm. itself in such myriad forms of trunk, are probably older ones out there, or Nowadays, most tea is made from branch and leaf. There is something at least there were in the past. Small- cuttings, and because it is so heavily deep and powerful missing when a leaf tea trees can live hundreds of years, pruned, it will never pass through its plant cannot cross-fertilize according and some are many centuries old. But natural cycle and flower, which is why to its nature. here’s the punch line: the clones on many tea lovers have visited tea farms The variety in Nature is magic, just plantations typically live only thirty to in the past without ever seeing any tea as in humans. Every tree is different. fifty years. And more than a few farm- flowers there—many plantations don’t Sure, they share some similarities due ers have told me that they aren’t living blossom, in other words. The “natural” to common genetic heritage and sim- as long anymore, sometimes as few as growth of new leaf shoots occurs in ilar terroir (climate, soil, etc.), but like fifteen to twenty years. successions, called “flushes,” that are people, they each have their own medi- Our attempts to interfere with Na- almost always altered by the harvesting cine, their own perspective, experience ture rarely take into account all the and pruning of humans. However, the and wisdom. biodiversity and infinite, immeasur- relationship between tea and human The difference in power and heal- able connections between species. We beings (as a natural animal species) is ing between seed-propagated and take control of an environment and ancient, and need not be seen as “un- cloned tea is obvious. As we discussed monocrop it, controlling a few factors natural,” especially when the trees are earlier, there are essentially two main in a huge web of symbiosis. As we’ve honored as living beings, rather than as commodified “property,” and grown a tea tree form with a large mass of yel- Before the two-legged animal came sustainably with the health, happiness low stamens, often blossoming two or to share in the protection and propa- and quality of the tree as viable con- three together on short branchlets. The gation of the genetic heritage of tea, cerns. Human beings need to learn that white or pale pink blossoms of Camel- ensuring that Her genes would spread the quality of life of our food, plant or lia tea trees appear on drooping stalks, all across this great Earth, She required animal very much is the essence of its usually between two and four centime- the help of mice and owls to propagate nutritional quality for us! ters in diameter. They form from five to Herself, as have many trees before Her. No matter the varietal/cultivar, all nine petals, which are round, concave Mice gather the protein-rich tea seeds healthy shoots on a tea tree will form and often fall off quickly. The petals into caches, sometimes far away from leafy growth in spring. Terminal buds are surrounded by five sepals arranged the mother tree, and then owls eat then become dormant as the season in a tile-like pattern described by bot- some of the mice, who never return to progresses. Dormant terminal buds anists as “imbricate.” These casings are their cache that is then free to sprout. will shed bud scales in some varietals, smooth and round. It then takes from And it is a good thing there are many leaving scars on the stems that may a few months to a year for the tree to seeds in the cache, because tea seeds represent leafless flushes, which often be cross-pollinated and bear fruit. The don’t sprout with much consistency. occur at the same time as the flush of fruits (seeds) of the tea tree are smooth In this way, the tea trees can actually new buds. The flowers are formed in with flattened, round capsules that are migrate hundreds of kilometers over the autumn, usually from October to usually split into five chambers, each long periods of time, though much November. Flowers appear in the space with one solitary seed. It is not uncom- further carried by humanity’s love for between the leaf and stem where the mon for two seeds to form fused to- the Leaf. Like many other plants, Tea terminal bud starts growth for the next gether. Do the fused seeds sprout more has traveled the length and breadth of highest flush. The gorgeous flowers of or less? the globe due to our love. Wuyi Cliff Tea Names of Cliff Tea

There once were more than 830 homogenized into more common trees even subtle nuances in processing and types of Cliff Tea based on the names through breeding. Finally, with discon- drinking. We will share our versions of in books left from the Qing Dynasty tinued production, some subtle differ- the legends these teas are named after (1644–1911). It is hard to say how ences between certain similar varietals in this issue. A brief exploration of the many are left, but at least a couple were also lost, and when production “Four Legendary” kinds of Yancha, as hundred survive. When you ask differ- resumed in the ’80s and ’90s, people you could also translate these, will be ent farmers, you get different numbers. just came back and assumed that what useful here: Also, seed-propagation continues, and may have been multiple varietals were there are sometimes new varietals only one, collapsing them in name. named when new trees are discov- Before we get to many of the lesser- ered to have unique characteristics, or known varietals, we must discuss what Da Hong Pao 大紅袍 sometimes also for branding to distin- are called the “Four Big Names (四大 (The Emperor’s Crimson Robe) guish producers from their competi- 名岩茶),” which are considered to be tors. the best, and therefore highest-quality Da Hong Pao, the “King of Tea,” is Sadly, the twentieth century was Cliff Teas. The four most famous va- the best known of all Wuyi Yancha. It challenging for China, and the world. rieties of Yancha are “The Emperor’s is also the best of the bunch, admired During that time, many farmers gave Crimson Robe (大紅袍, Da Hong near and far in both the modern and up on tea or were forced to by the gov- Pao),” “Iron Arhat (鐵羅漢, Tie Luo antique age. It was often a favorite trib- ernment. Many were made to grow Han),” “Golden Water Tortoise (水金 ute of the royal court. The origin of this rice instead. This meant that a lot of 龜, Shui Jin Gui),” and “White Cocks- marvelous tea is the cliff of Tian Xin varietals were lost, ripped out and re- comb (白雞冠, Bai Ji Guan).” Each Yan (天心岩), Jiu Long Keng of Wuyi. placed by rice paddies, other vegeta- has a history and legend surround- It received its name of “The Emper- bles or cash crops. Some varietals also ing its name, a special leaf-shape and or’s Crimson Robe” in the Qing Dy-

白 水 雞 金 冠 龜 1

Here are the “Four Legendary” or “Four Big” names of Cliff Tea. Clock- wise from above, we have the incredi- 北 bly unique Bai Ji Guan, with leaves like 鐵 no other tea tree on Earth; Shui Jin Gui 斗 top right; Iron Arhat (Tie Luo Han) 羅 beneath that, with its typical purplish buds, which is a common mutation in 一 漢 tea trees caused by anthocyanin pig- ments that protect the tree from UV 號 rays; and then finally “Bei Dou Yi Hao” or “First Generation trees from Bei Dou,” which are direct cuttings of the six mother trees shown on pp. 19-20, which are the real “Da Hong Pao.”

49/ The Poetic Names of Cliff Tea 眾多名稱岩茶 nasty. Since the 1980s, Da Hong Pao teas. It originates in the Nei Gui Cave the dry leaf is bluish. When finished, farms have spread down into the inner (內鬼洞) of Hui Yan Keng. The tea it is smooth, fat, tight and even. When mountains of Wuyi. Da Hong Pao trees are planted on a long, narrow a package is opened, the leaves are all grows from a medium-sized bush with belt beside a small ravine with cliffs on tangled together, which has earned it leaves that belong to an asexual repro- both sides. The trees are, therefore, tall- the nickname “Head of the Dragon- duction based on late-grown seeds. The er and bigger than the other varieties, fly.” The tea is rich and fragrant with plant has a half-open shape with thick with a half-open shape and crowded hints of plum and osmanthus. The li- branches that grow in close proximity. branches. The leaves are also elliptical, quor is a clear and a deep orange color, Its leaves are elliptical, bright and dark- though slightly longer. They are dark and should have a full body, obvious green in color. There is a slight bulge green, bright and thick with dull, shal- sensation and deep aftertaste. on the surface and sharp, dense teeth low teeth around the edges. The buds around the edges. They give the im- are reddish-purple with a lot of hairs. pression of being thick and yet fragile They are also very fertile, yet tender. Bai Ji Guan 白雞冠 at the same time. The buds are tender, The diameter of the corolla is 3.5 cm (White Cockscomb) showing a carmine color with lots of and shines brightest in the middle of little hairs, and their fertility is strong April. The buds yield a very high har- Bai Ji Guan originates at the Bat and dense. The diameter of the corolla vest and are the raw material for this Cave (蝙蝠洞, not the secret lair) on is approximately 3.5 cm with six pet- tea. Because Tie Luo Han is almost Yin Ping Peak, Wuyi. According to leg- als. Late in April, the blossoms dis- all bud, the tea is sweeter and thicker end, it was given its name in the Ming play themselves with great luxuriance. than the other kinds of Wuyi tea. It Dynasty (1368–1644). It is perhaps Overall, Da Hong Pao is of medium has a rich fragrance with a very fresh the most unique of all Yancha variet- output compared to other oolongs. aftertaste that quenches the thirst and ies. Like the other teas discussed here, The dry tea is tight and solid with offers a very characteristic sensation of Bai Ji Guan is farmed asexually from mixed greens and browns through- cleanliness in the mouth. It is known late-grown seeds. It is mostly found in out. The tea is full-bodied and has the to taste and smell a bit like roasted or the inner mountains, and has also been fragrance of osmanthus flowers. It is even burnt bamboo. propagated in larger amounts since the especially famous for the sensations 1980s. The bushes are medium-sized 茶韻 ( , cha yun) it brings, especially to and have very thick, dense branches. the upper palate, and a rich, long-last- Shui Jin Gui 水金龜 The leaves are dull and shallow with 回甘 ing aftertaste ( , hui gan). True Da (Golden Water Tortoise) average teeth around the edges. The Hong Pao is said to taste and smell of surface also bulges. These leaves appear the citrus spray that flies off an orange This tea originates on the She Ge even more delicate than the other vari- as it is peeled. There are several grades Zhai Peak (社葛寨峰), Niu Lan Keng eties. The buds are all a bright yellow of Da Hong Pao that are mostly evalu- of Wuyi. It has played an important color with minuscule hairs. The older ated in terms of their genetic proximi- part in the culture and economy of the leaves appear white in the sunshine, ty to the six original bushes. Some tea region since the 1980s. According to and together with the buds look sim- masters suggest that since Da Hong legend, it received its name in the Qing ilar to a cockscomb, which is where Pao has become such a generic term, Dynasty, though the plant is much the tea gets its name. These are among perhaps it is more akin to a brand name older. Like Da Hong Pao, Shui Jin Gui the most unique tea trees in the world. than a variety of tea. Consequently, is a medium-sized bush and leaf culti- Sometimes leaves mutate to a yellow- some masters only use the term “Da vated asexually from late-grown seeds. ish-white color, but it is rare to find Hong Pao” to refer to the original six The main distribution of Shui Jin Gui whole trees covered in these colors. bushes, calling other varietals by the is in the inner mountains of the Wuyi The uniqueness also translates to the location in which they grow and their region. The branches are dense and the flavor, aroma and Qi of this magical genetic approximation to the original leaves elliptical. They too are dark as well. The diameter of the corolla bushes, like “Bei Dou First Genera- in color. The surface also bulges like is 3.5 cm with seven petals. They also 北斗一號 tion( ),” for example. Da Hong Pao, but the edges display a blossom fully at the end of April. The slight wave with tiny, sharp teeth. The yellow, bright buds and leaves togeth- leaves also fold inwards in a unique er make a very unique oolong tea that Tie Luo Han 鐵羅漢 way. The buds are tender and a unique often has a fragrance of lychee fruit. (Iron Arhat) purple and green with flowery hairs; Some masters say Bai Ji Guan also their fertility is dense. The diameter of tastes of mushrooms. The sensations Tie Luo Han received its name the corolla is 3 cm and usually boasts should be crisp and slightly dry in the long before any of the other tradition- seven or eight petals. In mid-April they mouth. Bai Ji Guan is very unique al teas of Wuyi, in the Song Dynasty. shine the brightest. This tea likewise amongst all Cliff Tea, and even within It is the earliest of all known Wuyi offers a medium output. The color of all of oolong.

50 Wuyi Cliff Tea Other Cliff Teas 其他岩茶

The naming of Wuyi Tea follows cer- By the Leaf Color By Flowers tain categories, which we will now dis- Many Cliff Teas are named after Two hundred and eighty-six of the cuss, giving some examples of each. This the unique color of the leaves. Bai Qi varietals in the old books were named map will help you in the exploration Lan (白奇蘭, White Orchid) and Bai after flowers. There are many orchids, of Cliff Tea as you try to sip your way Ji Guan (白雞冠, White Cockscomb) like Yan Lan (岩中蘭, Rock through the many, many varietals. This are examples of this, although the lat- Orchid) or Qi Lan (奇蘭, Rare Or- list is in no way exhaustive, but it does ter tea fits into other categories, like chid). Hei Mu Dan (黑牡丹, Black represent a nice slice of Yancha. As you the shape of the leaf, which resembles Peony) is a famous varietal, and there will see, many varietals can easily be put a cockscomb, and also legend. Hong are other peony varietals as well, in- into multiple categories. Hai Tang (紅海棠, Red Crab Apple) cluding a white one as well. Almost and Da Hong Mei (大紅梅, Big Red every local flower had a representative. Plum) are also examples of this, having By the Environment anthocyanins, which are pigments that Some trees are named by the en- protect the leaves from UV rays and By Fragrance vironment in which they grow. Good make them reddish. Like many other regions, many examples of this are: Bu Jian Tian (不 varietals are named after the aroma 見天, Lost the Sky), which is named of the leaf, liquor or both. Our Tea of this because these nine trees grow di- By When the Buds Flush the Month, Rou Gui (肉桂, Cassia), is rectly under an overhanging cliff that Many varietals are named by the one such tea. Bai She Xiang (白麝香, covers them from the sky; Shi Jiao (石 time of year they flush. Ying Chun Liu White Musk) is another one that actu- 角, Stone Horn) is another example, (迎春柳, Willow Tree That Beckons ally is musky. Lai Xiang (夜來香, growing on the edge of a cliff. Spring) is one of the first trees to flush Tonkin Jasmin) could fit in the flower in Wuyi. The last, and one of our fa- or fragrance categories. A more poet- vorite varietals at the Center, is called ic tea named after its fragrance, and By the Shape of the Tree “Bu Zhi Chun (不知春, Forgot the one of our favorites, is Bai Rui Xiang Some trees have unique shapes that Spring)” because it buds in late May, (白瑞香, Hundred Harmonious Fra- make them stand out. Zui Hai Tang way after all the other tea in the park grances). (醉海棠, Drunken Crab Apple) is one has been picked and processed. such tree that resembles a twisted, fall- ing-over version of its namesake. Yi By Legend Zhi Xiang (一支香, Stick of Incense) By the Era or Age of the Tree Many teas are named after a leg- is another tree, unique for its thick and Some varietals are named after end or story in Wuyi, and, indeed, all very straight trunks, like incense in a when the tree is dated to in folklore or throughout China. The stories always censure. There are many other varietals in fact, or the age of individual trees. celebrate the reverence and respect that of this type. Zhen Tang Shu (正唐樹, Proper Tang Chinese people have for Tea. Through- Tree) is a varietal said to date back to out this issue, we will be telling the sto- the Tang Dynasty (618–907) and Song ries of the Four Big Names, Dao Hong By the Shape of the Leaves Yu Shu (宋玉樹, Song Jade Tree) to Pao, Tie Luo Han, Shui Jin Gui and Many Cliff Teas are named after the the Song Dynasty (960–1279). These Bai Ji Guan. Other examples of this shape of their leaves as well. Gua Zi Jin are amongst the oldest varietals in the are Ban Tian Yao (bottom right, 半天 (瓜子金, Golden Melon Seed) and park. Song Yu Shu in particular is an 腰, Belt of Heaven) and Bai Mu Dan Zhu Si (竹絲, Bamboo Slivers) both exceptional varietal, and trees are of- (白牡丹, White Peony), which we also are obvious examples of this. Another, ten old. Some old trees are picked and mentioned in the flower category. and one of our all-time favorite Cliff processed individually. One such tree Teas (because of its flavor, not because is called “Lao Shou Xing (老壽星, of its name) is called Zui Gui Fei (醉 Lucky Star),” which is something Chi- 貴妃, Drunken Concubine) because nese people say to very old people on its leaves have a curve on one side that their birthday. Many of these old va- resembles the lipstick of a dynastic rietals date back to a time long before Clockwise: the shape of the leaves, concubine. It is a squatter leaf, with a there was such a thing as oolong tea. the age of the tree, the color of the strange curl on one side that makes it In those times, these teas would have leaves, legends and the shapes of trees very unique amongst tea leaves in the been processed as green tea or made all have lent poetry to the many, many world. Nature is magical in all the vari- into cakes to be boiled or whisked de- names tea lovers have used for the vari- ety She makes in tea and in all things. pending upon who was drinking them. etals of Cliff Tea.

51/ The Poetic Names of Cliff Tea

傳 O說 The Golden Water Tortoise 水金龜

rom the plains below the sil- palace, feeling uplifted by his quest. the great reverence the people show to very peaks were lost, wandering After a short wait, he was admitted to tea trees, and I long to be loved and above the clouds. Far above, the court. relished as they are. In that way, my Fpast where even the most adventurous “My dear friend, Jing!” the Jade spirit will be amongst the people and dragons soared, the gardens of Mount Emperor exclaimed, extending his in their lives. For all the ages, my chil- Lai glistened in the morning hands in an offering of welcome. dren will also be worshiped and cared sun. And wallowing in a remote pond “Your Highness,” he replied, bow- for. I will become a legend and shine of blue lilies, the great, golden water ing low. golden once more.” tortoise Jing sat in the mud, gloomy “What has brought my old friend Impressed with the old turtle’s sen- and forlorn, his once radiant form a from his lily pond to court on this fine timents, the Jade Emperor granted his dulled bronze. Occasionally, the mists day?” wish. And soon thereafter a beautiful below would part, and for the briefest “Your Holiness, in honor of my tea bush was discovered on Mount moment, he would look down to the long service to Your Majesty and all Wuyi, with the brightest crown the earthly realms below and shine golden the joys we shared together in the gar- people had ever seen. They say that rays of joy on the pond, illuminating dens, I have a small request to ask of each morning, its leaves would glow all the waters around him and cascad- you.” The old turtle spoke slowly and with an otherworldly halo, and that ing dapples of gloss on the blue lilies eloquently, impressing the court with those who drank its Empyrean nectar that surrounded him. The old tortoise his manners. would be transported to the gardens of was nostalgic, watching the humans “Why anything, my friend. Ask Heaven on the back of a black drag- far below Heaven. He remembered what you will and it shall be granted,” on… the times when the children of Heaven the Emperor said. visited him and rode on his back, and Shining more brightly, the old tur- he would have long chats with the Jade tle asked, “I wish to be reborn on Earth Emperor himself, his oldest and dear- as a tea tree, Your Majesty.” est friend. But no one had visited him Extremely surprised, the Jade Em- in the last aeon, presumably busy with peror stroked his long beard. No one more important matters of court. had ever requested permission to leave On one such dreary day, the old Mount Peng Lai. All of the stories and artwork in turtle finally made up his mind that “Why in all the Heavens would these legends were written and painted he would pay a visit to court, in hopes you wish to be incarnated as a tree?” by Wu De. We will have an auction of that the august Emperor would re- he asked. the pieces and put the money towards member their friendship. He took a “For a long time now, I have Light Meets Life. Stay tuned via social long time walking ever so slowly to the watched the lands below. I have seen media to find out more.

53 54 手武 工 製 作夷 茶

Wuyi

CliffTraditional Hand-ProcessingTea 茶人: Huang Xian Geng (黃賢庚)

Cliff Tea Processing Harvest 收成 One cannot underestimate the importance of the picking will order the pickers to halt. They return to the village at stage. A “master guide (daishan, 帶山),” literally “mountain a quicker pace than they walked on the way there, because guide,” must accompany the pickers to find the right bush- the tea must reach the village as soon as possible to start the es. There are no fences or boundaries in Wuyi, so the master processing. Almost the entire process occurs on the same day guide needs to know the land as if it were his own backyard. the leaves are picked. Unknowingly harvesting leaves from someone else’s bushes is a serious offense. In the olden days, the owner of the bush was permitted to exact any punishment he wished on the culprit. Today, it is an unwritten law that the offender must Harvesting pay the owner double what was taken, by mistake or inten- Whether or not the harvesting is done carefully, the tionally. Consequently, the first job of the master guide is to methods used are suitable, the tips and leaves are picked ac- lead the pickers to the bushes that they can pick. cording to the correct standard; all of these factors not only At the start of the season, local monks hold a large cer- influence the quality of the fresh-picked leaf and the ease of emony. They make offerings, burn incense and place fruit carrying out the zuo qing process (做青, "making the leaf"), upon the altar before chanting through the morning. The but also the quality of the final product. master guide, the tea-pickers and porters are all blessed in In the twentieth century, there were not many varieties of turn before they set out. They remain silent as they walk to Wuyi Cliff Tea (wuyi Yancha, 武夷岩茶 ). In the Qing Dy- the tea bushes for the first time. This comes from a tradition nasty (1644–1911), however, there were many. In the latter of respect for the spirits of Nature. They sometimes hike for half of the twentieth century, the main ones were “Caicha miles in order to reach the tea bushes, which are often high (菜茶, Vegetable Tea)” and “Shui Xian (水仙, Water Fairy).” up amongst the cliffs. Before the leaves are even seen there These are late-budding varieties, and the start of the harvest is a reverence—a sense of the Sacred among even the lowest season usually fell at the beginning of the middle third of the porter. fourth lunar month. There’s an old saying that goes: “If you The master guide’s second job is to direct the pickers, haven’t started harvesting three days before Lixia, you won’t showing them exactly which leaves to pick. Tea leaves grow be finished three days after Lixia.” (立夏, Lixia, or “Start of alternately on their stems, not opposite from one another. Summer,” is the seventh solar term in the traditional lunar Traditionally, only the first three leaves of each branch were calendar). In those days, harvesting was all done by hand, so taken. However, the increased demand for Wuyi Cliff Tea the harvesting period usually lasted around fifteen days. The has made the master guides more lenient. Nowadays, the harvesting work was all done by men, as it involved intense leaves are picked down to what is called the “fish eye” (yu physical labor that was difficult for women to withstand: it yan, 魚眼), a small curled leaf residing about five leaves involved not only picking the leaf during the day, but also down the stem. The leaves below the fish eye are reserved for firing and rolling it at night. The beginning of the harvesting the next season. Despite the increased yield in recent times, and processing season is commonly referred to as “kai shan the leaves that are lower down, between the fish eye and (開山)”—“opening the mountain.” the third leaf, are lower quality and later downgraded in the sorting, so that even today the first three leaves are separated and packaged together to create the highest quality Cliff Tea. The picking process can become extremely complicated. Judging Leaf Growth Even the placement of the bush must be taken into account. The side facing east will be blessed with more morning sun- The degree to which the tea leaves have opened has al- shine, and therefore grow larger leaves that open more. The ways been an important factor in harvesting Wuyi Cliff Tea. backside, on the other hand, will have more buds. These The main reason for this is to allow the nutrients in the leaf teas must be separated. Sometimes blends are made, if the to fully develop; it also makes processing easier. mixture will have a better flavor, but all of this must be con- There is a special method for judging whether the leaves ducted by a master with years of experience. have opened sufficiently. During the spring tea harvesting After showing the pickers which leaves to take, the mas- season, the tea tips undergo four stages: “not yet opened (wei ter guide can step back and supervise. The best pickers are kai mian, 未開面),” “small open surface ( kai mian, 小 often elderly ladies, as the picking is a delicate process. If a 開面),” “medium open surface (zhong kai mian, 中開面)” leaf is dropped to the ground, it is considered spoiled and and “large open surface (da kai mian, 大開面).” “Not yet left behind. These older women have the experience and opened” means that the bud at the end of each tea tip is yet dexterity to pick the tea with the most efficiency. Often, it is to unfurl at all; “small surface” means that the main bud has only women who pick the tea, and then male porters carry it begun to take shape and the first leaf has unfurled; “medium back to the village. The paths are often steep and treacherous surface” means that the first (outermost) leaf has reached and the baskets heavy (80-100 kg). But we have seen men half the size of the second leaf; “large surface” means that the picking and strong women carrying the baskets on occasion. first leaf has reached two-thirds of the size of the second leaf When the tea is harvested to the fish eye, the master guide or is nearly the same size.

57/ Traditional Hand-Processing Not yet opened Small open surface Medium open surface (wei kai mian, 未開面) (xiao kai mian, 小開面) (zhong kai mian, 中開面)

判斷葉子生長 Judging Leaf Growth

Large open surface (da kai mian, 大開面)

To judge the leaf growth stage of a whole area of tea pare for the harvesting period. When some of the tea leaves plants, it’s important to judge by a significant majority of were reaching the “small surface” or “medium surface” stag- the tea tips, and not just look at one individual tip or a small es, they had to begin picking in a planned manner to make number of branches. It is of particular importance to take sure they didn’t miss the time for late-stage harvesting. into account the leaf growth stage of the middle and low- er branches of the tea trees (or the peripheral side branch- es), and not to simply judge the whole area by the growth Harvesting Method stage at the crown of the trees. This is because the leaves at the top of each plant have a distinct advantage in accessing Wuyi Cliff Tea tips are most often picked with one bud sunlight, rain, dew and nutrients, so it takes longer for the and three leaves, which requires a different picking method leaves to “open their surfaces.” If you blindly waited until all than green tea (where the buds are picked alone or with only the leaves at the crown of the tea plants reached the “large one leaf) or today’s Jin Jun Mei (金駿眉, Golden Eyebrow) surface” stage, the rest of the tea garden would probably al- red tea (also from the Wuyi region). The method usually ready be old and withered. involves gently gripping the tea tip in the hand, palm facing Generally speaking, older leaves make the zuo qing pro- up, then using the thumbnail to pinch the stem off between cess easier and result in a richer flavor in the finished tea, the index and middle finger. Sometimes, if the thumbnail is but a lower yield. Younger leaves make the zuo qing process too short, the stem is instead grasped and broken off using more difficult, and the finished tea tends to have a bitter the thumb and index finger. During picking, it’s import- aftertaste, but the yield is higher. With traditional Cliff Tea, ant to avoid pulling roughly on the shoots to make sure no great importance was placed on the flavor and texture of the leaves are pulled off, and also to avoid grabbing the leaves tea liquor, so the leaf was most often harvested at the “large too hard so that they don’t get damaged. This looks easy surface” stage. when you watch the pickers, but it actually takes great skill Due to various constraints—such as the seasons, weath- and years of practice. The deft and nimble hands of the pick- er, and available labor and equipment—the factory owners ers who work all day, rain or shine, are a part of all fine tea. and master guides had to make careful calculations to pre- Raise a cup to them!

58 Cliff Tea Processing Generally speaking, picking is done from the inside to the outside of the tea plant, and from bottom to top, picking each branch clean one by one. This method makes sure no new leaves are missed and avoids leaving any “overflowing bushes”—tea plants that haven’t been thoroughly harvested.

Short Bushes: Two-Handed Picking In the past, most of the tea plants were of the “Caicha (Vegetable Tea)” variety. These tea plants were bush-shaped and were grown without fertilizer, so they tended to be quite short, and the shoots could be easily harvested with both hands, gradually picking each branch and plant clean. The standard for a thoroughly-harvested tea plant was that you should be able to “see black”—in other words, the new tea leaves and shoots should be harvested so thoroughly that only the old leaves are left, making the tea plants appear darker in color.

Tall Bushes/Branches: One-Handed Picking The “Shui Xian (Water Spirit)” variety of Wuyi Cliff Tea has semi-tree-shaped plants which are never pruned, so they tend to be relatively tall, often reaching five to six feet (roughly two meters). So to reach all the shoots, the har- vesters have to bend a branch down with one hand and pick with the other. Sometimes a stool or ladder is even needed to reach the highest shoots. Many old trees are like this these days, as more trees are left to grow up. This is great for the health of tea trees, and ultimately results in better quality tea, even if picking is slower.

59/ Traditional Hand-Processing: Harvest Weighing the Leaf Carrying the Leaf to the Factory

Weighing the leaf is how the harvesters’ wages are calcu- The workers whose job it is to transport the freshly picked lated. Traditionally, weighing occurred four times through- tea leaf carry it using a pole across their shoulders. They have out one spring harvest, but nowadays it is done every day. In to get the leaf to the processing facility very quickly to make olden times, two of the four were “daylight weigh-ins,” which sure it doesn’t overheat from being packed together for too were announced in advance, and two of them were surprise long, or else get scorched by the sun. It is also oxidizing in “undercover weigh-ins,” otherwise known as “caught-in-the- the baskets, and too much of that can change the flavor of act weigh-ins,” because they would catch any harvesters who the tea. For this reason, the coolies who carry the tea are had been slacking off. When a weigh-in was announced, offered a bonus to get the tea to the trucks waiting at the everyone had to stop picking at the same time, and the fore- edge of the park to carry the leaf over the bridge by a certain men, called “baotou (包頭),” and the daishan would weigh time. These days, this is all much easier to monitor with cell each harvester’s yield one by one and record the results. At phones and other technology. In sunny weather, they use the end of the spring harvest the results would be added up broken-off tree branches to cover the tea leaf and protect it and used to calculate each harvester’s wage bracket. Nowa- from the sun. When they stop for a rest, they do their best days, everything is exact, weighed each day and calculated to choose a shady spot beneath a tree or cliff face to keep the weekly for salary, including bonuses for good work. This is, tea leaf out of the sunlight. in part, due to the fact that workers are not consistent. Each of the baskets slung from the poles the coolies carry on their shoulders averages around forty kilograms (some- times more), which means they carry on average around eighty kilograms down winding trails, over stone steps that Gathering the Leaf span streams, around the many tourists these days and up and down valleys and hills at a breakneck pace to get a After a certain quantity of leaves has been picked, they bonus, only stopping for short rests to catch their breath. needed to be gathered up and taken away, otherwise the tea Many of them do this several times a day. Obviously the basket would overflow. Sometimes, when one area of a tea way back is much easier, as their load is empty, but it is still mountain has been harvested completely, the leaf is taken grueling work. Every time we drink a fine Cliff Tea, we can away even if there isn’t a large amount. There are two reasons remember these men who carried our tea so far through all for this: one is to facilitate the rotation of the harvesters to types of weather so that it could be processed well. There a different picking area, and the other is to make sure the truly is a tremendous amount of work, effort, skill, sweat leaves from different tea varietals don’t get mixed together. and toil in every leaf!

The work of tea begins long before it reaches the hands of the masters in the factory, who usually get all the accolades and rewards for the fine tea produced. Before their craft and skill even comes into play, the mountain guides lead an entire team deep into the mountains, up steep inclines, over thin bamboo poles that span streams to precarious places to pick tea, rain or shine. Then, the coolies carry the filled baskets back, often weighing eighty to one hundred kilograms all to- gether. All of this work also comes with its own skill, heritage and hard work. Crafting tea is one of the most labor-inten- sive agricultural processes on Earth, which is something we should all keep in mind with every single handful we drop into our !

60 Cliff Tea Processing Withering & Shaking 萎凋和搖青 When the leaves arrive at the village, they are gently on the road and shaken in large drums for example. The dif- placed on round bamboo trays. Sometimes a tarp is laid on ferences in the techniques used when hand-processing ver- the ground if the leaves are of lower quality or higher yield. sus using modern machinery are vast, indeed. The machines The leaves are arranged neatly in a single layer, using as many function very differently and require a very different skill set. trays as necessary, then left to wither. The leaves are withered Traditional bruising of tea leaves during the shaking phase, because the moisture in tea leaves makes them too fragile for for example, ideally creates a red ring around the edges of processing; they would only break. The withering accord- the tea leaves. That is not possible in a mechanized drum ingly prevents breakage by making the leaves slightly limp that rattles the tea around, bruising randomly. in preparation for the rest of the procedure. There is never The withering step is called “dao qing (倒青).” The literal a moment in which they aren’t monitored. If it is too sunny meaning of the term is along the lines of “collapsing the or too hot, the leaves could be burned, which would ruin leaf” or “making the leaf lie down”—a description of the leaf them. Also, if they are left to wither for too long, they will lying in its withered state after being sun-dried. Whether or become overly-oxidized and must be discarded. The leaves not this step is carried out properly has a major influence on must reach the desired level of flexibility, no more or less. the later processing stages. Periodically, the trays will be brought inside and placed on shelves, where the temperature and light can be controlled more precisely. This stage is sometimes called “reduction.” When the leaves come inside out of the sun, they begin to Pouring the Leaves into the Qing Hu stiffen slightly. This is called “huan yuan (還原)” in Chi- The leaf is poured into a large basket called a “tea-leaf nese, which literally means “alive again.” A master watches lake (qing hu, 青湖).” When tipping out the tea leaf, the the leaves and moves them in and out of the room as many ropes on the tea baskets must be untied and removed to times as necessary to reach the desired flexibility and degree make sure they don’t get mixed in among the leaf. The work- of oxidation. Much of this depends on the weather for that ers must use gentle movements to avoid damaging the buds day, the time of day, the strength of the sun and the nature and leaves. Extra special care must be taken with leaves that of the leaves themselves. Like any aspect of life, it’s about are wet from rain or dew, and very young, tender leaves and finding the right degree. Masters know by sight and touch buds. when the leaves are ready for the next stage. The harvest day Some of the tea leaves will have rolled up, either from is usually chosen at a time when there won’t be any weath- being grasped by the pickers or from settling while being er issues that could potentially disrupt production, though moved, which will be a problem for the next step in process- contingencies exist. Subtle changes result if the tea is pro- ing. So, they need to be gently shaken out using both hands cessed on a rainy day, and therefore dried indoors. On such to open them up again. a day, at best, 60 percent of normal quality can be reached. The shaking part of the process is the predominant stage that separates oolong from all other varieties of tea. A round, woven bamboo tray is held firmly in two hands, The Bamboo Trays and the leaves are vigorously shaken. Shaking the leaves re- quires great skill. There is a rhythm to the process. It takes The bamboo trays must be placed behind and to the strength and endurance to shake the leaves, and wisdom to right of the kai qing master, so that he can easily pick them know when they are finished. The shaking bruises the leaves, up to use them. The kai qing master (開青, usually the sec- which encourages oxidation. The master producers try to ond-in-command) and the person who scoops the tea leaves bruise only the edges so that they will later develop a reddish up (usually the chief worker or head tea master) stand facing hue that makes the leaves beautiful to look at and more deli- each other across the qing hu. Thekai qing master holds cious to drink. It is quite difficult to achieve this. up the bamboo tray, and the other person quickly scoops a After shaking, the bruised leaves are placed on shelves handful of tea leaf into the bamboo tray using both hands. to oxidize. The shaking and oxidation will be continued at Thekai qing master turns the bamboo tray with both hands regular intervals until the master who oversees the produc- to evenly distribute the leaf within it. Occasionally, if there’s tion declares that the tea is sufficiently oxidized to move on a patch with not enough leaves, the tea scooper will quickly to the next stage. It is this keen eye that distinguishes the sprinkle on a few more to fill in the gap. The scooper must masters from the skilled apprentices. Charcoal braziers are move quickly, scooping a roughly even amount of tea leaf often used to masterfully control temperature and humidity, each time—if the amount is too small or too large, it will guiding the oxidation to the desired degree. affect the quality of the end result. During this process, the Throughout this magazine, we will continue to focus on tea workers must consider factors such as the weather and traditional, hand-processing techniques and methodology, the state of the leaf when deciding how thickly to spread the in an effort to preserve the centuries of tea-making skill and leaf in each bamboo tray. This in turn decides the volume of culture in Wuyi. It should be noted, however, that most leaf that they will scoop up in each handful. Everything is Cliff Tea nowadays is produced using machinery—withered done by feel, and yet should be precise.

61/ Traditional Hand-Processing Separating the Leaf Withering Racks

Throughout the processing of fine Cliff Tea, the previ- Once the leaf has been spread out, it is handed off to the ous step defines the next. In other words, the garden/varietal “tea helpers” who carry the bamboo trays to the sun-drying determine the harvest and even the picking method, which racks. The number of workers needed for this task is decided then defines the withering, etc. The withering is, therefore, a based on the length of the drying racks and the number of very key step, and separating the leaves is an essential factor. bamboo trays. After the bamboo trays are brought over to “Separating the leaf” or “kai qing (開青)” involves rapid- the edge of the drying racks, the last person in the process ly turning the tea leaf to spread it out evenly in the bamboo places them on the racks. tray. This is an extremely specialized skill. The technique in- The bamboo trays are lined up neatly for sun-drying, volves shaking the leaf together slightly, then in the instant with four bamboo trays per row. The later bamboo trays that the tea leaf leaves the surface of the bamboo tray, rotat- push the first ones into place. If any of the bamboo trays get ing the bamboo tray so that the leaf spreads evenly when it out of place, they are pushed back in using a “tea hook (青 falls back down onto the bamboo tray. There are two differ- 鈎, qing gou).” ent methods: the “rocking method (yao kai, 搖開)” and the To judge whether the whole “tipping out the leaf” or “dao “shaking method (dou kai, 抖開).” The “rocking” method qing” phase has been carried out for long enough, it’s com- is superior. mon to observe whether the pointed tips of the tea shoots The rocking method is gentle and involves grabbing and the first leaf have begun to droop, as well as whether the tray and slowly moving it around in circles or back and the surfaces of the leaves have lost their luster. It can also be forth to allow the leaves to separate, influencing the man- judged by feeling the leaf with one’s hands. ner and degree to which they oxidize. In the “shaking” kai The bamboo trays are gathered up using the tea hook qing method, as the tea leaf is scooped into the bamboo tray, and stacked together in piles of four. Then they are put in the kai qing master tilts the bamboo tray and shakes it back pairs and the contents of the two bamboo trays are com- and forth with both hands, thus spreading out the leaf. This bined into one before being placed back on the drying rack takes great skill and many decades to truly master. The skill and sun-dried for a while longer. The reason for mixing the in tea-making is a marvel to behold! leaves like this is to make sure they are not spread too thinly.

62 Cliff Tea Processing If the piles are too thin, the leaves could get scorched. It also handfuls into each other before gathering the leaves togeth- helps expose any leaves that haven’t yet had direct sunlight, er. This helps promote water loss. to ensure that the leaf is sun-dried evenly. This technique of About two to four hours after combining “two into one,” combining the leaves from two bamboo trays appears later the contents of the bamboo trays are combined again. This during the zuo qing phase as well as during this dao qing time, the leaf may be combined from three bamboo trays phase; however, the goal is different each time. into two, or from four into three. It is then shaken once After sun-drying for a while longer, the tea leaf must be more before being placed back on the airing racks. gathered up and will then be transferred to airing racks in a corridor, where it will be spread out to air. The purpose of this is to allow the heat from the sun to dissipate. Surrounding the Water To save time while transporting the leaf into the corridor, This technique is sometimes employed if the tea leaf is the bamboo trays are carried in stacks of two or three, sepa- losing moisture too quickly or has already lost too much. rating each bamboo tray with the fingers to avoid squashing After shaking the leaves slightly, they are gathered into a pile the tea leaves. with a concave indentation, which controls the speed of wa- ter loss. The Zuo Qing Room Driving Out the Water The tea leaf is left to dry for a while in the airing cor- This technique may be employed if the water loss is in- ridor. Once the heat has dissipated, the leaf is transferred sufficient or too slow. The tea leaf is spread out evenly on the to racks in the zuo qing (做青) room. The “zuo qing” or bamboo tray to promote water loss. “making the leaf” phase is a key element in bringing out the outstanding qualities of Cliff Tea, developing its wonderful color, flavor and fragrance and its famed “green leaves with Repeat the Shaking red edges.” The zuo qing room is essentially the place where indoor withering occurs. The principles of the zuo qing pro- The tea leaf has now reached the later stages of process- cess are as follows: the number of times that the leaf is shak- ing. Before progressing to firing and rolling, the leaf under- en should be low at first and high towards the end; the force goes one more shaking phase, adapted to the current state used on the leaf should be light at first and stronger towards of the leaf. the end; and the time between repetitions should be short Before firing, the tea leaf must be tipped back into a large at first and longer towards the end. It’s also very important basket, the “tea lake” or “cha hu (茶湖),” and tossed to mix to adapt the process based on factors such as the tea varietal, it. It is then heaped and left to sit for a while—the time var- weather and observable state of changes in the leaf. There’s a ies depending on the current progress of the leaf. The goal saying for this that goes: “Watch the weather while ‘making’ of this step is to further encourage the leaf to oxidize evenly. the leaf; watch the leaf while ‘making’ the leaf (看天做青, The leaf piled in the cha hu is then packed into soft bas- 看青做青).” kets. Sometimes it is pressed down to pack it more tightly. It For this first step, the leaves only need to be lightly shak- generally takes about four to six baskets to pack one batch of en a few times; they can be shaken more later according to tea, and the process takes eight to twelve hours. This varies the circumstances. During this shaking process, known as depending on the current progress of the leaf. Once the leaf “yao qing (搖青),” the tea worker takes hold of the bamboo is packed into baskets, the daishan carries it on his shoulders tray with both hands and rocks it, alternating which side to the firing and rolling room. goes up and down. This process causes the leaves to curl into spiral shapes, bumping the tea leaves into each other to promote water loss. This effect is even stronger with the later repetitions of this shaking technique. Sometimes the leaves from two trays are then combined into one. Once the leaves from two bamboo trays have been com- bined into one, they are shaken slightly longer and more vig- orously before being placed on the airing rack. The purpose of this is to regulate the speed of water loss.

Shaking the tea is one of many, many tea skills that Using the Hands looks so easy when a master does it, but it is actually very hard. When you try it, you find it is hard to keep the “Using the hands,” or “zuo shou (做手),” is a technique leaves on the tray, let alone dance them as gracefully as only employed if the changes and water loss in the tea leaf the masters do so effortlessly. Proper shaking bruises the are progressing relatively slowly. This technique involves leaves only on the edges, which creates a red ring around placing one side of the bamboo tray against the airing rack the leaf. This is only possible, however, with traditional and holding it in place with one’s stomach, then gently tak- hand-processing, as the machines tumble the leaves and ing a handful of leaves in each hand and lightly bumping the bruise them randomly.

63/ Traditional Hand-Processing: Withering & Shaking 22 Cliff Tea Processing

The withering and shaking is really the step that defines oolong production. The story goes that a man named “Black Dragon (Oolong, 烏龍)” was lazy and slept all day, but he was a good hunter. He was called “Oolong” because his skin was dark from sleeping in the sun while others picked tea. Af- ter some time, his father finally had enough of his laziness and told Oolong to fill his basket that day or not to come home at all. Oolong was clever, and filled his basket very fast, so that he would have time for a nap. He sat down, but then noticed 手 a rabbit and got up to give chase, forgetting to unstrap his tea basket. As he ran, the tea bounced all around and flew out of his basket. When he got home, his father didn’t want to hear his excuses and sent him to the hills. Later, the vil- lage elders came to Oolong’s house to ask his father about that day’s “magic tea,” which was the best they had ever had. They went to find Oolong to ask him where he picked the tea, 工 but the garden was one they always picked from. After asking him to recount what happened, the old masters soon figured out that it was the shaking that had changed the tea. They successfully implemented this new method and created a much better, new type of tea that they named “Oolong” after the one who had discovered it. Black Dragon was allowed to come home and probably be as lazy as he wanted, or maybe he changed his ways? Since then, the elders in Black Dragon’s 製 village have spent centuries perfecting this method. Master Huang licks his finger and knows that the humidity in one part of the room is too high, bringing in a charcoal brazier to correct it. He smells the tea and knows whether to change the shape of the pile to increase or reduce oxidation and, of course, to read when the leaves are ready for firing. He brings not just sensitivity but joy to the process. 作

65/ Traditional Hand-Processing: Withering & Shaking

Cliff Tea Processing Firing & Rolling 殺青和揉捻 When the tea has finished oxidizing, it is time to fry it. First, the kindling is fed into the stove with a pitchfork. The frying of tea serves two purposes: First, the frying arrests The plant used for kindling is the Dicranopteris dichotoma the oxidation process. If the leaves were allowed to further fern, known as “guimeng (規蒙)” and also called “wolf’s oxidize, they wouldn’t taste and smell the same. Secondly, clothing (langyi, 狼衣)” by locals. Its formal name in Chi- the frying destroys certain enzymes in the leaves that give nese is “mang qi (芒萁骨).” Next, “firewood” is added— them a bitter, grassy taste. For that reason, the frying of the in other words, branches from trees or bushes. The wok leaves is often called the “kill-green stage (sha qing, 殺青).” must be heated until it turns red and then blue. When the process is done in the traditional way—by The wok must be scrubbed to remove any rust and tea hand in a large wok—the person frying must know when stains, to prevent the tea leaf from burning. It also helps raise the leaves are finished by touch alone. It takes many years of the temperature of the wok. The leaf is put into the wok in practice before a student is allowed near the best quality teas. small batches of between half a kilogram and one kilogram. The fingers must remain firmly closed so that no leaves get The tea worker presses the tea leaves down by hand, moves caught between them. The leaves are pushed to the center them toward himself, then flips them over. This movement and then stirred outwards again. If the leaves are slightly is repeated continuously. The firing time is decided based on damp, the person frying will gently pull them up from the how young the leaf is, the tea varietal and the water content. center and drop them to evaporate any excess moisture. The During wok-firing, the hands must be pressed together leaves must be pulled because they are too hot to reach un- side by side to avoid dropping any leaves, so that the leaf is der. Besides the heat and moisture, a lot of things are going fired evenly. The daishan often calls out “clench your but- on during this stage. The person frying must concentrate. A tocks!” to the tea-firing workers—a phrase that is a humor- lot depends on this phase of the process. ous take on this action of pressing the hands together. The The shaping of the leaves must happen immediately af- workers must also be very careful not to burn their hands on ter frying. The temperature mustn’t decrease at all. This of- the hot iron wok. There are two firing methods: ten requires the cooperation of more than one worker. The leaves are quickly carried to bamboo trays that have raised ribs woven into them. The shaping (rou nian, 揉捻) is done The Suspended-Hand Firing Method (吊手炒法) with rolling, kneading motions and is done for several rea- In this method, one hand grasps some of the tea leaf and sons. Firstly, it causes the leaves to dry in a curled shape that then drops it from a height of around one foot. The goal is is both pleasing and saves on packaging space. More im- to allow moisture from the leaf to evaporate. This method portantly, rubbing the leaves across the bamboo ribs bruises is used for leaf that has not yet lost enough of its moisture the cellular structure of the leaves. The combination of the content. curled shape and bruised structure will cause the leaves to slowly release their essential oils, flavors and aromas when they are steeped. The bruising also changes the way in which The Closed-Hand Firing Method (閉手炒法) the tea will oxidize during the rest of production as well as This method involves pressing quite firmly down on the the way it will age. pile of leaves with both hands, dragging it back and then turning it over. This prevents excessive moisture loss, and is usually used for leaf that has already lost too much moisture Firing content.

The purpose of firing the tea leaf is for the high tem- perature to deactivate the enzymes in the tea, to finish the Rolling process of moisture evaporation and “fix” the quality of the leaf produced by the zuo qing process. The goal of rolling is The usual signs that the leaf is ready to be removed from to bring the leaf juices, which contain active elements, to the wok are that it feels soft and slightly sticky to the touch, the surface of the leaf, and to roll each leaf into a twisted and it gives off white steam. A tea-rolling worker holds the strip. The firing and rolling phases employ a line production tea-rolling tray up to the stovetop, and the firing master method, with many quick, continuously repeated move- quickly pushes the leaf into the rolling tray, sweeping it with ments. Both phases involve strenuous physical labor—the a small brush in his right hand and holding the leaf in place tea leaf must be fired by hand over a very hot wok and then with his left. Sometimes he will move the leaf with both rolled using a lot of physical strength. Again, as we repeated hands instead, then use the small brush to sweep any re- often in this section because it is so important, the following maining leaves out of the wok. description is only with regards to traditional hand-process- After collecting the leaf from the wok, the tea-roller ing. Nowadays, most of this is done with machines, requir- puts the bamboo tray full of tea leaf on the rolling table, ing different skills and producing a vastly inferior leaf. There then quickly divides half the leaf into another bamboo tray is skill and tradition in the hand. for another tea-roller. So it takes two workers to roll one

67/ Traditional Hand-Processing The Suspended-Hand Firing Method The Closed-Hand Firing Method

wokful of tea leaf. The workers must pay careful attention After the leaf is shaken apart, the contents of two trays to the placement of the bamboo tray—they must rotate it are combined back into one before being roasted or carried so that the lines of the weave run diagonal to them, rather back for re-firing. Sometimes, the leaf needs a re-firing. This than horizontal-vertical. This is what gives the rolled leaves is commonly known as “passing through the red wok.” The their signature appearance, with their proverbial “dragon- firing master scatters the leaves in the wok, presses them fly heads, snail tails and frog-skin backs (蜻蜓頭, 田螺尾, down flat with both hands, pulls them towards him, then 蛙皮背).” Keeping the bamboo tray in the correct position tosses them away from him to flip them, much like frying requires quick and frequent adjustments. a pancake. This is repeated several times. The main goal of The tea-rollers stand with their legs apart and knees bent, this is to further heat the leaves in preparation for re-rolling. leaning forward. They press down on the leaf with the left After re-firing, the curled-up tea leaves—often referred to as hand, then use the right palm to roll the leaf forward and “cha suo (茶索)” or “tea strings”—are swept back into the toward the left. When the leaf reaches the far edge of the rolling tray with a small brush. After being removed from rolling tray, the right hand is placed in front of the left and the wok, the curled-up leaves are once more divided into then the leaf is gently pulled back again. Then the left palm two bamboo trays, and the rolling phase is repeated. This presses down and rolls the tea forward and toward the right. completes the “double-firing, double-rolling” technique The process continues like this, with the kneading motion that is unique to Cliff Tea processing. This is only done for repeatedly alternating from left to right until the tea leaves certain leaves, though. have rolled into twisted strips. The timing must be coordi- After re-rolling, loosening the leaf, tapping the rolling nated with the firing time to maintain a steady production tray and combining the contents of two trays, the trays full flow. of rolled leaf are passed into the roasting room through the The leaf has now rolled up into a ball and needs to be “mamen (馬門),” or “horse gate.” This is a type of long, nar- shaken apart. The rolling tray is also picked up and thwacked row horizontal window. It’s designed to save time by pass- forcefully on the rolling table to free any leaves that have ing the rolled tea directly to the workers inside the roasting become stuck on the rolling tray. This is an exciting part of room, where it will be roasted to continue evaporating the the process! moisture.

68 Cliff Tea Processing

69/ Traditional Hand-Processing: Firing & Rolling Watching two generations of masters work together, the extra decades of mastery and skill are obvious. Lao Die moves differently. His two sons flex their muscles and move the tea across the bamboo tray with force, whereas the great master is soft and gentle. You can see the Qi flow up into his body from the ground, like tai chi. His movements are effortless, as if the tea is processing itself. Watching him feel the wok to know when the temperature is right, at peace with his eyes closed, the graceful dance of the leaves firing at such intense heat and then the movement to the table and the thwack when they smack the trays down (shown above) to shake the leaves up is like a gorgeous ballet and fills your heart with gratitude for the centuries of heritage and skill handed down to us Chajin. There is a great force of culture, time and devo- tion in every pot of tea that brings a tear to the eye.

70 Cliff Tea Processing Roasting & Sorting 烘焙和分級 When the tea is shaped properly, it is ready to be roasted pit first and set alight. In the following days, there’s no need (hong bei, 烘焙). Smaller factories that produce Wuyi tea by to use kindling when setting up for the first roast of the day. hand do not have time to complete the roasting during the It is sufficient to simply scrape off the top layer of ash from harvest season. There isn’t enough time to complete all the the day before and place the charcoal directly on the embers, other steps and roasting on the same day. For that reason, where it will ignite. Once the kindling has been lit, the char- only the best teas will be roasted start to finish on the same coal is piled on top and ignites quickly. day. The greater bulk of the tea will go through a short ini- When all the charcoal has fully ignited and begun glow- tial roasting, called “zou shui bei (走水焙),” or “temporary ing red, the roasting can begin. Sometimes, the charcoal is roasting,” which stops the oxidation process and puts the tea added in two batches—once the first batch is burning it is “on hold” for a short time. It is then carefully stored until broken into pieces; then the second batch is added and the all the tea has been gathered for that season. This could take process is repeated. A tea worker is present at all times to days, or even weeks, depending on the factory and farm. watch the fire, raking the coals from time to time and mak- When all the tea has been picked and processed, it is roast- ing sure it doesn’t burn out of control. ed. The second roasting, referred to as “zhu bei (足焙)” or Once the charcoal is all burning, it is broken into small “completing the roasting,” is then conducted under the - pieces with a shovel. The tea worker first uses the shovel to pervision of the masters. All of the laborers cooperate in this cut the charcoal into short sections, then hits it with the flat longer roast, which requires constant supervision. Any stage part of the shovel to smash it into fragments. The charcoal of the process can damage the quality of a tea, but the roast- fragments are then gathered up from the edges of the fire pit ing is perhaps more evident than the other stages. A poor with a scraper. They are piled into a tower shape and packed roasting is immediately noticeable in the first sip. solid. To roast the teas, compact charcoal is placed in wells. After the charcoal is smashed and piled up, there are still Rice ash is used to cover the coals, reducing the tempera- small gaps left between the charcoal fragments. To remedy ture to inhibit any flame. The roasting must be through heat this, crushed charcoal is added to smooth out the surface alone, as a flame would cook the tea. The tea is stirred and and ensure the fire burns evenly. This type of fire is used spread out regularly throughout the roast. especially for the tea-roasting process. The teas are sorted on large tables by masters. The first three leaves, which are of higher quality, are separated into piles. The sorting is very time consuming and done very carefully to maximize the amount of higher-grade leaves for Zou Shui Bei the market. Sometimes a winnower is used to remove dust The purpose of roasting the tea leaf post-rolling is to particles from the lower quality leaves. Because the process further reduce the moisture content, so that the leaf ends takes a long time, the leaves will again be exposed to mois- up half dry. During this process, the roasting frames must ture in the air. For that reason, when the sorting is finished, be constantly moved along, which involves a lot of walking the leaves are then roasted again for a very quick spell. This around on the part of the tea roasters. Because of this, the dries them out. The best Wuyi teas are packaged while they process is also known as “zou shui bei (走水焙),” literally are still hot from this final, swift roasting. “roasting to walk out the water.” The tea roasters take the trays of tea leaf when they are passed in through the mamen (馬門, the window between Preparing for the Roast tea rooms for passing bamboo trays). Because the roasting process requires a lot of stooping down and running around, Preparing the charcoal pits for the first drying roast (zou it was traditionally done by child workers. After bringing shui bei) must be completed before the rolling phase begins, in the rolled leaf, the tea workers immediately tip it onto and involves exposure to a lot of heat, dust and ash. Roasting the roasting bamboo trays which are installed in the roast- the tea over a wood charcoal fire is what produces its distinc- ing frame. As the open fires are very hot, the frames of the tive flavor. The first roast involves the most work. First, the roasting bamboo trays are first soaked in water for a while wood charcoal is brought to the roasting room. Then, any to make sure the bamboo trays don’t come apart from their charcoal “stubs” (pieces of firewood that have not complete- frames. The rolled leaf is quickly spread out flat by hand on ly burned through) are picked out, to prevent their smoke the roasting bamboo tray. from contaminating the tea leaves. After spreading out the leaf, the tea roasters must quick- At this point, the fire pits will still contain ash and left- ly transfer the roasting frames to the fire pits. It’s very im- over charcoal fragments from the previous use. Before the portant that the frame does not come into contact with the next roast begins, they must be scraped clean. fire, to avoid burning the frame and affecting the tempera- When starting afresh for the first roast, kindling is need- ture of the fire. During this step, the tea worker also plac- ed to help the charcoal catch alight more quickly. To this es an empty roasting frame to one side, ready for the next end, some small pieces of bamboo are placed into the fire round of roasting. Everything happens in a coordinated way.

71/ Traditional Hand-Processing 72 Cliff Tea Processing

This step is carried out while waiting for the next batch of any other debris from the tea. This dust is often kept by the tea leaf to arrive. It involves removing the frame with the farmer to drink at home and share with neighbors. roasting tea and putting it down on a tray. The leaf is then After being sorted by the female tea workers, the leaf is tossed and spread out again before being roasted some more. gathered according to varietal and transferred to the roast- This is done to make sure the leaf is roasted evenly. ing frames for roasting. Every evening, the roasted tea leaf is After tossing the leaf, the tea worker moves the roasting collected and stored. The tea production boss sends a repre- frame along one place, leaving the fire pit empty for the next sentative, known as the tea collector (qi cha xiansheng, 起茶 frame of tea that will soon arrive. After each frame full of tea 先生), to inspect the tea and make a record of it, then seal it leaf has been moved all the way to the end, it is removed and up and transfer it to the warehouse. At the end of the spring the leaf is tipped into a cha hu (茶湖, large basket, literally, harvest season, he will also transport it to the tea houses for “tea lake,” shown above). further processing. Once a certain amount of tea leaf has collected in the The large scale that is used to weigh the tea is suspended cha hu, the tea roasting master winnows the semi-dried tea from the rafters. The tail end of the scale is supported with a to remove broken leaf fragments, old leaves and so on. This rope to ensure that the counterweights don’t slide off while also separates the leaves, making them easier to spread out weighing the tea and injure anyone’s feet. Usually the leaf for air-drying. is weighed in soft baskets, but sometimes it is packed into After winnowing, the leaf is spread out on bamboo trays crates first and then weighed. and placed on airing racks. These are located outside the After being weighed, the tea is packed into tinfoil-lined roasting room so the tea doesn’t overheat. Each bamboo tray crates according to varietal. The crates are then closed and must contain about the same amount of leaf, spread to the sealed up before being placed into the warehouse. This sec- same depth. The next day, female tea workers will hand-sort ondary processing phase is what is referred to today as “re- the leaf. fining” (jing zhi, 精製). In the past, this was usually carried out at the “tea houses”—the tea shops that would eventually sell the tea. In those days, this secondary or refined process- Sorting ing stage was also called “roasting,” and the workers who carried it out were referred to as “tea-roasting masters” or The sorting process involves picking out the stems from “tea-sifting masters.” This process of sifting, winnowing the tea leaf so that they don’t absorb any of the beneficial and re-roasting the tea was very complex, requiring great substances from the leaf. During the later processing stages, technical skill. The goal of secondary processing is to refine other debris such as coarse leaves, smaller stems and broken the tea and bring out its unique qualities to best effect—a leaves will be removed too. This initial rough sort involves golden liquor and fine aroma, with a full body and long- picking out the tea stems, old leaves (黃片, huang pian) and lasting aftertaste.

73/ Traditional Hand-Processing: Roasting & Sorting Before secondary processing, the semi-processed tea leaf to surface and be picked out. Some teas use this shaken sift- is sorted into piles. This process is known as “gui dui (歸 ing method starting from the fourth grade of bamboo tray. 堆)” or “jian dui (揀堆).” This generally means gathering After sifting, the longest and thickest leaves are grasped the tea into piles or grades of similar varietal and quality to with both hands and rubbed in a circular motion between create larger batches for processing and sale. The quality of the palms to break them into smaller pieces. The pressure the leaf is judged by brewing some of it and evaluating the must be just right; too much will crush the leaves, yet too resulting tea liquor. little will not be enough to break them. The correct pressure The next step involves stacking crates of each type of tea is described as using “living hands,” and not crushing the together, followed by winnowing, then pouring the leaf all leaves to death. This step is called “dou shai (抖篩)” or “da together and tossing to mix it. Sometimes the tea leaf that shai (搭篩),” and is also referred to in the vernacular as “cut- was to be combined is first spread out layer by layer in a ting” the leaf (qie, 切). large cha hu and tossed to mix it evenly, and the sifting, Next, the tea is winnowed to remove tea dust and broken winnowing, picking out debris and roasting is carried out af- leaves. This is a different goal than that of the earlier step of terwards. This process is different from the modern method winnowing the leaves to distribute the moisture. The win- of sorting the tea into piles. nowing pans used for this step are slightly flexible, so the The semi-processed tea is sifted into grades based on leaf wrists and belly must work in tandem, constantly adjusting size. There are two sifting steps: flat sifting and shaken sift- the amount of force used to successfully winnow out all the ing. There are ten different grades of sieves, with the holes unwanted material. Winnowing is an alternative to sifting; in the weave graduating in size from large to small. The flat which method is used depends on the needs of the individ- sifting step involves holding the bamboo tray level with both ual tea. hands and rotating it, using each bamboo tray in turn to After sifting and/or winnowing, the leaves are once more separate out the successively smaller and finer leaves. Thus hand-sorted by leaf grade to pick out any remaining debris the tea is sifted into ten different grades ready for winnow- such as small tea stems and yellowed leaves (huang pian). ing and picking out any remaining debris. Then, the leaf is This is very meticulous and time-consuming work. Next, combined back together in equal proportions. the leaf is combined back into larger batches ready for the The shaken sifting method involves grasping the bottom second roast, also known as “dun huo (燉火)” or “stewing edges of the bamboo tray with the fingers and gently rotat- over the fire.” ing and shaking the bamboo tray. This allows the fine tea It is amazing to wander the streets of Wuyi during pro- leaves to be sifted out and brings the small, light-colored tea duction time, as every house you peek into is full of people stems to the surface. If simply using the flat sifting method, sorting tea leaves on big tables by hand. They often chat and the stems would fall through the holes in the sieves. Only catch up on village gossip as they sort the tea that we will this combination of gentle turning and shaking allows them enjoy this year.

74 Cliff Tea Processing Final Roasting最終烘焙 A charcoal fire must be specially prepared for this step Tossing the leaf around occasionally in the roasting bas- in the refining process. Similar to the earlier fire-building ket is an important step in the roasting process, as it ensures process, once the wood charcoal has burned through and that the tea is roasted evenly. In the past, there were three is smashed into smaller pieces, the small gaps are filled in methods of doing this. One was to lift the roasting frame with crushed charcoal to even out the surface. Then a layer down onto a tray, then toss the leaf by hand and spread it of fine, dry ash is added on top, about one centimeter thick. out evenly before continuing to roast it. Another method This regulates the temperature of the fire, producing the de- was to pour the tea leaf into a spare roasting frame, then sired low-heat slow-roast effect. spread it out by hand and continue to roast it. The third The temperature of the fire is tested by touching the back method was to pour the leaf into a soft basket, toss the leaf of the hand to the lower part of the roasting frame. Broadly by lifting alternate sides of the basket, then pour it back speaking, the temperature is judged to be high if the frame into the roasting frame, spread it out and continue roasting feels very hot and the tea worker has to immediately remove it. This third method was the most commonly used; each his hand, medium if the frame feels hot but bearable to the method has its advantages and disadvantages. touch, and low if the frame doesn’t feel hot. But this judg- During roasting, the top layer of crushed charcoal that ment also depends on each individual person’s experience covers the fire pit slowly burns away into ash, gradually re- and sensitivity. The temperature must be tested frequently. ducing the height of the coals and the heat of the fire. So, If the temperature is too low, some of the ash layer is the roasting master must scrape the ash and charcoal away scraped away with a wooden ash scraper to make it thinner. from the edges of the fire pit with a scraper, compacting If the temperature is too hot, an extra layer of ash is added them in the middle to form a taller pile. He then uses the with a special spoon; then the scraper is used to level off the wooden ash scraper to flatten the surface of the pile before surface and compact the ash. covering it with a fine layer of ash to raise the temperature. The goal of the second roast, or “stewing over the fire,” is In the past, one round of roasting could take four or five to bring out the best in the tea, so the roasting must be done days from start to finish, since the fire pits of the time were slowly over a low heat. In the later stages of roasting, a wo- very small. ven lid is sometimes placed on top of the roasting frame to The finished tea is packed into rectangular crates lined ensure the heat fully penetrates the tea leaves. This prevents with aluminum foil or tin. Fine bamboo paper printed with the tea from “becoming green again” (developing a grassy or the factory number and the name of the tea is stuck onto vegetal aroma) once stored, and also makes for a richer-fla- the outside of the boxes. Then, the boxes are covered with a vored and more patient tea. A tremendous amount of labor, thick layer of tung oil and bound up with bamboo strips be- skill and tradition goes into Cliff Tea. This golden-liquored fore being shipped out. The crates were traditionally trans- treasure is what all the effort is for! ported using wooden boats or bamboo rafts.

75/ Traditional Hand-Processing: Roasting & Sorting

傳 O說 The White Cockscomb 白雞冠

ong ago, in the small village only pausing to pray to the gods of the The Huangs grew to love Kai Ji. near Wu Yuan Jian, there was soil, the land, the sky, their ancestors Their children adored him, proud of L a small family of tea farmers and, of course, to pray to the god of the status he brought the family. In named Huang. They lived simple lives, tea. poor villages, a little bit goes a long like all the others in the village, rising One year, the Huang family was way… Kai Ji roamed freely, mating not with the sun to walk up and down the blessed: One of their hens hatched the only with the Huangs’ hens, but also twisted, scraggly trails to pick tea, then most beautiful rooster the village had others. Even the neighbors’ roosters carry it back to the processing center ever seen. His bright white plumage somehow knew he was the alpha. And, the village shared—heavy baskets wear- was gorgeous, and he strutted with of course, his hens were very well-be- ing at their shoulders as they trekked confidence from a very early age. Many haved, producing more eggs than the through the late morning sun. But of the other villages said it was a pow- other houses in Wu Yuan . He could there was no rest when they got home. erful omen for the family and would come and go into the house freely as The tea had to be withered all day, lead to good fortune. They began plan- well and would often come inside for then shaken, fired, rolled and roasted ning for the rooster to breed through- breakfast and dinner to be rewarded lightly before they could catch a small out the village. They named him Kai Ji. with table scraps, which helped him nap and start again. Even the children Over the years, no rooster would grow in strength and size. Kai Ji partic- helped, carrying baskets, withering tea be as handsome, not even Kai Ji’s own ularly adored the children and would and learning how to pick, fire, roll and offspring. He soon became an emblem follow them everywhere. Sometimes, other skills necessary to craft a fine tea. of the Huangs’ household, and even he would even come with them to the All the tea would be made in a two- the village itself. As he grew, he only tea fields to pick, walking all the way week period, where the days were very became more and more handsome. It over the hill and around the trail to the long and no one in the village slept a was strange to marvel over something nearest wild garden. wink. Once the tea was all dried, there so simple as a rooster in a farm village One morning, in the Year of the would be festivities, prayers and rit- that had always been home to chick- Rooster, of course, and at the height uals almost as large as the first day of ens, but Kai Ji was special. His bright of the tea season, Kai Ji followed the picking, followed by a couple of weeks white and yellow plumes, with hints of Huangs to the nearby tea garden to of rest. Then, the tea would have to blue, made him stand out even from a pick at dawn. The whole family was be sorted, roasted for days over care- great distance. And he crowed at dawn going since it was the only the second fully-controlled charcoal, sorted again loud enough to be heard from neigh- day of harvest. Prayers had just been and then carried to market to be sold. boring villages, which is, in part, why said the day before—a whole day’s Throughout the rest of the year, the he became the mascot for Wu Yuan worth including the monks from the family would farm vegetables and rice, Jian. Everyone for miles and miles nearby temple and everyone in the working as hard as other farmers and knew of the great rooster! village. For the first week, every man,

77 woman and child in the village would As the eagle came down, the only The next year, when the Huangs had reverently and silently march to the tea one left nearby stood over the baby like said the year’s harvest prayers and came fields to do their part, even second un- a proud knight errant. Kai Ji puffed his back to the garden to pick tea, two new cle’s wife who had just given birth to a chest and fearlessly tumbled right into babies in tow, along with young Rong healthy, strapping baby boy the week large eagle. The two birds rolled and Ji, which means “Glorious Roost- previous—the first baby of the gener- squawked—claws and feathers flying er,” who all the monks and villagers ation, and therefore extra precious to in a whirlwind of dust and rage. By the had marveled over since he had been the whole family. time all the villagers stopped and came born in the year of the rooster and was Second uncle’s wife unstrapped the to see what was happening, the fight then saved by the most famous rooster young baby Huang from her back and was over. The eagle wanted no more of the world had ever known. He had a laid him on the grass near the other this fight. She was wounded badly, and bright future. When they arrived at the children so she could help the others would have to find some other food. tea garden, they were shocked to see pick some tea, though it was neces- Kai Ji lay on his side, bravely dying the sprout of a healthy tea tree coming sary for her to go at a slower pace. She without a cry or moan. out from the exact spot where Kai Ji’s enjoyed the mist and the quiet of the The mother had seen what had grave stood, dozens of meters from the tea fields, being around her family in happened and knew of Kai Ji’s brav- nearest tea trees. silence. It was a peaceful juxtaposition ery. The old rooster had saved her baby As the tree grew, as strong and pow- to the bustle of the large family house, selflessly. She held him and cried as he erful as the spirit it was born from, Bai and she breathed deeply, feeling a part breathed his last in her arms… Ji Guan opened in plumage as glorious of Nature and her people. The Huangs spent a large portion as Kai Ji’s, with bright white buds that High above a mother eagle was of their tea proceeds that year to buy shone from a distance, as his crow had looking down from a different strug- the supplies needed for a human fu- once been heard into the neighboring gle. She was starving, and so were her neral. They wore black, tore their hair, valleys. The highest honor, the most precious babies, perched high above in mourned and grieved. And when the beloved of rebirths, had been decreed the cleft of a rocky peak. If she didn’t monks heard the story of the “bodhi- by Heaven, and the spirit of Kai Ji and find food soon, they would all perish… sattva chicken,” they agreed to chant his heroic sacrifice would live on in With her incredible eyes, she saw the and pray over the old rooster for for- the spirit and prayers of the people of children run off to play in the stream, ty-nine days. He was buried in a spe- Wuyi evermore… leaving the defenseless baby alone. She cial grave near the tea garden where was determined to eat or be killed for he had performed his final and most her children, even though a part of her spectacular deed: defeating an eagle knew that humans were dangerous. and defending his home and people. She swooped nonetheless… What a rooster!

78 Rock Bones & Floral Fragrance 岩骨花香

茶人: Tsai Yizhe (蔡奕哲)

Master Tsai Yizhe is so important to our Center and all we do. Not only is he a great tea teach- er and brother, but he helps this project in countless ways: guiding our annual trips, helping us find ecologically sound tea, and helping to make the world a better place through tea. He is also a great lover of Wuyi Cliff Tea, and himself protects several gardens in the area through his Tea Mountain Preservation Society (茶山保育協會). We couldn’t publish an Extended Edition on Wuyi Cliff Tea without a contribution from his brush!

very year when the spring tea wonderful tea, with its “rock bone and cifically about Mount Wuyi, with its harvest season arrives, I pay floral fragrance,” makes any trip to cinnabar-red cliffs and jade-green wa- a visit to the original Mount Mount Wuyi a journey of boundless ter, and its rocky, gravelly soil. These EWuyi tea mountain. I work alongside joy. natural conditions imbue Wuyi Cliff the tea farmers, and together we wit- In Writings from the Elegant Hall: Tea with its distinctive style. The fea- ness the birth of the new tea. Every Thoughts on Tea, Mr. Lian Heng (連 tures of the natural environment—its time I’m on the road to Wuyi, my 橫) writes that “the pot must be Meng dense fog and abundant rain, its peace- heart begins to pound with excite- Chen; the cups must be Ruo Shen; the ful streams and flowing springs, its ment. There are a few reasons why I tea must be Wuyi.” Between the rocky towering peaks and deep ravines, its look forward to this journey so much. valleys and secluded mountain streams, sheer cliffs and craggy precipices—all One big one is the unique landscapes the tea farmers make good use of cracks contribute to the great variety of dif- of Mount Wuyi: mountain chains and and crevices in the rock, using the crag- ferent Wuyi Cliff Tea plants, each with steep ravines crisscross the landscape, gy boulders on the riverbanks to build their distinct quality, unique appear- the Jiuqu stream swirling and gushing “bonsai-style” tea gardens, creating ance and individual flavor. between them, tall mountain ranges rocky “pots” for their tea plants. This A good-quality Wuyi Cliff Tea from raising a natural barrier on all sides. creates a unique landscape, where “tea the original mountain is described as Then there’s the weather: a gentle cli- grows on every cliff; not a single cliff having “rock bone and floral fragrance mate with mild winters and pleasantly is without its tea.” This special knack (yan gu hua xiang, 岩骨花香).” This fresh summers, abundant rainfall, for growing on craggy cliffs gives Wuyi reputation isn’t fabricated; this “rock comparatively little sun and no harsh tea its name: “Cliff Tea,” or “Yancha bone” or “yan gu” is an important as- winds; a place that “distills the essen- (岩茶).” The Tang Dynasty (618–907) pect of Cliff Tea. It is also commonly tial grace of mountains and rivers” and tea saint Lu Yu writes in the Tea Sutra described using the epithet yan yun enjoys a reputation as “the finest beauty (茶經, Cha Jing) that “tea grows best (岩韵), literally “rock rhyme” or in the southeast.” This is a brief picture in eroded, rocky ground, while loose “rock charm.” This “rock charm” is of Mount Wuyi. Yet, this Heaven-sent and gravelly soil is the second best, and a sort of very rich, mellow taste sen- natural environment is only one part yellow earth is the least ideal, bearing sation, with a flavor that stays in the of the region’s visual appeal. There’s little yield.” The first part of this de- mouth and at the back of the tongue, another, very important one: tea. This scription could have been written spe- leaving a pleasant lingering aftertaste.

79

Wuyi Cliff Tea

Every year, right after tasting the de- and smiled bashfully, asking “What along on my tea journey too. However, lightful freshness of Mingqian (明前, kind of tea is that?” They didn’t sim- this route wasn’t exactly tourist-friend- pre-rains) green tea, I immediately ply grab the nearest tea and try to pass ly; not the sort of place suited to gentle start looking forward to the exquisite it off as whatever I’d asked about; to exploring, not to mention the fact that charm of Wuyi Cliff Tea. Every vis- an outsider like myself, coming from a the mountain paths are very hard go- it to Wuyi is brimming with pleasant commercial urban environment, it was ing. Indeed, a one-way trip up the tea surprises. At one point in the past, my particularly endearing. After spending mountain proper takes the better part daily tea-drinking left me feeling un- more time with them, I came to know of a day. Three hours into the trek, my well, with a dry mouth and tongue, how kindhearted, sincere and warm friend was ashen-faced and couldn’t and even stomach pain; it wasn’t until I they really were. Little by little I de- walk another step, so we had to turn came into contact with naturally grown veloped a deep affection for this place, around and go back. The next day, I tea that I experienced the flavor of a and its honest and unassuming peo- accompanied the tea farmers up the truly clean, pure tea. The mountains ple would later become the best work mountain by myself to check on the and landscapes of the Mount Wuyi partners I could ask for. Even when I tea. After that, I resolved not to rash- Nature Reserve have nurtured the asked them to adopt labor-intensive ly give in to people’s requests to bring natural spirit of Cliff Tea; this, along traditional tea-processing methods, them up the mountain. with the fact that we Taiwanese people like the zuo qing (做青) process that Even without situations like my largely inherited our tea-drinking hab- requires each bamboo tray full of tea friend’s, I can’t say my own mountain its and tastes from Fujian, was enough to be shaken by hand for quite some ascents have all been as smooth as I to make me jump at the chance to help time, they gladly went along with it. would like. I remember a certain time protect Wuyi tea’s special “rock charm” As time passed and I accompa- three years ago when I was heading up using natural farming methods. nied the tea growers I was cooperating the Wuyi Cliff Tea mountain as usual In my search for an ecologically with on several in-depth visits to the to supervise the tea processing. While grown, traditionally processed tea with original Mount Wuyi tea mountain, I attempting to harvest some hard-to- no harmful health effects, I traveled far slowly gained a profound understand- reach leaves off a Mingcong tea (名 and wide, wearily climbing many a re- ing of Cliff Tea. After tasting the won- 叢) parent plant, I made a sadly erro- mote tea mountain. Along the way, I derful product of all our efforts, with neous assessment of my own age and collected many tales to tell; the won- its deeply moving flavor, my heart physical prowess, fancying myself as derful memories of the journey will began to harbor a silent wish for the forever linger in my mind, just as the future. I absolutely had to make sure taste of a good Wuyi Cliff Tea lingers we protected the tea of Mount Wuyi; on the tongue. I still remember the that we didn’t repeat the same disas- year when I first visited Mount Wuyi, trous mistake of over-exploitation that during the spring harvest, following was committed in Taiwan; that natural the tea farmers up the mountain. I re- farming had the chance to take root member climbing up with my whole deep within the mountains of Wuyi. body balanced on a small ledge only We mustn’t let ourselves be bewitched big enough to plant my toes, while up by the lure of economic gain and end ahead the nimble tea farmers casually up losing everything, as happened in climbed up in two or three strides as if Taiwan; we absolutely must preserve it were nothing at all. Meanwhile, I was the natural environment of Mount cowering in a crevice, breaking out in Wuyi, as yet uncontaminated by arti- a cold sweat. Seeing me, they teasingly ficial farming practices, so that it may called out, “Be careful! Lots of people last for all time. have fallen off the mountain carrying The opening of the “Song of Pad- tea up here!” I didn’t know whether to dling Down the Jiuqu” by Zhu Xi (朱 laugh or cry! The fact that they were 熹) has a line that goes, “On the top willing to bring someone they’d only of Mount Wuyi there dwell immortal just met along on this arduous journey, spirits; at the foot of the mountain, ev- to trace the origins of oolong and learn ery bend of the stream is crystal clear.” from the tea together, really brought A tea friend of mine once found this me to a realization: loving tea is not passage while reading another poem just about the sedate tranquility of tea from somewhere or other: “The waters sessions; and learning about tea is not of Mount Wuyi are the finest under the just about hanging around at preten- Heavens, with thirty-six peaks mean- tious cultural gatherings! dering all around. Nine-Bend Stream Along the way, I tried asking some flows with cloud-water; the mountain of the tea farmers from the original light steeps gently into the clear rip- Mount Wuyi tea region: “Do you have ples.” When regaled by my stories of such-and-such tea varietal here?” At Mount Wuyi and its boundless beauty, this, they simply scratched their heads this friend started clamoring to come

81/ Rock Bones & Floral Fragrance some kind of strapping young hero. insignificance; I understood that a Sitting alone in my Long Imitating the young tea farmers, I dis- good cup of tea is created with the aid (櫳翠坊) tea space on a quiet after- mounted from a cliff in a single flying of a good heart. When we are serving noon, I gaze at the garden out the leap… and ended up dislocating my tea or going about our tea practice, we window; it seems to be offering me a left knee. It took nearly a year and a must learn to treat others with gener- reminder of the beauty of Wuyi Cliff half of constant treatment and rehabil- osity of spirit, to know how to act. Tea. I unconsciously find myself recit- itation, and even now I’ve only partly As well as rushing about the moun- ing one of Mr. Lian Heng’s tea poems recuperated. And as for that wonderful tains making sure the Wuyi tea plants in response: “Green tea is fresh in fla- tea that I’d planned to store away, my are growing healthy and strong, and vor, red tea is strong; new tea is pale in students have honored it with the - marveling at the wonderful flavor that color, old tea is deep. Wuyi tea plants bious title of “broken leg tea.” There’s Nature has produced, we would do grow curiously well; be it spring or au- something about the flavor of this well to regard all living things with a tumn, they veil every peak.” hard earned Wuyi tea, though; per- humble spirit, to be sincere in the care Having reached this point, all these haps it is somehow imbued with my we show to every tea leaf. The tea trees feelings and memories of Mount Wuyi own struggle and toil, or the care that are silent, and nor can the tea liquor are flooding back, and I feel as if I the tea growers showed in carrying it speak; yet the essence of Cliff Tea, with could go on writing about them forev- down from the mountain, or perhaps its true flavor emerging amid the quiet, er. However, perhaps it is better to take it is the steep and wondrous environ- is silently speaking volumes from with- out some of last year’s wonderful Wuyi ment in which it grows. Whatever the in our cups. Passing on this message of Cliff Tea instead, heat some water and cause, when I sat down to a silent tea beauty is the responsibility of all of us slowly sip the brew, savoring the lin- session, between my carefully regulat- as Chajin. This responsibility is what gering flavor and dreaming of the won- ed movements and the strict standards urges me to truly serve tea and treat derful surprises that next spring has in and expectations I place on myself, the others with a sincere heart, to avoid store! memories of Wuyi came flooding free- missteps that might ruin the good in- ly out along with the tea steam, and tentions of the Tea, might ruin Her I felt how deeply deserving Nature is teachings—the sutras of Great Nature of our reverence. In that moment of and Heaven, beyond ourselves—so self-discipline, I understood my own needed in our modern world.

82 Special Offer Treasure寶藏 Four Legendary Cliff Teas 四大名岩茶

his a very special opportunity These teas are all completely hand- Shui Jing Gui, or Golden Water to get some of the rarest tea made in the most traditional way. Tortoise, is said to taste of osmanthus. on Earth. This is a very spe- From harvest through withering, from It is bright, clear and precious. The Tcial treasure box indeed, and one of firing to rolling and roasting to sorting Qi is incredibly uplifting—one of the the highest quality teas we have ever and packaging, these teas were all fully most transcendent of all oolong teas offered in our fundraisers. hand-processed. The tea itself was se- we have tried. Throughout this issue we have talk- lected from authentic old-growth trees Bai Ji Guan, or White Cockscomb, ed a lot about the things that make inside the park. is one of the most unique tea trees on Wuyi Cliff Tea special. These four teas These are the “Four Great Names” earth, as the leaves are very yellow- tick all the boxes and are a splendid of Wuyi Cliff Tea: The Emperor’s ish-white until they are fully mature. chance to learn a lot about fine Cliff Crimson Robe, Iron Arhat, Golden This tea is one of the most delicious of Tea and fine tea in general. Water Tortoise and White Cocks- all types of Cliff Tea, tasting of lychee. First and foremost, these four teas comb that we have discussed so often These teas are incredibly delicious are all zheng yan, or “true Cliff Tea.” throughout this issue, including the with a bright and uplifting Qi. They This means they were grown between legends that named them. There is no are wonderful to drink or age, as they cliffs in the park, with all the bene- better place to start your journey into will become amazing teas later on and fits and unique characteristics we dis- Cliff Tea than the most famous of all are not so region-sensitive in terms of cussed, including the mineral rich soil teas from Wuyi. aging, like puerh or black teas. Aged and water, the heat of the cliffs, the Bei Dou Yi Hao is first genera- Cliff Tea is amongst the best tea we mists and much more. You should be tion Da Hong Pao, which means di- have ever tried. able to taste the terroir of these teas rect cuttings from the six ancient trees These teas were partially donat- when you drink them, especially in (perhaps the most famous tea trees on ed through the generosity of our tea later brews, where they manifest the Earth) and transplanted in Bei Dou. brother, Huang Sheng Hui (黃聖輝), characteristic “rock flavor (yan wei, 岩 This tea tastes like the spritz from an whom we have written about in this is- 味).” As you steep the tea more, each orange. It is the best of all Cliff Tea, sue. The cost here is actually incredibly later steeping will manifest more of the and the closest ordinary mortals can affordable, all things considered. Of minerals of this special place. come to the original six trees. course, all the proceeds from this beau- These four teas all come from old Tie Luo Han means “Iron Arhat.” tiful box of Cliff Tea will go to support trees as well, bringing the heritage of An arhat is a Buddhist saint. This tea is our new Tea Center, Light Meets Life. Wuyi Mountain into the tea, as well as strong and bright with translucent Qi. Each box of tea contains 25 grams. the wisdom and power of older trees It is said to taste of toasted bamboo. grown in biodiverse, rich and powerful The buds are often purplish and the tea gardens. bold and strong. $120 USD + shipping per box

83

The Inscriptions of Wuyi Mt. 武夷山摩崖石刻 茶人: Huang Xian Geng (黃賢庚)

For thousands of years, Chinese people have inscribed the rocks, cliffs and mountains with in- scriptions that might be considered graffiti if it weren’t for the fact that the calligraphy is gor- geous, the words often poetic and mysterious, and that these inscriptions often feel harmonious with the natural environment, as if they had always been there. Translated once more from his incredible book “On Wuyi Tea (武夷茶說),” Master Huang leads us on a tour of some of Wuyi Mountain’s most famous inscriptions.

uyi’s much-admired tea unfortunately slipped and fell from the Third, Da Hong Pao (大紅袍), has been immortalized cliff. While unconscious, he was vis- which is the king of Wuyi teas. Records W not only in history books, ited by a celestial being, who fed him indicate that it first appeared during but also in inscriptions carved into the some tea leaves and bestowed him with the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). mountain’s red and blue-black cliffs. a gift of several tea plants. When he It grows on Yun Cliff in Jiu Long These tea-related inscriptions are rich in awoke, Ban Xian was clear-headed and Keng, watered year-round by a trick- significance and profound in meaning, his pain had completely disappeared. ling spring and steadily nourished by earning them their well-deserved status He looked up and noticed several tall the organic matter on the cliff face… as cultural treasures. Altogether there peaks towering above him: Tianyou, Blessed by this Heaven-sent growing are about twenty inscriptions. Most of Xianyou, Yinping and Jiesun. Together environment, it displays a very fine ex- them are records of events, while five of they surrounded this lovely place, with ample of the Wuyi Yancha “rock taste” them are decrees announcing the pro- little sun and plenty of shade, gurgling or “yanyun (岩韵),” and is a true trea- tection of local tea growers and monks, springs and moist soil. So, he planted sure of a tea. In ancient times it was or prohibiting forced labor, extortion the tea plants there. They flourished presented as a tribute tea for the em- and the forced sale of tea at low prices. into lush trees that produced very fine peror’s enjoyment. In 1943, the name In the following pages, we will further tea. Some thoughtful person carved of the tea was inscribed in a nearby explore a few interesting examples of the words “Tea Cave” there; the two cliff at the behest of the county’s head these inscriptions. characters together are one square me- commissioner, Wu Shixian (吳石 First, the “Cha Dong (Tea Cave, 茶 ter in area. The name of the engraver 仙), immortalizing this beloved tea in 洞).” This inscription marks the place and the age of the inscription are un- stone. The myth surrounding this tea where Wuyi tea was first discovered. known, lost in the mists of time. was very popular and surrounded it Legend has it that a long time ago on Second, “ Gan (The Mar- with a fantastical aura, making it seem the mountain, there lived a kind, gen- quis of Mature Sweetness, 晚甘侯).” even more mouth-watering. It was not erous-spirited old man by the name of This is the earliest of the elegant names uncommon for people to try to steal Ban Xian (半仙), “Half Immortal.” that Wuyi tea is known for. Wuyi tea is the leaves right off the tea plant. So, One day he was climbing up a cliff to believed to date back to the Han Dy- to combat this, the authorities had the harvest some medicinal plants when he nasty (206 BCE–220 CE). name of the tea chiseled into the cliff

85 and stationed a guard there. In the late Factory, which owned the land at the gets very little sun, making it damp, 20th century, the tea plant varietal was bottom, built a protective stone barrier cool and shady, so the tea that grows successfully propagated asexually by around the tea plants, calling to mind there is of outstanding quality. Schol- taking cuttings, thus preserving the a bonsai landscape in a pot, and tended ars named this tea Bu Jian Tian (不 unique characteristics of the parent them carefully. Subsequently, the two 見天), “never sees the sky.” Unfortu- tree. After twenty years of expanding parties went to court, at great expense nately the carver of this engraving got the population, it is now produced in to both, to dispute the rightful own- carried away and added an extra char- large quantities and enjoys great popu- ership of the tea. All of this catapult- acter component on the left of the jian larity with consumers. ed Shui Jin Gui tea to sudden fame. (見), turning it into a different charac- Fourth, we may look at the carving At some point a Mr. Shi Teng (施棱) ter, ming (覭), which means “unclear” “Bu Ke Si Yi (Unfathomable, 不可思 carved the phrase “bu ke si yi (不可思 or “not clearly visible.” The intended 議).” This engraving is a testament to a 議),” meaning “unfathomable” or “un- meaning of this altered phrase is not long, drawn-out legal dispute regard- believable,” into the cliffside to express well understood. ing Wuyi tea. A long time ago, there his bewilderment over this lamentable Sixth is the inscription “Pang was a cluster of tea plants growing situation. Gong Chi Cha (Duke Pang’s at the Tian Xin Temple, on the cliff Fifth is the inscription “Bu Jian Tea-Drinking Spot, 龐公吃茶處).” above Niu Lan Hollow. These plants Tian (Lost the Sky, 不見天).” This is This inscription is a relic of the gold- were short and small, with dark gray the name of a Wuyi tea that is some- en age of Wuyi tea. In 1691, during trunks and dark green leaves. One day thing of a wonder. Next to a small the 30th reign year of the Qing Em- there was a heavy downpour, and the path by the Jiu Long Stream, there is peror Kangxi, the Jianning prefectural land the tea was growing on crumbled an unusual section of slanted cliff that magistrate, Pang Kai (龐塏), came to and slid off the cliff down to the hol- overhangs at the top, facing east with Wuyi on an incognito visit to min- low below. The tea plants lay at the its back to the west. A mountain spring gle with the locals. While there, he bottom much like crawling turtles, forms a waterfall here, flowing down stopped for a rest at a tea house at the which is one version of how the tea got the cliff and pooling at the bottom. docks on the north bank of the Siqu its name—Shui Jin Gui, or “Golden In ancient times, the mountain people Stream. Seeing the crowds of travelers Water Tortoise.” The Langu Cliff Tea planted some tea plants here. This spot arriving at the busy, thriving tea house,

86 Wuyi Cliff Tea

The words “Tea Cave, (far upper right: Cha Dong, 茶洞)” carved on the Yanwo cliff face; the earliest writ- ten records of it appeared in the Tang Dynasty. Sun (孫樵), who passed the highest imperial exam- ination in 855 during the reign of Tang Emperor Xu- anzong and held several official positions, once penned a letter accompanying a gift of tea to a Minister Jiao at the Ministry of Justice. In the letter he personifies Wuyi Tea, “from the homeland of cinnabar-red moun- tains and jade-green waters,” with the name “Wan Gan Hou (left, 晚甘侯),” literally “Marquis of Mature Sweetness,” likening the tea to a noble and sincere old gentleman. Later, someone carved these three charac- ters into the cliff face at Jiu Long Ke on Mount Wuyi. Since the inscription uses flowing cursive in the style of calligrapher Mi Fu, it is unfortunately sometimes misread as “Wan Gan Ju (晚甘居),” “House of Mature Sweetness.” Nonetheless, this does make for an inter- esting little side story to the inscription. To the right, going clockwise starting with the upper left, we see one of the announcements that were carved in rock, with regulations and taxes, etc., concerning tea pick- ing and production, as discussed in the article. Next is “Cha Dong,” as we discussed; beneath that are various poems and names for beautiful places in the park. To the left of that is “Bu Ke Si Yi (不可思議),” meaning “unfathomable” or “unbelievable,” which expresses the now slightly-humorous situation described in this ar- ticle. These pictures are film photographs from Master Huang’s book. he was very pleased, and spontaneous- whelmed with customers,” to express greater joy could there be than this? ly carved an inscription with the words his apologies. Word of this got back Master Zhu wrote a poem commemo- “Ying Jie Bu Fu (應接不暇),” “over- to the prefectural magistrate himself, rating these tea sessions: “The Heavens whelmed with customers” to mark the who praised the man’s quick-witted bequeathed us our stove, surrounded occasion. His aide, Lin Han (林翰), response. This anecdote was circulat- by winding waters. We finish sipping and one of the local monks added the ed with gusto among the local people. and push off in our boat, the delicate phrase “Le Taishou Zhi Le (樂太守之 However, it seems to be a made-up sto- fragrance of tea still drifting in the air.” 樂),” or “joy at the governor’s joy,” and ry, as it is inconsistent with historical Doesn’t it convey a wonderful sense of made another flattering inscription on evidence surrounding the carvings. leisure and tranquility? The two large the red cliffside: “Pang Gong Chi Cha The seventh important inscription characters “Cha Zao (茶灶),” “Tea Chu (龐公吃茶處),” or “Duke Pang’s we will explore in this article is “Cha Stove” carved in Master Zhu’s hand are Tea-Drinking Spot.” However, some Zao (Tea Stove, 茶灶).” The “Tea still clearly visible today. people have a different explanation for Stove” rock stands alone in the mid- Eighth is the Zhan Wende (詹文 this inscription. In this version, when dle of Wuqu Stream. It’s three meters 德) inscription: This inscription re- Duke Pang entered the tea house, tall and big enough for several people cords the establishment of an imperial it was so busy that the owner had to to sit on top. During the Southern tea garden. The Yuan Dynasty (1279– serve the tea in the order people had Song Dynasty (1127–1279), Mount 1368) imperial court proclaimed Wuyi arrived, which was of course seen as a Wuyi writer and lecturer Zhu Xi (朱 tea a tribute tea and gave orders for slight to the prefectural magistrate. Be- 熹) carved a stove into the stone atop the construction of an imperial trib- ing a fairly magnanimous man, Duke the rock, and would often invite his ute tea garden on the south bank of Pang chose not to make a fuss, but his friends to take a boat over to the rock the Siqu. Work commenced in 1302, aide was quite unhappy about it and and climb to the top to brew some the 6th year of the Dade period, and pointedly wrote the inscription “Pang fine Wuyi tea. Surrounded by the bab- the Chong’an country magistrate was Gong Chi Cha Chu,” “Duke Pang’s bling stream and sheltered all around put in charge of this large-scale proj- Tea-Drinking Spot,” on the cliffside. by tall peaks, they would draw the ect. In 1306, Tang Dewen (唐德文) When the tea house owner learned that spring water and brew the wonderful carved a record of this enterprise into the prefectural magistrate had been at leaf that grew from the red cliffs. The the cliff face: “County magistrate Sun his tea house, he was overcome with little group of scholars sat sipping tea Yu (孫瑀) offers this tea garden and its regret, and in his panic wrote the other and drinking in the scenery, reciting tea as a tribute to the palace and ev- inscription, “Ying Jie Bu Fu,” “over- poems and discussing the Dao; what ery level of the imperial government.

87/ Inscriptions of Wuyi Mountain In this, the 10th year of the Dade pe- Chong’an official Lin Xiweng, oversaw to the high-flying sparrow hawk, or riod, he supervised the production of the production of tea on official or- yaozi (鷂子); it’s said that these birds tea alongside military instructor Zhan ders.” The third inscription is by Lin dropped the tea seeds here, and they Congxiang (詹从祥). Also involved Junjin (林君晉), an official aide to the grew into plants that produced excel- were military instructor Liu Tang (刘 Chong’an county magistrate. It reads: lent tea. So, the tea’s original name was 棠), Daoist priest Yu Shouzhen (徐 “In the second month of spring in the “Ban Tian Yao (半天鷂),” or “Sparrow 守真), and Heng Jiangwen (亨江文) 6th year of the Dade period, the har- Hawk Halfway to the Sky.” In ancient from the palace temple.” This inscrip- vesting of tribute tea was overseen by times, two tea factories entered a le- tion provides a historical record of the official Zhu Anmin (朱安民) and the gal dispute over the ownership of this imperial tea garden’s construction. county Daluhuachi Tulugh Buqa (Tu tea, squandering a lot of resources on Ninth are the inscriptions by Wan Lu Bu Hua, 禿魯不花).” These three the case. Later, someone changed the Yanrui (完顔銳) et al.: These inscrip- carvings are all records by officials who third character in the name of the tea tions are personal accounts of the visited Wuyi to supervise the produc- to a different one with the same basic production of Wuyi tribute tea by tion of tribute tea. They also give an in- pronunciation, “yao (妖),” transform- three different people. The first is by sight into the importance that the im- ing the name to “Demon Halfway to Wan Yanrui, a Jurchen who was the perial household of the Mongol-ruled the Sky,” perhaps in allusion to these Chong’an county magistrate at the Yuan Dynasty placed on tribute tea, as unhappy goings-on. Later, someone time, and reads: “In the spring of the Mongolian officials were sent in person changed it again to yet another “yao second and third years of the Dade pe- to oversee its production. (夭),” which can mean “tender” or “to riod, I twice oversaw the production The tenth important inscription die prematurely.” It seems that this of tribute tea upon official orders.” I would like to mention is “Ban Tian person was somewhat lacking in cul- The second inscription is by a minor Yao (Belt of Heaven, 半天腰).” This ture—either because they simply con- Chong’an official named Lin Xiweng was an erroneous tea name that even- fused the two characters 夭 and 妖, or (林錫翁), who wrote: “In the 5th year tually became accepted as the norm. because they were intentionally wish- of the sixty-year cycle during the Yuan Ban Tian Yao tea originally grew on ing an early demise on any attempts to Dynasty, the Pucheng County Da- the third peak of the Sanhua (“Three make a successful business of the tea. luhuachi (達魯花赤, local Mongolian Flower”) Peaks, on the south side of Another version, “半天搖,” changed commander) named Bei Luo (孛羅, a Jiu Long Ke. The terrain here is steep the meaning to “Shaking Halfway to Chinese transliteration of the Mongo- and very difficult to climb. Legend the Sky” in an apparent description lian name “Bolod”), together with local has it that this tea owes its existence of the tea’s precariously high position.

88 Wuyi Cliff Tea

At some point this was changed again to The second announcement of this surname Chai (柴), and various other “半天腰,” making it “Waist Halfway type is located on the “poetry-in- people, by a group including a monk to the Sky” (aka “Belt of Heaven,” scription cliff” at Siqu. An inspector named Yi Yin (一音) and a Taoist shown on p. 52). This was a common in charge of several districts of Fu- devotee named Zheng Shangtu (鄧上 local expression that meant “in mid- jian Province by the name of Bai □ 土), regarding a case where the former air.” Although this version is perhaps Mou (白□某—second character un- party had underpaid for some tea. It a bit mundane, it also proved quite known) went to Chong’an County also includes a decree to local officials palatable, and it is this version that to investigate several occurrences of stating that “the private purchase of tea became widespread and is now consid- “corrupt officials and local tyrants col- at below-market prices is henceforth ered standard. luding in schemes against the locals… forbidden” and other such warnings. Finally, I would like to discuss the These have to do with the purchasing The tablet also contains two references inscriptions that are announcements of tea; they are accused of all sorts of to Songzhi (松制) tea from Xingcun. prohibiting the forced sale of tea leaf wicked ploys, causing harm to the lo- One of these states that “it is forbid- at substandard prices: These were of- cal monks.” Subsequently, in 1696, den for people such as bailiffs and ficial orders dispatched to protect the the 35th reign year of Qing Emperor petty officials to force the sale of two interests of the tea producers. Wuyi Kangxi, a special notice was issued teas produced by the Xingcun Tea Fac- tea had been growing in popularity proclaiming that anyone committing tory, Songzhi and Xiaozhong.” Song- all through the Tang (618–907), Song extortion by forcing the sale of tea for zhi literally means “made with pine,” (960–1279), Yuan and Ming (1368– less than the commonly accepted price and denoted both a type of tea from 1644) dynasties, and by the late Ming would be “arrested and investigated” Tongmu and the distinctive method and early Qing, it was already famed and “not treated leniently.” It seems used to make it—the tea was roasted throughout the world. Because of this, clear that this was intended to protect over a pinewood fire. This is the earli- corrupt local government officials the livelihood of the monks and tea est known record of a Tongmu tea and and other malevolent parties often farmers. its processing method, and has been enacted forced labor practices, forc- Upon seeing this notice from their very helpful to researchers studying the ing the tea producers to sell their leaf superiors, the Chong’an County office history of Zhengshan Xiaozhong (正 at unfair prices or seizing it with no also issued their own announcement, 山小種, ) red tea. payment at all. The local monks and apparently to confirm that they would The traces of Wuyi tea culture that tea farmers suffered so many of these be enforcing the new directive. This is can be found in Mount Wuyi’s cliffside grievances that they appealed to the the third inscription in the set and is inscriptions are not only an important higher authorities. Subsequently, the also carved on the poetry cliff at Siqu. feature of the Mount Wuyi UNESCO Fujian Province, Jianning Prefecture The fourth inscription is carved on World Cultural Heritage site, but are and Chong’an County authorities is- Jingu Cliff at the Pinglin Crossing in also of great significance to the study of sued five separate warnings announc- Siqu. It’s another notice protecting the . They are worthy of dedi- ing that corrupt officials and felons interests of tea growers and monks, cated study and preservation. would be punished for these behav- this time dating to 1714 (the 53rd iors, to protect the interests of the tea reign year of Qing Emperor Kangxi), growers. engraved eighteen years after the previ- The county office, in partnership ous notice from 1696. The person re- with the monks and tea households, sponsible for this notice was Yang Lin carved these notices on the cliffside (楊琳), a Fujian Province command- at Mount Wuyi in a high-traffic spot er-in-chief and military governor. He where passersby were bound to see it, announced that all government offices to warn against these kinds of crimes. and officials “must be fair and above- The first inscription is an an- board when purchasing tea, paying the nouncement from the Jianning pre- tea sellers’ current price,” and that “all fectural office, carved into the cliff at who dare to disobey will be found out, the Jinji settlement in Qiqu. It dates to arrested and investigated.” It’s a suc- 1615. The whole inscription measures cinct and effective message. On the Tian You Peak (天游峰) 2 meters by 5.7 meters, with a height The fifth of these inscriptions is a of Wuyi Mountain, there is a striking of 4.3 meters. Containing nearly a stone tablet. It’s located in front of the “First Mountain (第一山)” inscrip- thousand Chinese characters, it is the Qinglian Pavilion at Yunwoshi Pond, tion, which dates to the Qing Dynasty longest of the five announcements. It a place that all visitors must pass by. Daoguang Era (1782-1850). Most au- proclaims a joint lawsuit by the monks The tablet is 1.8 meters tall by 0.8 me- thors suggest that it refers to the famous of Wuyi against the local tyrants for ters wide, and contains a notice from Ming Dynasty traveler Xu Xiake (徐 their extortion and forced cut-price tea the Jianning government. It dates to 霞客), who praised Tian You Peak in sales, and announces regulations pro- 1763, the 28th reign year of the Qing his work “Wuyishan Travel Notes.” He hibiting tea levies. This is the earliest Emperor Qianlong. The contents are said: “It is not by the famed river, but known official announcement related a notice reporting the result of a le- all of Wuyi’s beauty is here. This peak to the protection of Mount Wuyi’s tea gal dispute brought against a former should be the first (其不臨溪而盡武夷 farmers and monks. Chong’an county magistrate by the 之勝,此峰故應第一也).”

89/ Inscriptions of Wuyi Mountain

Voices from the Hut In the past, we have opened up to the community a section of the magazine, “Voices from the Hut,” allowing all of you some pages to write about your experiences in Tea. Over the years, we have found that these are some of the best and most interesting articles we have ever published. We have therefore decided to include a “Voices from the Hut” section in every issue from now on! Our dear tea brother, Matthew Grohne, has volunteered to edit this section of the maga- zine. He has a lot of great topics, themes and ideas for future issues and is in need of contri- butions from the community. (He may have already contacted you about contributing!). So, if you would like to contribute some writing to Global Tea Hut magazine or have an idea for an interesting topic, you can reach Matthew on the Global Tea Hut app (in the “Voices from the Hut” section), on Instagram (IG: foldedleaves), or at the email: [email protected] We cannot wait to read all the exciting articles to come!

Life-Changing in Wuyi 茶人: Kristina Clark

t is evening when Wu De, Jaanus the tea pickers’ baskets to be placed as a mind-body connection, the con- and I arrive in Wuyi. We are in straight rows; the pickers come and nection has become superfluous. There welcomed at the Huangs’ place, stand beside them. The carriers line up is no need for this bridge, this conduit. I 瑞泉 called Rui Quan ( ), by Lao Die in the back with their bamboo poles There is only heart-mind-body. (老爹) himself, who comes out to and bigger baskets. Sheng Hui is com- At night the rolling process begins greet us happily. He is small, his eyes manding, and not without care. Lao again, and this time the Huangs are are bright; it immediately feels right to Die begins the ceremony by offering permitting Wu De to use some flash call him “Grandpa.” It is prime pick- long sticks of incense at the altar, and equipment for the first time. Sheng ing season, and the evening’s rolling Sheng Hui leads the prayer and call- Hui charms the camera, firing the session has started. The fragrance of and-response of the pickers, praying to leaves in a burst of steam from his wok the day’s freshly picked tea meeting the earth and the rains. A long line of with a smile on his face. Also a treat for the heat of the wok fills the night, as firecrackers is set off, and the tea pick- us, three of the Huangs will roll the tea does the sound of the nearby bullfrogs. ers and carriers proceed through the together: Lao Die, Sheng Hui and the Huang Sheng Hui (黃聖輝) ushers us gate, along the road, and into the tea second son Huang Sheng Liang (黄 upstairs, and I am delighted to see the gardens, with us following along. 聖亮). In perfect unison they roll the friendship he and Wu De share. I am struck by the verdant beauty of steaming balls of tea leaves on bamboo When day breaks, I am stunned to this landscape. There are streams and trays, to the left, to the right, in a con- find a view of a flowing stream, local lush green everywhere—mountains stant “U” shape. “Yi, er, san,” thwak!!!! farming beds, fields and mountains and bridges, boulders and tiny flow- They strike their trays to the table, right outside my hotel window: Wuyi ers. In a quick moment photographing sending the sticky rolled tea jumping Mountain! We have woken up very this splendor, we have lost the entire into the air to land back in the tray, early to attend the “Blessing of the Tea group of tea pickers to a maze of nar- loosened and ready to be roasted dry God” ceremony. Sheng Hui is in full row trails. It starts to rain softly, and over charcoal in the next room. Watch- command, directing the placement of we decide to head back. ing this process has taught me tons the altar and the baskets of fruit and In a tea room with a glass ceiling about how much skill, craftsmanship candy. Lao Die carefully carries the Tea and walls, nestled in a bamboo grove, and tradition go into making tea— God statue. I am impressed by the rit- I am quite spectacularly introduced to these are twelve generations of tea ual of even this preparation, and that it Cliff Tea. Wu De brews steeping after makers! Watching this has given me a happens this way year after year. Sheng steeping of this elixir. I feel my heart sense of respect for all the tea I drink, Hui turns his attention to ordering become golden. If there is such a thing and the hard work that goes into it.

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Voices from the Hut

The next morning Sheng Hui This day we are excited to go on Wu guides us on a bit of a tour of the park. De’s favorite hike through the park, We visit the pomelo tree that his grand- along with some of our companions mother planted at the site of their old from the recent Global Tea Hut trip. I house which is all but gone, only a few am at a loss to explain with words the tiles hidden in the foliage remain. He beauty of this magical place to you. I fashions a whistle from a new bam- sincerely hope you can begin to get boo shoot, showing us how he and his the barest idea from our photos. The friends used to communicate in this land is a play on scale. The cliffs tower extensive landscape. A birdsong trills so high, sometimes black, sometimes forth, echoing off the cliffs. How clever! sand-colored, often quite vertical. Step He takes us to the “Water Curtain Cave closer and you see tiny little plants and (水簾洞),” where he used to bathe as flowers growing on the surfaces, and a child in a pool below the waterfall, a spray of sparkling droplets falling before this land was a protected park. from the “fairy waterfalls,” as Wu De We also visit some of the Huangs’ tea calls the tinkling kind that only ap- trees, climbing incredibly steep terrac- pear after it rains. Nestled in the earth es cut into the rising hills like moun- between the mountains are the tea tain goats—mountain goats with cam- trees. Paths have been made through era gear. I experience firsthand exactly the stone, or with stones, in a way why this is called “Cliff Tea.” that completely compliments Nature.

I am at a loss to explain with words the beauty of this “magical place to you. I sincerely hope you can begin to get the barest idea from our photos. The land is a play on scale. The cliffs tower so high, sometimes black, sometimes sand-colored, often quite vertical. Step closer and you see tiny little plants and flowers growing on the surfaces,茶 and a spray of sparkling droplets falling from the ‘fairy water- falls,’ as Wu De calls the tinkling kind that only appear af- ter it rains. Nestled in the earth between the mountains are the tea trees... ” In the afternoon, the Bai Ji Guan Streams of clear water 道trace through (白雞冠) has come in from the fields. the land, sometimes pooling, some- The leaves are distinctly a fresh, light times rushing through waterfalls big and yellowish-white. Lao Die helps to and small. I feel in absolute awe of weigh the baskets and pour the leaves Nature, and that this land is very old, into trays to dry in the sun. much older than my mind can grasp. Firing and rolling again at night, I Of course, Yancha is what it is, born notice the men are all barefoot inside. of this land. It is explained that this is for cleanli- I hope this little story inspires you ness. Although the floor is earthen and to realize how special this tea and this dusty, the outside world is not brought land are. I hope to keep the messages in on their shoes. I am given a chance of the leaves alive in my heart-mind- to try rolling myself, and like any skill body. And I hope someday to drink performed by a master, the ease of it is some Cliff Tea with you! a deception. The ball of leaves is hot. Strength is required to press down- ward and roll forward over the ridg- es of the bamboo tray. Just the right grasp is needed to let the mass ball up and roll, and not get squished down flat. And don’t forget the rhythm of the U-shaped path—so difficult! My hands are sticky with the oils and scent of the leaves, which is wonderful for a tea lover.

93 Voices from the Hut: Life-Changing in Wuyi

A Call to Action s the leaves of this vibrant our hearts to not be able to accept even you can help with. If we are to create green tea slowly unfurl in my half of the applicants. There are often permanent and lasting change, we have bowl, I reflect on the history waiting lists of up to thirty Chajin! to do it together. Aof Global Tea Hut. From a humble Continuing to improve the magazine In my relatively short time (eigh- black and white “monthly newsletter” as we move forward also inevitably re- teen months) of being a volunteer here to a beautiful full-color magazine and quires more physical space. The need at the Tea Sage Hut, I have witnessed an active worldwide community with for a bigger, more permanent free Tea transformative change in others and in members in more than sixty coun- and retreat Center is obvious, and the myself. Indeed, this is the main reason tries—what a journey it has been! As time to do it is now. We have received a why I have decided to commit to serv- with anything meaningful and worth- gentle push out the door of our current ing here long-term. The transformative while, the road hasn’t always been home, so there is also no going back. healing that a meditative tea ceremo- straight and easy. There have been The only way is forward. All of the ny offers is very much needed in these peaks and valleys, twists and turns, courses and future plans have been put busy, chaotic and stressful times we live parts uncharted and captivating vistas on hold until we have moved into the in. Finding a place that offers respite along the way. But with skillful orien- new center, Light Meets Life. from this is not easy, and finding one tation, challenges can always be turned Despite the uncertainty, there is that can offer authentic teachings and into growth. also hope and excitement in our hearts wisdom about how to live a healthy hu- As a reader of Global Tea Hut, you for what lies ahead. Your continued man life, and not just temporary solace, already know that this is much more support and contributions have filled is even rarer. Right now, this place is than just a tea magazine. This project everyone at the Tea Sage Hut with in- without a home, but together we have exists to help steward and protect clean, spiration and optimism towards the fu- an opportunity to create the home we sustainable tea; provide information ture of this tradition. Yet much remains choose. The most worthwhile thing and inspiration on tea and ceremony; to be done. Bringing to life our shared each of us as humans can do in our and above all, to support the best free vision of a Tea Center for the ages re- short time on this Earth is to leave a Tea Center in the world, which is open quires us to come together as a com- meaningful legacy. As far as good caus- to all. This is a Tea Center you can visit munity. And we hope that you feel, as es go, helping to create a space that fa- anytime for a day, or to take a course to we do, that we are creating a center for cilitates transformative healing for the learn what it means to live a life of Tea, all of us. Every donation, no matter the good of all beings is, to me, as mean- to grow and transform through service. amount, moves us a little closer to our ingful as it gets! I sincerely hope that This year, we have arrived at our goal and motivates us to keep going. you feel the same. biggest challenge yet: Our little Tea We have made a good start, col- If Tea has ever touched your heart, Sage Hut in Miaoli, Taiwan, that serves lectively raising more than a hundred if has benefited you in as both the office for this magazine and thousand dollars in just about a month’s any way, then please help us in our ef- the Center that houses a living Tea tra- time. That is incredible! Though it is forts to pay it forward by creating Light dition and the brewing methods hand- important to celebrate little milestones, Meets Life together for this generation ed down to us by previous generations, we mustn’t lose sight of our goal. Let us of Chajin and many to follow! This is has become too little for us. For the use this momentum to move forward, our chance to make a lasting change in past few years we have operated at, and donating what each of us can and also the world and to be part of something occasionally beyond, the capacity of reaching out to others in our families greater than ourselves. Now is our time! our beloved Center, while the number and social circles who may be inspired I’m excited to share a bowl with you at of visitors has steadily increased. The to help. Communicating our message Light Meets Life. applications for the ten-day courses to people outside of the immediate that we offer have exceeded the spaces Global Tea Hut community is actually available many times over, and it breaks a key part of this puzzle, and one that Jaanus Leplaan www.lightmeetslife.org 95 Testimony of Donors: 茶人: Laura Main Global Tea Hut guided me to a simple way to honor the moment. I am at my hap- 愛呼 piest when I feel connected, aware of spirit and present in my body. Before I was un-grounded, seeking a practice that would stick with me and become a daily rit- 正 ual. When I found Tea, it changed my life. I feel so much more aware, calmer and connected. I am grateful for finding such a beautiful way to commune with the 在 Sacred. I am also blessed now to have a wonderful Tea community all over the globe, most I have never met, but I know we share similar values and visions for 改喚 the world. I will donate more next month. This month is tricky for me, but I wish to 變 give to you all so much and am excited about the future for us all. Blessings to you!

世 茶人: Marcin Kaleta 改 Global Tea Hut is for me not only the best source of information about tea and 界 inspiration to improve my life, but also a great community of fantastic people. 一 碗 茶人: Breanna Duffy 變 Global Tea Hut has helped me find my path with Tea, and for that no amount of 接 money can compare to the journey that has begun. I hope to visit soon and learn in person. Thank you for it all. 一 碗 世 茶人: Mascha C. I love my Global Tea Hut family and am very grateful to how signing up to Global Tea Hut magazine, visiting the Tea Sage Hut in Taiwan and later on joining two Global Tea Hut Annual Trips have enriched my life in so many ways! Teacher Wu De and Global Tea Hut introduced me to tea ceremony, and with that brought so much healing and richness into my life, practices and my relationships! I truly be- 界 lieve with the support of the Global Tea Hut community, the new Tea Center will become a reality, and many of us can meet and share tea there soon!

茶人: Deborah Accuardi I donated because I truly believe in what you’re doing. The magazine has deepened 的 my own tea practice, as has the connection to the leaf through your offerings. I have been dreaming of coming to the Tea Hut in the next couple of years. I am sorry to have missed the opportunity, but my heart fills with the idea of Light Meets 行 Life becoming a reality. 茶人: Antonio Egea I live in Taiwan, and even though I’ve never been to the Hut (yet), it has been always in my mind and also somehow in my practice. Their spirit and teachings are present with me each time I prepare tea. It is something special that has to be 動 preserved and taken care of. 茶人: Selwyn Redivo I donated because I believe this cause is contributing to the healing so badly need- ed in our society today. Please keep up the good work! www.gofundme.com/globalteahut 96 TeaWayfarer Each month, we introduce one of the Global Tea Hut members to you in order to help you get to know more people in this growing international community. It’s also to pay homage to the many manifestations that all this wonderful spirit and Tea are becoming as the Tea is drunk and becomes human. The energy of Tea fuels some great work in this world, and we are so honored to share glimpses of such beautiful people and their Tea. This month, we would like to introduce Liva Olina.

n Latvian, we have a saying that “three times are good times, but the fourth one comes with all your heart.” I That’s my story of meeting Tea. I believe that my love for “tea” started during childhood when I spent summers with my mom picking herbal teas in wild meadows. She would teach me how to recognize each plant, tell me about their medici- nal value and then take an afternoon nap with me right in the middle of flowers and bees buzzing. I still don’t know what I enjoyed more, the actual herb-picking or the adventurous spirit of going and finding them; but later, during the cold and dark northern winter, it felt very heart-warming to drink those herbal brews with vivid summer memories steaming in my cup. My second, and real, meeting with Tea was some twenty years later in Joshua Tree, where I joined two hundred women from all around the world for the Spirit Weavers gathering. As it was my first time in the desert, I woke up right with the sun- rise to explore Nature before forty degrees kicked in. I felt like I was walking on the moon, passing by these big, old grandfa- ther rocks and watching trees stretching up into the starry sky and greeting the sun and the new day. Right amidst all this beauty, I saw girls gathering in a big lotus tent. It was one of these moments when “what you seek is seeking you,” because the calling to join them was much stronger than my shyness or absence of any idea of what exactly they were doing. I went to the tent, accepted the invitation to join and after few moments of meditation found myself holding that life-changing bowl of tea in my hands. Every sip I took was guiding me deeper and 茶人: Liva Olina, Latvia deeper and closer to remembering myself and us all together. It was like receiving a big, loving hug that has been always waiting for me. It was like coming home. in the Mexican jungle. But nothing seemed to stay with me. I Even though the tea ceremony touched my deepest layers would pick up something very optimistically, but find myself where no other practice has so far guided me, I took a long busy with no time for my practice just a few weeks later. Tea journey to my third meeting with Tea. I felt not experienced was different. Tea stayed with me. It took my time but also gave enough to prepare Tea on my own. I would travel the world to me time. I found myself reserving more and more time and meet my dear tea sisters just to sit with Tea, but would find it space for Tea in my daily life. disrespectful in front of the tradition to start brewing without Moments with Tea made me want to explore more and deeper knowledge and understanding. Then, one night my dear dive deeper into the tea world. My prayers were heard and I tea sister hit her palm while we were enjoying a full moon sail was blessed to experience a ten-day course at the Tea Sage Hut in the lagoons of Mexico. The morning came with the realiza- where I met Tea for the fourth time and with all my heart… tion that she couldn’t lift the teapot or the kettle, so my time Now, being back home I see and talk about my life before to serve tea had come. I sat down, bowed to the Tea and asked tea school and after it. My fourth meeting with Tea turned out Her to guide my heart, mind and hands. And I met Tea for the to be my first step into a life of Tea. Ten days at the Tea Sage third time. Finally, through my own hands. Hut gave me the answers I have been looking for over the last Growing up in the countryside, I was always connected ten years. It changed my relationships with my beloved ones, with Nature, but also felt that there is something much more strangers and myself. I would never be who I am today without than school teaches us or that society talks about. That led me Tea and my Tea family all around the world. If your journey to start my inner search quite young, learning different med- guides you to Paris or Riga, please let me serve you tea full of itation practices, visiting therapists, studying reiki and living gratitude.

97/ TeaWayfarer Inside the Hut

Coming Soon to Global Tea Hut Magazine

茶主题: Tetsubins 茶主题:Classics of Tea 茶主题:Chajin & Teahouses 茶主题:Chaxi

We need your help to get to a place where we Wu De has published a new book called “Fall- can build your permanent Center, Light Meets Life. en Leaves.” We are super excited. We think you are all (And we do hope that you feel that our Center is yours, going to love reading it, especially while you drink tea not ours.) If everyone in this community donates, we alone or share tea with friends. Right now you can can together create the most gorgeous Tea Center ever. purchase a limited-edition, hardcover, full-color and Obviously, not all of us have a lot of money to give, but signed edition from our website, on the “teaware” page. we can all do our part. Each of us is also connected Otherwise, you can get your paperback copy at Ama- to a larger community of people who can share in the zon or other online retailers. All the proceeds from this building of this project. As a global community, we can new book will help us build our Center, Light Meets do this for us and for future tea lovers! Life. This is another great way to help!

Please spread the word about the fundraiser. We will be giving away lots of amazing tea and teaware to Global Tea Hut members who are most active in helping us build Light Meets Life. Center News It is Light Meets Life time!!! We have launched a giant, worldwide fundraiser to make We have some of the best teas we have ever had the move this very year. This will be our perma- for a Light Meets Life fundraiser this year. We figured nent Center, offering tea courses for the rest of we had to get some excellent teas, since this year we are our lives and beyond, serving future generations trying to build a new Center. Don’t miss out! of tea lovers. Visit www.lightmeetslife.org now!

We have a new “community” page on our Light It may seem daunting, but together we can Meets Life website (www.lightmeetslife.org). Visit and raise the funds we need to move into a new Cen- see all the ways that community members are sharing ter—your new Center. If you have any experi- their work with the new Center. And if you want to ence dealing with fundraisers of this nature and contribute some of your work, let us know. want to get involved, please email us and let us know your ideas.

The Center will be closed indefinitely after June for obvious reasons. There will be no cours- es for the second half of 2019, though if all goes September Affirmation according to plan, we hope to restart in 2020 I stop with an even better and more varied schedule than ever before. Is my whole day a movement from busy to busy? Do I rush to and fro? I walk meditatively. I feel We really hope to restart courses in 2020. It each step. I can remember to breathe. I also re- will take a miracle or two, along with lots of help member to stop what I am doing and remember to from you, our beloved community, but together remember, at least once a day. we can do it. 岩 茶

www.globalteahut.org GLOBAL EA HUT The most cliffed-out magazine in the world! Tea & Tao Magazine Sharing rare organic teas, a magazine full of tea his- tory, lore, translations, processing techniques and heritage, as well as the spiritual aspects of Cha Dao. And through it all, we make friends with fellow tea lovers from around the world.