Tea Adventures

On the ANA flight, where the ocha was the best quality airline...

teaventures — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:56:03 -0700

On the ANA flight, where the ocha was the best quality airline tea ever, both hot and cold. The napkins are made from recycled tea leaves. Japan is so civilized it makes one weep. How I wish I lived in Japan rather than the U.S., rapidly turning into a third world country, or travel to China so often, that one must turn off all brain functions to tolerate, yet need all one’s wiles to survive!

I am retiring. The trips to China are far too...

teaventures — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:14:00 -0700

I am retiring. The trips to China are far too strenous….

That said, don’t miss the Harvest Party on May 23rd at Teance, sign up to taste some of these teas I procured along the way:

http://www.teance.com/product_p/eventmay23.htm

For those who can not attend, I will try to make a sampler kit of these teas to place on line, stay tuned!

I just wanted to say that I've really enjoyed your posts about this buying trip to China. Traveling is never easy but your pictures are beautiful and I'm sure that the teas you are bringing back will be worth it.

teaventures — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:11:29 -0700

Thank you, I almost died from exhaustion, China is not for the faint of hearted! I will try to put a sampler taste of the teas online for everyone.

If only such spectacular scenery (at Anxi mountains) could be...

teaventures — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:07:27 -0700

If only such spectacular scenery (at Anxi mountains) could be viewed without such tremendous hardship…

The farmer’s name was Wei Yin. Not only did he have a name, he...

teaventures — Thu, 16 May 2013 22:14:00 -0700

The farmer’s name was Wei Yin. Not only did he have a name, he lived in the time of the Yong Zheng Emperor, of the Qing Dynasty of the Manchurians. The villagers refer to him as the dreamer old guy. He had a dream he saw Guanyin who showed him where to find the tea bush that became Tieguanyin today. Since Tieguanyin started propagation around the 1730s, suspiciously this might be the real starting point story after all. Where’s the Guanyin temple he prayed to? No idea, none existed around there. The temple where the old bush lived is neither Taoist nor Buddhist, but a folk type religion. So did he pray to Guanyin, and she answered his prayers and showed up in a dream?
I believe so. Guanyin is a Bodhisattva who hears all the sounds of suffering. Though the old farmer might in reality have prayed to some weird dieties with firecrackers, still, she heard, she’s not discriminatory as to who you pray to or how many sticks of incense. A true Bodhisattva does not require conformity to a specific religion or ritual, is my view.
Anyway, it all worked out and today, we enjoy Tieguanyin, one of the most glorious teas known to mankind.
Besides, if one ever meets any of these farmers, you’ll see they are incapable of inventing any myths. Most teas are merely originally named ‘Big Leaf’, ‘Medium Leaf’, ‘Small Leaf’…..
So I was wrong. The legend of dreamer old farmer Wei was in fact, a fact.

Getting by China takes quite a bit of patience, willingness to...

teaventures — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:55:31 -0700

Getting by China takes quite a bit of patience, willingness to waste time, not to ask too many questions, like why. Why are things so inefficient, why are there guaranteed delays on flights, why do people smoke two to three cigarettes at a time with one hand, why is duck neck a popular delicacy, why do people throw trash everywhere, why is it constantly necessary to be spitting.
I had my travel gin flask with me just in case these questions pop into my head, the flask courtesy of our neighbors, Mulholland Leather. Just small enough to board planes. To avoid drinking the worst alcohol known to mankind called Bai Jiu白酒， I treated the local Party Secretary (V I Position) and some other government officials to my gin one night. They’ve never had gin, but thought it smelled like the oil of juniper trees. I said, precisely…. Tea people really have taste buds despite all the cigarettes. Such important local government officials are all close family members of Mr. Lin so needless to say, whatever he needs to get done, will get done. Why did he give up his medical practice, I asked? The village is not populous enough, everyone’s healthy, he had little business as a doctor, he said. All the tea drinking meant little work for a doctor? Incredible.

As tea buyer, I usually taste over hundreds of lots of each tea....

teaventures — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:06:26 -0700

As tea buyer, I usually taste over hundreds of lots of each tea. I am here for the Tieguanyin, but also must procure Yellow Gold, approve various other customs teas, and evaluate new stuff, like Gold Guanyin made in the manner of Big Red Robe/ Da Hongpao. Except it was far superior, believe it or not. Not having a name yet, this was another one of Mr. Lin’s inventions. I told him let’s name it Golden Robe. It will be our latest greatest favorite this year that I will be proud to introduce,not only because of its quality, but because odd Mr. Lin, whom I have known for almost 10 years but have never tried his tea, turned out to be a prolific tea maker. He improved the Gold Guanyin by leaps and bounds. Then I found out he was actually a physician. Good thing. I’ve been sick as hell this whole trip such as never before.

The village mayor and his wife, a very nice woman who live in...

teaventures — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:44:00 -0700

The village mayor and his wife, a very nice woman who live in the palace next door. The mayor was informed by Mr. Lin that we are working on a project converting one of his high mountain farms into 生態 Shengtai, sort of like organic but better, that is, with sheep dung fertilizer, and not allowing even perimeter spraying on neighboring vegetable gardens. The mayor readily gave his blessings, heard that this tea will be exported to the US by me, looked me over, and then offered me a cigarette.

Old tea making equipment has been left here in the fortress....

teaventures — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:37:12 -0700

Old tea making equipment has been left here in the fortress. Shown here are the wooden roller for shaping, the basket that they suspend in the air with the pole in the middle for rocking the leaves, and the charcoal pit where the wok is placed for firing the tea. Mr. Yan says in this village, the custom is that the tea master has to place an egg under each armpits when he tosses the leaves on the wok, which meant his arms must move fast, light, and in small circular motions. If the eggs fall off the armpits, that meant the motion was wrong and the leaves were charred. How I wish I could train our bartenders the same way at Teance! More seriously, how I wish I could see this in action.

Finding more and more pieces of forgotten history here at Che...

teaventures — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:25:40 -0700

Finding more and more pieces of forgotten history here at Che Shi, one of the pivotal founding villages of Tieguanyin( should I start a travel blog? But no one goes to places I go….). This is the oldest, and very first, structure in the village, a mud ‘fortress’ with over 90 rooms. Up until last year, 15 families lived there and made tea in there. Why such a formidable fortress in a farm village? Apparently, banditry, a big part of Chinese history few historians bother with, was a daily concern for the common people. The first settlers here, some 600 or more years ago, needed to defend themselves because as we know, then and now, the authorities serve only to intimidate, tax, force bribes, and act in as many manners of injustice they can. Poor farmers face double banditry, from authorities as well as outlaws. So they built a great big impenetrable stone and mud fortress and lived together like a commune.

Mr. Lin dutifully does the firecracker offerings while I stood...

teaventures — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:43:44 -0700

Mr. Lin dutifully does the firecracker offerings while I stood afar. Can’t remember if I remembered to pray; it’s a good thing there is no fire code to extinguish this ritual on behalf of this 400 plus year old temple.

An odd little temple with 5 fierce looking statutes, unlike...

teaventures — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:27:40 -0700

An odd little temple with 5 fierce looking statutes, unlike other Taoist temples, and most definitely, there was no statute of Guanyin as indicated by legend. The custom here is to pray and offer food and incense, but if the wish is outrageous, like winning at the horse race tomorrow, why then, one must offer up a round of firecrackers! The Southern Fujianese were the only ones with this loud custom at a temple. Guanyin, her name meaning hearing all sounds, might not approve of such loudness. But was this the temple the old man prayed in? Did he even have a name. Why yes, the tea farmers inform me. It’s not a myth. The old man’s name was Wei Yin. I’ll go soon to visit his grave, one step closer to finding out that these tea legends were not made up- the farmers had not such imagination! So where are the monkeys for picking tea?

This ancient tree is arguably the first mother Tieguanyin tree,...

teaventures — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:12:26 -0700

This ancient tree is arguably the first mother Tieguanyin tree, though it is probably one of many that were indigenous and wild at the time, and is the last one standing. I say tree, but this is actually the bush type Camellia sinensis, so it’s actually a very strong, healthy, prosperous looking overgrown bush. Judging from height and branching and trunk proportions, this bush is well over 1000 years old.  About 10 feet tall and around 40 feet circumference, it is the largest and oldest tea bush I have ever seen; the tree type ones are taller, but no old bush i have ever seen has ever reached this size.

Found the old dilapidated temple of legend. It is fairly well...

teaventures — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:32:02 -0700

Found the old dilapidated temple of legend. It is fairly well maintained, the stone steps leading up to it is timeless and full of moss. The downpour almost obscured the tablets that say:
Origin of Tieguanyin
And
Dismount from your horse before ascending.

Few ever come this far before the recent addition of the road; the tablet implies that wealthy landlords or government officials were ones who frequented this temple.

The hillside is full of Gold Guanyin, some Yellow Gold, a bit of...

teaventures — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:02:59 -0700

The hillside is full of Gold Guanyin, some Yellow Gold, a bit of Benshan oolong. Mr. Lin is upgrading- these bushes will all benefit from sheep dung!

Gold Guanyin is rapidly becoming the most expensive and sought...

teaventures — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:34:51 -0700

Gold Guanyin is rapidly becoming the most expensive and sought after version of Tieguanyin. Its secret? Forget chemical fertilizers and large quantity harvests. Sheep dung as fertilizer was found to greatly improve the fragrance and quality of the Gold Guanyin! See the dung under the bushes?

Golden Guanyin Hong Cha. Fans of any Red/Black teas must try!...

teaventures — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:18:28 -0700

Golden Guanyin Hong Cha. Fans of any Red/Black teas must try! Sign up for the Harvest Party for a taste, if anything is left after we will put it online.

Early morning at Che Shi village(Red Rock village), last night’s...

teaventures — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:20:04 -0700

Early morning at Che Shi village(Red Rock village), last night’s heavy rain will make today a dangerous climb to find the oldest Tieguanyin tree, and the dilapidated temple of legend. The tree was forgotten by the villagers since the road going there is so difficult, but a recently paved road nearby caused Mr. Lin, grand nephew of Mr. Yan, to recollect and then visit it. He was shocked at how old it was. I asked if there was an old temple nearby, and he said yes. Thus, the Indiana Jones of tea puts her head together and decided to go forth where no one has travelled, just to see which Tieguanyin legend had merit!
Seriously though, Mr. Lin specializes in the Golden Guanyin, a combined varietal of the regular Guanyin and Yellow Gold. I never thought much of it; fragrant, but the body a bit thin, but Mr. Lin seems to have made vast improvements in the last few years. Then he pulled out an experimental black tea/hong cha version made from the Golden Guanyin, and instantly, I must have every last piece he has left. Incredibly sweet and lively chocolate notes, the fragrance was unlike any other. I wrangled what was left, it being an experimental batch produced for the first time out of whim, Mr. Lin was happy that his samples were so well received that his 10kgs are now all gone. Folks, this will be an amazing treat! The world was good again after an all night war with the mosquitoes, whose victory was decidedly never mine.

Which village started Tieguanyin? Never mind they are all...

teaventures — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:52:58 -0700

Which village started Tieguanyin? Never mind they are all related. Mr. Yan and his vast extended family occupies both villages, but the one depicted here is more prosperous. On Mr. Yan’s side boasts of Scholar Wong’s house, the legend of the would-be civil servant who made some tea with the bushes in his backyard because he needed a bribe for the civil exam. Legend was that he became a magistrate because Emperor Qin Long loved his tea and named it Tieguanyin. But now, the oldest Tieguanyin tree has just been found, and I will hike up to see it tomorrow. There’s even a very old temple. This corresponds to the legend of the old man, some 400 years ago, who prayed to Guanyin at his temple and subsequently, she appeared in a dream, pointed to a tea bush, that after waking, he tracked down and propagated. Of course the tea was named Guanyin tea. Now, that legend has always been just a legend I dismissed. Tomorrow though we’ll find out if it’s actually true, at least the temple and tree part. The villages are now locking horns. Which is the true founding legend and who gets to claim Tieguanyin as their invention?
It’s raining hard and slippery here at 800 meters at Anxi mountain range. Hopefully I won’t fall to my death tomorrow ascending much higher by foot. Or maybe, I’ll see some monkeys picking tea! Anything is possible at this point.

The wind dried duck, a stable food of the Cantonese. I feel like...

teaventures — Tue, 14 May 2013 23:37:49 -0700

The wind dried duck, a stable food of the Cantonese. I feel like one today, strung by the neck, dried by pollution. Today in Guangzhou, I peered hard and found some white clouds, but that might be an illusion, the sight of a mirage before death. One never sees blue sky in most cities in China. It is incredibly hot, sticky, and vomit inducing weather. So muggy you feel woozy and faint, and after a few hours, I succumbed to throwing up. The 14 hour trip yesterday that should have taken 4 didn’t help. Living on one of the most impoverished, rural farms for a few days before that was no joke either. Yes folks, if I didn’t love tea so much, no one can pay enough for me to traipse around China’s grueling environment for so many years, where the unkindness of strangers can be depended upon, the cruelty of any government official a certainty, systemic breakdowns pervasive, jostling and queue cutting a sport, and second hand smoke nearly a blindfold.