In search of the best quality Taiping Hou Kui

Hou Chun, the Village of the Monkeys, is worth the trip. Having taken a boat to get to this mountainous region that is inaccessible by land, I have to climb this path which looks innocent enough to start with, but later runs along the edges of precipices. If you suffer from vertigo you must raise your eyes and gaze upon these magnificent mountains covered in tea plants and a jungle that mainly comprises bamboos.

In Hou Chun, just once a year, for around 25 days, they produce the best quality Taiping Hou Kui.

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Last stage in the processing of Taiping Hou Kui

After being fired, then rolled individually by hand, Taiping Hou Kui leaves are placed between two meshes. Moments later, the upper mesh is covered with a cloth and pressed with a roller, to flatten the leaves.

This painstaking task does not take place for any other tea. In this photo I took during my last trip to China, you can see how proud this producer is, preparing for the last stage in the processing of this fine green tea, the drying. The leaves you see here are held in place between the two meshes, and have just been flattened.

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Taiping Hou Kui is incredibly labour-intensive

Processing Taiping Hou Kui is incredibly labour-intensive. Each leaf, after firing, is hand-rolled lengthwise and placed on a cloth. The leaves are carefully spaced out and then pressed with a small roller, leaving them flattened and larger.

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Taiping Hou Kui : a very expensive tea from China

Taiping Hou Kui is harvested for just 25 days a year, generally between 20 April and 15 May. For the rest of the year the tea plant is allowed to grow without having its leaves plucked. This concentrates the harvest on the best season.

Mrs Zha has a pretty plot of land on the edge of lake Taiping. She is very busy during this plucking period. Taiping Hou Kui is one of the most expensive teas in China, and its price can reach thousands of yuan per kilo.

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On this mountain : the best green teas in Anhui

To reach the tea plantations, I am used to walking for hours, or driving a 4×4, sometimes both. I don’t usually get to travel by boat, however. But yesterday, that is exactly what I did. At the moment I am looking for the best green teas in East China’s Anhui province. Among these are the true Taping Hou Kui teas, the only ones worthy of this name. They grow on a mountain that is only accessible by boat.

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