China – Page 11 – Discovering Tea

In search of the best quality Taiping Hou Kui

1 July 2011

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.

Last stage in the processing of Taiping Hou Kui

10 June 2011

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.

Tea leaves ready for harvesting are yellow-green

10 May 2011

You can tell when the tea leaves are ready for harvesting by the colour of the bushes. When the tea plants take on this yellow-green shade it means the new shoots have reached a good size and it is time to get out your basket and start plucking.

Here, you can see the difference in colour between the leaves that have not yet been harvested, in the background, and what remains on the plants after a visit from this Chinese woman, with her agile hands, in the foreground.

Taiping Hou Kui is incredibly labour-intensive

6 May 2011

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.

Taiping Hou Kui : a very expensive tea from China

3 May 2011

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.

On this mountain : the best green teas in Anhui

29 April 2011

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.

In China, harvesting of premium teas is in full swing

26 April 2011

Here in China, the harvesting of premium teas is in full swing. Some farmers have their own buildings equipped with various machines for processing the tea. Others, like Mr Li, sell their freshly plucked leaves to bigger farmers who have the necessary facilities.

Once harvested, tea spoils quickly. Here, at the Fuding tea market, Mr Li absolutely must find a buyer in the next two hours. With the quality of his leaves, he should have no difficulty, and he gives a big smile for the camera.

Premium green teas : harvesting has begun

19 April 2011

In China, the first tea harvests of the year have begun, and today I am flying to Beijing, then to Huang Shan, the famous Yellow Mountains.

The best pluckings of China green tea take place in April, and Anhui province alone boasts prestigious teas such as Tai Ping Hou Kui, Huang Shan Mao Feng, Huang Shan Mu Dan and Huang Hua Yun Jian, to name just a few.

My blog is one year old

1 April 2011

Time passes, and I forget birthdays. My blog is one year old, and I would like to celebrate with you, of course, but also with Mathias, who shares my passion for tea. We have worked together for more than ten years, and take great pleasure in tasting the rare teas we love. And sometimes we set off together into the tea mountains, like here, in China.

This first anniversary gives me an opportunity to thank you for being there, for making yourselves known from time to time through your messages. Happy tea drinking.

In each country, people prepare tea differently

4 February 2011

In Japan, they have the Cha No Yu, or “way of tea”; in Russia they prepare their brew in the samovar. The British have their tea time, the Indians drink chai. And when the Chinese prepare fine teas, such as rare Wu Longs, or Pu Ers, they follow the rules of the Gong Fu Cha.

Gong Fu describes an activity that is carried out slowly, with great self control.