In March, Wuyi Mountain is full of spring flowers, and the air is filled with the breath of spring. My family’s annual spring tea production is about to begin.Every year after Jingzhe "惊蛰"which is the 3rd of the 24 solar terms in the traditional Chinese calendar, the temperature will warm up, the rain will increase, the plants will start to sprout, and nature will have new vitality. As the temperature rises day by day, the tea leaves will start to sprout soon. Every year around March 15th, we will go to Zhenghe to process white tea (such as Baihao Yinzhen, Baimudan, Shoumei), and Cloud-mist green tea (the only green tea we process by ourselves), most of these raw materials come from Jinping Village, Lingyao Township, Zhenghe County, Fujian Province, (the fresh leaves are purchased from my classmate Li Miaomei and her relatives, and then we rent their factory for processing, the processing time is about 10 days
(2015 Spring in Zheng he processin white )
By the end of March, we began to process Wuyishan black tea, from Jinjunmei to Lapsang Souchong, and then to Tongmu guan old bush Lapsang Souchong . Because of the different maturity time of each variety and the altitude of tea garden, the picking time will be different, but most of my black tea will be processed around April 15th, except for Tongmu guan old bush Lapsang Souchong, which is located at an altitude of more than 1000 meters, so it will not be picked and produced until early May. For black tea and white tea, we pick the most tender single bud or two leaves and one bud for processing, so most of them can be sold directly after processing, and the steps are simpler than oolong tea.
(my husband Zhou shiwu with my father in law in the tea garden)
Then on April 20th (around Grain Rain), we began to process Wuyi Rock Tea, which is commonly known as Wuyi Oolong Tea, starting with early-growing varieties (such as Huang Guanyin and Yellow Rose), and then ending with late-growing varieties (such as Baijiguan and Queshe) on May 6th (around long summer). The production time of Fenghuang dancong tea in my husband's hometown in Chaozhou is about early April from early-growing varieties (such as Milanxiang) and then to Picking of late-growing varieties (such as Baxian) ends at the end of April. Compared with black tea and white tea, the processing of oolong tea will be a little more complicated. We need to do the sorting of Maocha and roast it several times. Therefore, the time for oolong tea to go on sale is about August.
(my husband with my father in law in chaozhou factory )
The above is the approximate timeline of our family's annual spring tea production. By knowing the production time of each of our tea categories, you will probably know when our new tea will be on sale.
Comment
Hello Cindy. I love reading your blog and imagining living and working along side you and your family. It is so different from my life. Although we both obviously work very hard. We work in such different worlds. I wish I could experience what it is like for you. Working with nature and family is so foreign to me. I am a nuclear medicine technologist that works with sick people and radiation in a hospital in San Francisco California. I am retired now so I do not work anymore. I’m older, I will be 68 years old on July 12th. I have had a hard but good life. I’m thankful for all of the luck I’ve had over the years. Of course there have been very hard times in my life, but I seem to have made it through them. Now that I’m retired I spend my time living in San Francisco during the summer and in the desert of Palm Springs in the winter so that I can enjoy the nice weather all year long. I live with my husband of 35 years and my little dog that I love. I am a gay man and I hope that doesn’t bother you. I know from living in a diverse city including 33% from Chinese descent that being gay is not a good thing. But it is who I am and I can not change that. I’ve tried.
But anyway that’s enough about me. I’m very interested in your life and the work you do. Have you ever thought about writing a book about your life? I think it is a great idea. I would love to read it and I’m sure a lot of other people would too. Especially people who love tea. I had no idea so much went into the making of different kinds of tea. When I was growing up there was only one kind of tea. Now because of people like you a whole new world has opened up to me that I didn’t even know about until my old age. So many different flavors and so many different processes. I received some Bei Dou from you this week and I am loving it. Thank you. Thank you for all of the hard work you put into making happiness for other people to enjoy. My imagination just runs wild about the whole process and what it is like to live where you do and all the knowledge you must have to understand the different teas and how they grow and how to process them. And also what it is like to live in rural China. I can tell you it has been nice for me living in California all of my life until now. This country is falling apart. There is so much hate and we are so full of uneducated people that are being lied to daily by our government. It has gotten very scary. I’m stressed out all of the time now. My only good time is being with my husband and my dog drinking good tea. I hope you are happy doing the hard work you do and living in what I imagine is a beautiful nature filled area. Again, I would love to read a book about what life is like for you. Keep writing about the different teas, I love reading about them. I’m going to join your tea club. For my birthday this year. Take care of yourself, and I wish you much happiness. Oh, one more thing. What is your favorite tea to drink? I want to buy some.