Fuding · Anxi · West Lake · Dongting · Qimen · Anhua · Wuzhou · Mengding Shan
Fuding · Anxi · West Lake · Qimen · Anhua
The heart of greens, whites and oolongs, where tea culture emerged and branched into more traditions than anywhere else.
Terroir
More cultivar diversity than any other region. Da Bai for whites, Tie Guan Yin for oolongs, Longjing Qunti Zhong for greens, Qimen Zhu Ye Zhong for reds. Each tradition bred its own plant, and each plant shaped its own tradition back.
Lowland river basins and lake shores. West Lake's gentle slopes, Lake Tai's fruit-tree groves, coastal Fuding's sea-influenced hills, Anxi's rolling inland valleys. Rich, well-watered soil that supports dense, vigorous growth rather than the slow concentration of mountain tea.
Humid subtropical. Warm, wet, with morning mists rising off lakes and rivers. Hot summers drive vigorous flush growth. Mild winters allow multiple harvests. The pre-Qingming spring window (before April 5) catches the most prized leaf, when nights are still cool and growth is slow.
More traditions branched from this ground than anywhere else. Sun-withering for whites. Pan-firing for greens. Shaping and roasting for oolongs. Slow yellowing for yellows. Full oxidation for reds. Fermentation and compression for dark teas. The same fertile soil feeds six different philosophies of what tea can become.
Coastal Fujian. Thick, downy buds bred for minimal handling, withered in the sun, then left alone. The least human intervention of any tea tradition.
One cultivar, one village, three philosophies. Light roast for floral fragrance, heavy roast for depth, or aged over decades for something else entirely.
Aged Tie Guan Yin (Iron Goddess, 2010)
Tieguanyin is traditionally re-roasted periodically during s...
Qingxiang Tie Guan Yin (Iron Goddess, Light Fragrance)
Qingxiang (清香) means 'clear fragrance' — the modern, lightly...
Nongxiang Tie Guan Yin (Iron Goddess, Rich Fragrance)
Nongxiang (浓香) means 'rich fragrance' — the traditional roas...
West Lake and Lake Tai, water-softened air, gentle slopes, spring-picked before Qingming. China's most famous teas, shaped by water as much as by hand.
Bi Luo Chun (Green Snail Spring)
Picked in early spring from tea bushes interplanted with fru...
Shi Feng Longjing (Lion Peak Dragon Well)
From Lion Peak (Shi Feng), the most prized origin for Dragon...
Xi Hu Longjing (West Lake Dragon Well)
Dragon Well from the broader West Lake (Xi Hu) area around H...
Tea's rarest category. After kill-green, the leaves are wrapped and left to slowly yellow, a step almost no one bothers with anymore. Two surviving masters of a vanishing craft.
Anhui's answer to the world's appetite for black tea, but made with a delicacy that set it apart. Slow-dried rather than forced, giving a wine-like aroma no other red tea matches.
Fermented, compressed, aged, tea made to travel and to last. Born from trade routes and necessity, these teas were currency and medicine before they were connoisseur objects.