Hard work earns a fine cup of tea, and that is the most worthwhile thing in the world.

A friend of mine in April only drinks oolong macchiato when she has milk tea. Her reason for loving this tea is baffling too: "Because oolong tea is great for weight loss." Such a powerful act of self-deception almost made one think she drank milk tea to lose weight.

Still, one thing she got right: oolong tea's weight-loss effect stands out remarkably among all teas. Oolong tea is a tea category unique to China, mainly produced in three provinces: northern Fujian, southern Fujian, Guangdong, and Taiwan, China.

Today's guest comes from Chaozhou, Guangdong. His bond with oolong tea spans three generations.

{Peony Girl Vol.731 }

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A cup of cloud-and-mist tea

According to records, during the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty, at the border between Dabu County, Meizhou City, Guangdong, and Raoping County, Chaozhou City, there was a Xiyan Mountain, and on Xiyan Mountain stood Xizhu Temple. Around the temple, ten thousand tea trees were planted, producing a thousand jin of tea each year, and the income from selling tea was used to fund incense offerings.

Devout men and women and local gentry who went up the mountain to burn incense would, as a rule, drink a cup of tea afterward. This tea was fragrant, sweet, and mellow, and many people came drawn by its reputation, just to beg a sip.

Xiyan Mountain, at an altitude of 1256 m,

is the highest peak in Raoping, Chaozhou.

Below the high mountain winds clear spring water,

as if one were placed inside a landscape painting.

Xiyan Tea Village is known for its beauty and verdant green,

where green tea fields meet blue mountains, stretching for dozens of kilometers.

Raoping County Xiyan Tea Plantation lies among these mountains, where the temperature difference between day and night is large, making it suitable for producing high-end tea.

I am Zhan Yan'an, the person in charge of Xiyan Tea Plantation.

In 1958, the tea plantation was already Raoping's number one tea enterprise. My father served as the Party branch secretary at the plantation and devoted more than half a century to the development of Xiyan tea.

Thanks to the geographical environment and the efforts of the people, it became the leading enterprise of its time, with annual output once reaching 60,000 jin. Between the 1970s and 1980s, tea products exported to Southeast Asia always bore the Xiyan tea mark.

However, due to the winter of the tea industry at the time, and because of reasons such as reservoir construction, the site was relocated several times, and the tea plantation went through a period of decline.

The government could not bear to see the town's famous enterprise face the brink of bankruptcy due to neglect of management. So in 2011, it issued a call to revive the tea plantation. With the government's mobilization and support, and also because of my father's connection, I returned to my hometown and contracted this tea plantation.

The mountains here, the water here,

the selenium-rich land here, none of it can be replicated,

and the good tea here should be tasted by everyone.

In 2011, I signed a lease contract with the government and bought back some operations that had been outsourced. At the time, the tea plantation was somewhat scattered and dilapidated, and even the buildings for tea-making and office work were certified as dangerous structures.

So in 2012, I relocated it again to its current address.

With green, pollution-free practices as my basic philosophy, I began the path of rebuilding Xiyan Tea Plantation and began building the brand.

We insist on original ecological management methods,

with purely manual weeding and harvesting.

Xiyan tea trees are relatively tall,

so hand-picking them is more laborious.

Because the terrain is steep,

the picked tea leaves can only rely on human labor

to be safely transported to the factory for processing.

But being able to use hard work

to exchange for a cup of good tea is worth it.

Although the road is arduous and long, what is gratifying is that after several years of effort, the tea plantation's operations have gradually gotten on track.

In 2014, my son also joined the work of developing the tea plantation, founding Guangdong Chaoshan Impression Investment Co., Ltd., focusing on the investment in and development of Xiyan Tea Plantation. And in 2015, it successfully registered the trademark "Jiuchongwu."

Jiuchongwu Xiyan high-mountain selenium-rich tea has won market recognition for its superior quality and has gradually become widely known; it now enjoys very high visibility.

Good mountains and good water produce good tea. Xiyan Mountain has no pollution sources, which is a guarantee of health and greenness. The soil has a high selenium content, and selenium-rich tea offers great benefits to human health.

Making good tea has its conditions. There must be strict requirements, and we must respect the natural order of the seasons.

We only pick one season of spring tea, harvesting according to the "two leaves and one bud" standard. The picking of Baiye Dancong is completed before Qingming, while Qilan is around Guyu.

The tea-making craft must be meticulous,

we follow traditional methods,

with purely handmade ancient-method roasting.

Master Liu Fuyi, a renowned Dancong tea-making expert, provides technical guidance and supervises the tea-making process on site, which is reassuring. Also, the famous tea taster Mr. Li Shizhong participates in quality supervision, ensuring the high quality of the tea plantation's products.

Jiuchongwu Xiyan high-mountain selenium-rich tea uses "orchid" as the name for its series, including more than a dozen varieties such as Qilan, Jinlan, Milan, and Yulan.

Dancong King - Liu Fuyi

With high-mountain soil, the tea's quality is naturally superior, with a long lingering aftertaste and a fine rock flavor. Moreover, the older it gets, the more fragrant it becomes, giving it collectible value. Tea more than ten years old can reach a price of around one thousand to two thousand.

In 2017, Li Shuihua, Secretary of the Chaozhou Municipal Party Committee, inspected Xiyan Tea Plantation on site.

He affirmed Xiyan Tea Plantation's development of a green and environmentally friendly tea industry, offering encouragement and praise: "Run it well; you will never find another tea plantation like this."

Now, the tea plantation is developing rapidly. It is expected that in another three to five years, the tea plantation will expand to 3000 mu, with annual output reaching 50,000 to 60,000 jin.

Under the development of Guangdong Chaoshan Impression Investment Co., Ltd., the tea plantation also plans, on the premise of not damaging the ecological environment, to develop eco-tourism and agriculture and forestry sidelines.

For we father and son, Xiyan Tea Plantation is of great significance. Not only can it let everyone drink good tea and see good mountains and good water, but helping local farmers escape poverty and become prosperous is the most fulfilling thing in the tea plantation's development process.

Xiyan Tea Plantation's 1300 mu of original ecological high-mountain selenium-rich tea garden, and more than 300 mu of century-old ancient tea trees, produce organic and healthy Jiuchongwu Xiyan high-mountain selenium-rich tea.

I hope to present this fine tea to more people, to be tasted and appreciated by more people, and to share our harvest with more people.

I hope even more to gain more people's support in the cause of poverty alleviation, so that the project can develop smoothly and rapidly, so that impoverished farmers' lives can improve as quickly as possible, and together we can achieve common prosperity.

I am Zhan Yan'an, on Xiyan Mountain

waiting for you among ten li of tea mountains