The Mandarin (as well as Japanese) word for tea is cha, written 茶, and is one of the first things I learned to speak and read when I began studying each language. I was about to say that this was due to my great appreciation for the elixir, but considering that I recently found myself on the other side of the world, wandering through tea gardens and procuring the very first harvest of the leaves currently brewing in my cup, I would say we are beyond appropriate description at this point. Putting your feet in the soil and breathing the air that nurtures the food and drink you consume can yield a new and interesting perspective on how much our way of life relies on the environment.
If all the tea you have ever tried has come in small paper sachets and resembled black or grey dust, you will be in for a real treat if you have the chance to experience fresh, whole-leaf tea from any of the well known growing regions in India, China or Japan. The soil, altitude and atmospheric conditions give various teas distinctive and unique flavors, even between separate gardens within the same vicinity.
In the case of Longjing tea, even the specific mountain, and the location on the hill factor into subtle variations between crops. Longjing (龙井), or Dragon Well, is perhaps one of the most famous exports (after silk) from the city of Hangzhou, in southern China’s Zhejiang province. The image in the banner at the top of this blog is Hangzhou’s West Lake, which I took a few years ago during summer, when the lotus flowers were still in bloom. You can see the mountains that make up the growing region of the most prized variety of the tea, creatively named 西湖龙井茶, West Lake Longjing Tea. As if that were not specific enough, this group is further differentiated by individual mountain and placement. Ultimate nirvana for Longjing fans comes from Shi Feng (狮峰), the top of Lion Mountain. The location at the apex means that those rows receive a full day of sunlight and have the most developed flavor.
As for all teas, the leaves picked from the tips of the branches have the best flavor (again due to sun exposure) and are picked during the first several days at the beginning of the spring harvest, sometimes referred to as the first flush. This limited quantity of high-grade Shi Feng is considered something of a national treasure, and is offered to visiting heads of state, but the best part is that there is just enough for everyone to get their hands on a little bit of the stuff.
For tea nerds out there (you know who you are), about the only thing better than drinking tea is swimming in it. The gardens, anyway. While in Hangzhou we stayed at an inn plunked right in the middle of a hillside plantation. Our location allowed us to walk to a nearby farm to choose and (since this is China) bargain for some Longjing to take home. The farmer had us try some of last year’s tea for comparison with the new batch. Though there is a marked difference after a full year of aging, we liked both and ended up leaving with a little of each.
All was not normal in tea land, however. An unusually long cold snap had delayed the development of the first flush, to the extent that it was almost not ready by the time we visited. Had we not been in Hangzhou, it would have been impossible to find this tea as it had been picked within just the last couple of days. At the end of our visit, Hangzhou experienced what many locals claimed to be its first ever dust storm. Residents of Beijing are familiar with this phenomenon, which originates in the Gobi Desert area of northern China and Mongolia, and blankets the city with orange or yellow dust. When these storms hit, visibility is next to nothing and most people stay indoors to avoid breathing the air. Climate researchers who study the storms believe they are caused, in part, by deforestation and urban expansion. Our mini storm was not nearly as severe, but did mean that all tea would need to be rinsed with water before it could be processed, due to contamination.
One reason researchers have moved away from the term global warming and adopted others like climate change or my favorite, global weirding, is that the original term refers only to long-run, average temperatures and not the volatile weather patterns that are the resulting problem. If the average temperature continues to rise we will see more extremes of hot and cold, wet and dry. While I make no claim to be a climate change expert, if the tea farmers of Hangzhou have been passing records of the craft through generations over thousands of years, and they comment that the weather patterns are getting, well, weird, then I start to think we may already be witnessing some of the effects of climate change. On this Earth Day, the 40th anniversary, instead of buying one of the many “eco-friendly” tote bags coffee mugs key chains t-shirts beach towels and that thing that you’re not sure what it does but it’s got really attractive green leaves painted on it, perhaps we should stop and consider all of the things that the planet provides for us, and what we would do if it could no longer do so.
7 comments
Christa says:
Apr 23, 2010
Gorgeous post, Michael. For a long time I have wanted to go on a tea vacation and visit areas of the world famous for this fabulous brew. Your post just made me want to take that trip in the not-so-distant future.
I also joined a CSA after our many discussions about knowing where our food comes from. First harvest arrives in June and I’ll take a trip out to the farm at some point during the summer. Can’t wait!
likeafishinwater says:
Apr 23, 2010
That’s great! Any chance we can go with you?
My research is about 2/3 through and going well, but putting some other things behind schedule. I have about a week of your posts to catch up :)
Christa says:
Apr 23, 2010
Michael, that would be awesome! It would be fabulous to travel wit you and Min. Which tea growing region would you recommend as the best?
-C
likeafishinwater says:
Apr 23, 2010
I was thinking about the CSA.. but that sounds even better! Let’s start with what tea(s) you most like to drink and see what that tells us.
Christa says:
Apr 23, 2010
Hehe….you’re asking me about going to the CSA farm and I’ve signed you and Min up for a vacation with moi. Hilarious. But I love your sense of adventure!
Darjeeling and Jasmine are two of my favorites, but honestly, I’m struggling to think of a tea I don’t like!
Bob Welty says:
Apr 23, 2010
Hello Michael –
My wife reads your blog religiously. As a matter of fact – she actually emails me while I am traveling to let me know you added another great post.
While I am somewhat embarrassed to admit this – I have never tried “loose” organic tea prior to my recent visits to China. At first, I found it weird that the leaves would stick to my front teeth and made me look and feel like an amateur. You know – spitting them back into the cup… Through experimentation (approx 100 cups) I finally relized that if I allowed the tea leaves to absorb the water they were submerged in – they would sink to the bottom. Having discovered this very complex procedure – I found it quite tasty and really enjoyed it.
Min forwarded to me your photos from our visit to China – and I am now researching the purchase of a new camera. However, the camera is only half the battle. I then need to learn how to use it as well as having the ability to recognize worthwhile subject matter.
You, my friend, are the master or photography. Your photos are magnificent – and I really enjoyed them. They brought back fond memories of the cities and parks we toured. Your subject matter of the tea fields, Dalian, tall buildings in Shanghai, market places, Hong Kong, (and only god knows where else you were able to adventure off to) are excellect – and I find myself looking at them over and over again.
Keep up the good work in both your writing ability and photography skills.
likeafishinwater says:
Apr 26, 2010
Hey Bob! Glad you guys are enjoying reading.. you may have noticed some of your own wisdom sprinkled in for good measure. As for the photography, I’m not sure I’m anything as accomplished as you suggest, but I can say that the best feature of any camera you might use is your feet. Changing your own perspective is often a lot more handy (and cheaper) than any fancy lens.