Mr. Wei, a more talented young tea maker I never saw. I have known him for just around 5-6 years now, and he was great to begin with, but reaching new levels every year. When I told him the Ya Sai plagiarism story, he chuckled and said maybe because there are tons of Ya Sai in the market in his town now, courtesy of the neighbors. By tons, he meant, like a few hundred low mountain lbs. He himself is partially guilty- he loves the Ya Sai so much his offspring clippings of the mother tree can now produce nearly a hundred lbs or more, if the weather was normal this year. The reverse marketing did not work out- Duck Poop tea is now a fashionable tea in his town at Phoenix Mountain because he made such a sensation! But sadly, I told him, the Forbes article was not about…
Phoenix oolong trees on top of Wu Dong Mountain, amidst the…
Stepped into a watery day at Phoenix Mountain, probably the…
Stepped into a watery day at Phoenix Mountain, probably the oldest oolong culture in the world. The trees are the oldest anyway. Incessant rains after the snow is delaying the harvesting. Blinding fog makes the 70 degree slopes, on moss filled rocky soil, impossibly dangerous. Slippery slope, indeed.
At Phoenix Mountain. An unprecedented snow killed most early…
At Phoenix Mountain. An unprecedented snow killed most early buds, and after 2 short harvest days, it is interrupted again by downpours.
Got up on that rickety bamboo ladder
Got up on that rickety bamboo ladder to bottle up some mountain spring water…. Just kidding. Maybe 10 years ago I would have. Or maybe once I have a successor I can do crazy things like that again. But folks, this is the best tasting mountain spring water in Anxi, and one of the richest in minerals I’ve tasted. Traveling back with a bottle to get the mineral content analysis so we can replicate this water for our Tieguanyin some day… sans climbing up a slippery cliff.
Life at Che Shi village
Life at Che Shi village. Lots of fog and mist, no harvesting again today. Have to wait two more weeks for the Golden Robe to come around.