Early morning at Che Shi village(Red Rock village), last night’s heavy rain will make today a dangerous climb to find the oldest Tieguanyin tree, and the dilapidated temple of legend. The tree was forgotten by the villagers since the road going there is so difficult, but a recently paved road nearby caused Mr. Lin, grand nephew of Mr. Yan, to recollect and then visit it. He was shocked at how old it was. I asked if there was an old temple nearby, and he said yes. Thus, the Indiana Jones of tea puts her head together and decided to go forth where no one has travelled, just to see which Tieguanyin legend had merit!
Seriously though, Mr. Lin specializes in the Golden Guanyin, a combined varietal of the regular Guanyin and Yellow Gold. I never thought much of it; fragrant, but the body a bit thin, but Mr. Lin seems to have made vast improvements in the last few years. Then he pulled out an experimental black tea/hong cha version made from the Golden Guanyin, and instantly, I must have every last piece he has left. Incredibly sweet and lively chocolate notes, the fragrance was unlike any other. I wrangled what was left, it being an experimental batch produced for the first time out of whim, Mr. Lin was happy that his samples were so well received that his 10kgs are now all gone. Folks, this will be an amazing treat! The world was good again after an all night war with the mosquitoes, whose victory was decidedly never mine.
