Wild tea trees provide the leaves, or most of them anyway, for this
famous tribute variety of the Tang dynasty. They grow in small
clumps all about the hills and valleys of Jiukeng township in
Chun'an county in west central Zhejiang province.
Once
in spring and again in summer the people go out for the plucking.
From trees standing about as tall as a man they remove the branches
and usable parts and carry them home. There the thick, fat, glossy
yellow green leaves are stripped off.
The processed leaves are sold under several different names:
Maojian (hair Point) plucked before Qingming in early April, the
best and most famous, and the basis of some high-grade scented teas.
Yuqian (Pre-Rain-the Grain Rain, April 20)
Three made from the
crop after that rain are:
Hongqing (de-enzymized by baking)
Chaoqing (de-enzymized by panfiring)
Hongchaoqing (de-enzymizd by both processes)
The latter
three kinds became known abroad under different names, as formerly
the crude tea was sold to local tea factories which packaged and
sold it under the names Chun Mei, Feng Mei, Emei, Hyson, Song Luo,
and Xiumei.
Teas from Chun'an and the former Suian county nearby
are often sold together under the name Suilu (Sui Green). With
flower fragances added, the first picking is sold as Huamaojian
(Flower Maojian), huayuqian (Flower Pre-rain), both favorites in
north China.
