This clear dark-green tea is named for Mt. Xishan in the
southwestern part of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, noted for
its fantastic mountains that poke abruptly out of the plain. Xishan
(Western Mountain) tea, one of Guangxi's several varieties, is a
longtime export product, and won a second prize at the 1915 Panama
Pacific Exposition.
Here the season lasts from February to November, and each year can
sustain twenty to thirty plucking of the small, hairy leaves of the
low tea bushes. A special process of roasting and rolling them three
times produces a fine, taut leaf which yields a bright green drink
of exceptional fragrance.
Other Guangxi varieties include Liupao, Guiping (County) Xishan,
and Nanshan and Lingyun Baimao. In its highest misty uplands this
region also produces a Yunwu (Cloud and Mist) tea.
