Taiwan is a small island busy with industry and high tech. The heaviest industry is located in the south of the island, while most high tech computer chips are made in the north west, from Hsin Chu to Taoyuan. Luckily for us, tea drinkers, the Wenshan area, in the north east, has been excluded from this develpment. A new highway connects Pinglin to Taipei since last year. But this highway actually reduced the number of visitors to Pinglin, because most Taipei citizens use it to go to Ilan on the East coast. So, the Wenshan area continues to be spared heavy human development.
This mountainous area continues to look so green, wild and beautiful. Wenshan Baozhong looks healthy because it grows in such an environment. The buds pointing to the sky are a sign the tea leaf is very healthy (picture above). We even have proof that the soil is not polluted with heavy metals: lichens are gowing at the feet of tea trees on this plantation on the picture below. If there were any heavy metals, this fungus would die, because it has no way to release the metals.
In my previous post, you can see how the leaves were picked last Sunday. I'm happy to have been able to convey the sense of joy and beauty that was in the air on such an important occasion. Thanks for your comments.
I also used the opportunity also to select 3 new baozhongs formy selection. You can check this page to see what I have available. Prices for Baozhongs from the same quality level stay are unchanged compared to last year. And all other prices are (still) the same. (I will post a complete review of these teas some other day.)
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6 comments:
Spring is finally here! Thank you for all these inviting, mouth-watering photos. Are these the same plant as Oriental beauty?
Do farmers prefer harvesting younger bushes or older bushes in this area? Or like Yunnan, the older the better? Thanks : )
What beautiful countryside. Those leaves look big and delicious!
I too was wondering about the type and age of the tea shrubs.
Wouf wouf Toki!
actually it depends on the trees and the kind of plantation a farmer runs. For the quality driven organic farmers, old bushes are best, because they have deep roots that can reach nutrients and water in the soil far below. (I featured the best such farmer in Wenshan during the first 2 months I started my blog.)
Farmers who push the trees to yield a lot of leaves and harvest them all will find that this exhausts the trees. After several years, such trees yield less and they prefer plant new trees.
In Wenshan, they make Oriental beauty with most kinds of Oolong varietals, so yes, you could also make Oriental Beauty with these leaves if picked small in summer.
La vision de ces belles feuilles fait figure d'annonce de la belle saison! Belles photos, aussi.
Bonjour Stéphane,
J'ai envoyé un mail à l'adresse indiqué sur le site mais je n'ai pas obtenu de réponse de votre part. Peut-être n'est-elle pas correcte ou mon mail a été éconduit comme un spam? Je souhaiterai acheter du thé.
Au plaisir d'échanger.
Ronan
Ronan, es-tu breton ?
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