Friday, November 04, 2011

Wu Yi Tea Documentary

In late 2009, CCTV, China's State television has made a series of 5 documentaries on Wu Yi tea. And they even translated them into English! They show the wonderful landscapes in which the best rock teas grow. There is also quite a lot of historical and cultural information. The majority of the information is good, but some of is not. Also, at times it sounds more like propaganda (or advertising) than a documentary. There's a lot to criticize, but I did find it very interesting to watch, if only just for the beauty of these sacred mountains, the origin of both red tea and Oolong tea:

Part 1
Description of Wu Yi tea's characteristics
Part 2
Wu Yi's early tea history, trade with Russia.
Part 3
Lapsang Souchong. Wu Yi's red tea and its impact on the the Western world
Part 4
Royal Tea gift, Jian bowl, tea competition.
Part 5
All about Da Hung Pao

In Part 3, the documentary mentions Robert Fortune, the Scottish botanist who stole/acquired Chinese tea plants and seeds and introduced them in India in the middle of the 19th Century. If you want to study this story in more detail, I recommend his (free, online) book "A journey to the tea countries of China, including Song-Lo and the Bohea hills". His description of Woo-e-shan in Chapter XIII shows his amazement: " I had expected to see a wonderful sight when I reached this place, but I must confess the scene far surpassed any ideas I had formed respecting it."

10 comments:

Gustia said...

These are great videos. They explain the tea so clearly. My Tea IQ just went up! When I'm in Hong Kong I always visit the Tea House in the Chi Lin Monastery where they serve only Da Hung Pao. Now I'll know what I'm drinking about. Thanks!

Michel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michel said...

Voici les versions françaises :
Wuyi 1
Wuyi 2
Wuyi 3
Wuyi 4
Wuyi 5

Alex said...

Very interesting! Vous avez les liens pour la version Chinoise par chance?

Steph said...

Thank you SO much for sharing!

Steve said...

Great videos. Looking fwd to watching them all. Thanks for posting.

Philippe de Bordeaux filipek said...

Merci

TeaMasters said...

Thanks for these great comments.

The Chinese version can be found here:

http://space.tv.cctv.com/video/VIDE1246712706915088

Michel,
Merci pour la version française!

Steph said...

I've watched all segments and really enjoyed it. Thank you so much. I've mentioned on my blog as well, citing you as the source. Thx!

http://stephcupoftea.blogspot.com/2011/11/wuyi-tea-documentary.html