Fuding White Tea Lecture: my White Tea Journey

Fuding is a name full of blessings. There are many place names with the word "Fu" in Fujian. Fuzhou, the provincial capital, calls itself a "blessed state". "Ding" is interpreted as "illustrious and grand" in the dictionary, then what Fuding has is a great blessing. Fuding City, located in the northeast of Fujian Province and adjacent to Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, is the origin of white tea, one of the six major tea products in China, and is known as "the hometown of Chinese white tea". Lu Yu, the tea saint, wrote in the Book of Tea: "there is White Tea Mountain in the east of Yongjia County." This is similar to the description of Shan Hai Jing, which refers to the Tai Mu Mountain of Fuding.

The first encounter of white tea was a tea house in the Taimu Mountain. It was the beginning of 2007, and I went to Mount Tai Mu to participate in the first "new work" award event of Fujian Daily. When it is the rainy season, the strange peaks and rocks of Mount Tai Mu are hidden in the misty rain and fog, and everyone's hearts can't help but feel a little lost. At this time, a poet suggested, "if you don't know the true face of Tai Mu, have a cup of tea from Tai Mu Mountain." Tea house is exactly what the poet wrote. He mysteriously took out a handful of furry tea leaves. The tea, which looks inconspicuous in appearance, is brewed by boiling water and stretches out in the glass, floating and sinking, standing one by one, half floating on the water and half gradually settling to the bottom of the cup. He said: "this is the top grade of Fuding white tea-the white silver needle." Since ancient times, famous mountains are famous for tea, with such good mountains and good water, and with such good tea, it is no wonder that the poet was able to write such beautiful poems.

This cup of white tea made me have an inextricable bond with Fuding. In 2008, I joined a tea magazine to work. My first business trip was to Fuding to take part in the style gathering activity of "White Tea in my eyes". The second time I went to Mount Tai Mu, I saw the tea garden. After the rain, the sky is clear, the mountains are shrouded in clouds, and the distant mountains are like ink, looming in the clouds and smoke. Yunshui nurtured and moisturized tea trees, but also contaminated with fairy gas, between plants and trees of tea pickers, as if incarnated into tea. I suddenly understand the deep meaning of the word "tea", and Fuding white tea, which has the same color as mountain haze and has an ethereal mind, should be white tea in the sky.

The mother tree of Fuding white tea, the green snow bud ancient tea tree, is still preserved in Mount Tai Mu, and there is also a legend that the great grandmother discovered white tea to save the world and save lives. In 2009, I went to Fuding to participate in the Chinese White Tea Culture Festival and went to Mount Tamu for a special visit to the ancient tea trees. In 2010, Taimu Mountain, the immortal capital of the sea, successfully won the World Geopark, and the fine Fuding White Tea Tai Grandma Silver Needle was also successfully selected as one of the top ten famous teas in the United Nations Pavilion of the Shanghai World Expo.

In Fujian, besides Fuding, Zhenghe also produces white tea. Zhenghe white tea is produced in the mountains of northern Fujian, with a taste of soy milk, light and simple, while Fuding white tea is born between the mountains and seas in eastern Fujian, which is a bit more fresh and open. Tasting Fuding white tea is like a person looking at the sea, the wind blowing gently on his face. Therefore, I think the best white tea should be grown at sea.

Generally speaking, islands are short of fresh water, but the magic of Zhongyu Island in Taimu Mountain is that there are two heavenly lakes, one big and one small, and springs continue to gush out from the bottom of the lake. Surrounded by the Xiaotian Lake is the 10,000 mu grassland known as the "Tianshan Mountains of the South", while the banks of the Great Tianhu Lake are full of vibrant tea gardens. The sun shines on the green leaves, the terrace extends gently to the lake, a mountain peak stands on the opposite bank, and a few wisps of floating clouds stop in the middle of the mountain, making people temporarily forget that the other side of the mountain is the sea. But when you suddenly think that these white teas are grown on the sea, you can't help but marvel at the island, the lake, and these green elves.

From time to time from the dreamy tea garden came the laughter of tea-picking girls, wearing bamboo hats and carrying tea baskets, their dexterous hands picking fresh and tender leaves like flying shuttles.

I think, if it is a moonlit night, sitting alone by the lake and warming a pot of moonlight to make tea, even if there is Yaochi Immortal Palace in the sky, how can it seem to be in the world? I think the white tea grown on the most beautiful island should be the best white tea in the world. A friend who wrote prose wrote when he left Yushan Island: "I saw flying on the way home." What I see are bright green leaves, breathing evenly in the sun and flying wantonly in the sea breeze. They are green dreams, picked, withered, baked and oxidized naturally, until they are finally brewed and quietly pass through their time, leaving us a lifetime of aftertaste and sweetness.

At the end of 2010, I came to Fuding again to participate in the activity of "White Tea seen by 100 Writers across the country" and personally planted a white tea tree between the green mountains and green waters. I remember when I interviewed Fuding two years ago, a tea farmer in Mount Tamu once said to me, "Tea trees are alive and spiritual. tea should be treated like friends. Only by planting tea with gratitude and communicating with tea attentively can we grow good tea." This is the blessing of white tea. And this ordinary Fuding Dabaihao will replace me to grow in the depths of the white clouds, bathed in the sun and rain of nature.

The fragrance of tea always floats all the way to Fuding. Suddenly looking back, I was surprised to find that in a short period of 4 years, I went to Mount Tai Mu five times. White tea has become a rare confidant in my life. What kind of fate is this? Tongshan Creek, at the foot of Taimu Mountain, a city of mountain color, full of tea. I suddenly thought of a beautiful promotional film from an ancient town in the south of the Yangtze River, which was used to describe my past life and this life with Fuding White Tea. After walking through many places, seeing a lot of beautiful scenery and drinking a lot of good tea, I don't know why, but Fuding made me have the idea of staying. If life is a journey, perhaps white tea is a rare encounter in this journey.

Everyone who has been to Fuding will come back with blessing and tea fragrance, I believe.