By Parker, Reporter

As everyone knows, China is famous for tea. Whether it is green tea, black tea or oolong tea, the history of tea in China goes back thousands of years and is rich in tradition with many provinces having its own famous variety of tea. Today I went to a tea plantation in Yongchuan, a small county in Chongqing and the origin of Chongqing’s own famous variety of green tea, xiuya, to see how it is traditionally made.

It was a beautiful spring day and as I approached Yongchuan I was taken away by the beauty of the area. Lush green mountains, higher than those in the main city, cut into the low drifting clouds, and as we drove up the many curves on the mountain I noticed that it was getting colder and damper. These conditions make the ideal spot for growing the best tea, I was told. I also noticed, besides the famous Sea of Bamboo, there were many tea plantations.

We arrived at a tea plantation nearly 1500 meters from the ground and were greeted by a friendly representative of their tourism department. She led me to the main tea plantation and I was essentially surrounded by tea plants. A grizzled master tea maker showed me how to pick tea leaves correctly, with one bulb and one leaf remaining on the stem. He told me “This makes the best kind of tea.” We picked some tea leaves together with the master picking about 20 times quicker than me and headed to a place that the next step in tea production is carried out.

We got to a warehouse filled with equipment and large steel pots that resembled large woks. He told me that after the tea was picked it is to be treated and shrunk down to less than 1/5 of the volume. I found out that these steel woks were for exactly that –essentially stir-frying the tea leaves. The master told me that this process of shrinking down was broken into 7 steps: 1) laying out the tea leaves, 2) stir-frying (with his bare hands!) to evaporate the moisture, 3) rubbing the tea leaves (to lock the flavor in the tea leaves), 4) stir-frying again, 5) rubbing again, 6) separation of the tea leaves to give shape, 7) and finally baking the tea leaves.

After this, I was told we were to eat a banquet with delicacies made that had tea leaves as their ingredients. My appetite was whet and I was ready to try my first tea made dinner. We entered the ornate banquet room in the Golden Hill Hotel, nestled in the thick bamboo forest near the top of the mountain. It was decked out with all kinds of tea paraphernalia and art, and the dishes were laid out before us. There was: duck roasted with tea leaves, bamboo roots cooked in tea broth, spicy beef garnished with tea leaves and many more, all were delicious and truly remarkable for combining the xiuya tea flavor with classic Chinese food.

From picking tea leaves, seeing them made into tea, and then eating delicious Chinese food made with tea, I had a wonderful time in Yongchuan and learned a lot. It is definitely a must see in Chongqing, especially for those who love tea.