Riding the wind of rebirth

"Hello, Xiao Miao." Fei Guan greeted Zhou Zhi. "I just arrived too. Your Sister Liu is very busy right now and won't be here for a while. By the way, Old Zhang said that this tea was given to him by you, and he hadn't even drunk it. Now he's brought it out again, but nobody knows how to use it. Isn't that funny?!"

"This is a 30-year-old Yi tea from Dazhubao, Mabian. It's a large tea cake similar to Pu'er. Let me handle it."

"I'll do it." Mai Xiaomiao obediently went to the display case to move the tea set. There was a pen holder there, which contained a lot of tea sets, including a tea knife and a tea needle.

After Mai Xiaomiao brought everything out, Zhou Zhi invited everyone to sit down and asked Mai Xiaomiao to boil water. He then picked up a tea needle and began to open the tea cake along its edge, loosening the tea leaves and then using a small tea knife to separate them, trying to maintain the integrity of the tea leaves as much as possible.

The discarded tea leaves and tea chunks were all put into the tea canister.

After filling the tea box, Zhou Zhi carefully rewrapped the remaining tea cakes in their original oil paper and said, "It's best to finish opening the Pu'er tea once it's been opened and put it all in the tea caddy. You can take care of the rest, Xiao Miao."

"I heard Xiao Miao is American? You're quite adept at using this gaiwan." Fei watched as Mai Xiao Miao skillfully used the tea set and joked, "You're no less skilled than the old tea drinkers at Wangjianglou Park. Oh, why did you pour out the water again?"

"After being stored for a long time, Pu'er tea may have a lot of impurities or dust on the surface. The first brew is generally not drunk, so it should be brewed once or twice and then discarded to remove some residual substances," Zhou Zhi said. "Moreover, the flavor of the first and second brews has not fully developed, so even if it is drinkable, it will not taste very good. Only when the tea leaves slowly unfurl in the water can the flavor gradually emerge, and that is when the tea tastes its best."

“Yes, we learned it from Brother Li San. He’s an expert on Pu’er tea. Zhouzi said that Yi tea and Pu’er tea are actually quite similar.”

“They come from such wealthy families, even their tea is so particular,” Fei Guan said. “But why would they drink tea from central Yunnan? It seems that even in provinces closer to central Yunnan, it’s not that common yet.”

"Hey, this is quite an interesting story. When it comes to Pu'er tea, everyone immediately thinks of central Yunnan, because Pu'er is located in central Yunnan. But the truth is that the connection between people from Guangdong and Pu'er tea is really deep, especially for ripe Pu'er."

"What's the story behind this?" Zhang Cheng asked first, as they were all people who were very interested in literature and history.

“This story goes back to the last century,” Zhou Zhi said. “Back then, there was no concept of ripe tea in central Yunnan. The Pu’er region only produced one kind of ‘raw tea,’ which was made from sun-dried large leaves. In fact, it was raw tea. Pu’er raw tea is just raw Pu’er.”

"At that time, the Thirteen Factories Market in Guangzhou was the earliest tea trading market in the country, and raw tea and loose tea from Yunnan were also important sources of tea for Yue Du. However, the transportation from Yunnan to Yue Du was extremely inconvenient at that time. Tea was transported by mules and horses, taking at least two or three months, and sometimes more than half a year. Due to the long journey, exposure to sun and rain, and the combination of temperature and humidity, the tea from Yunnan often had already aged and deteriorated to varying degrees by the time it arrived in Yue Du, which transformed the pungent and astringent taste of raw tea."

"This was a lucky accident. After the Thirteen Factories re-fermented and aged these raw and loose tea leaves and pressed them into tea cakes, they became very popular with consumers and aroused the interest of tea merchants."

"Back then, tea merchants in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau were closely connected. Guangdong tea merchants opened branches and stores in Hong Kong and Macau, and Hong Kong and Macau tea merchants would also open branches and stores in Guangdong, usually family-run businesses. At that time, the Pu'er tea sold in Hong Kong and Macau was processed locally in Guangzhou and the Pearl River Delta after the raw tea leaves were purchased by Hong Kong and Macau tea merchants." "The habit of drinking ripe Pu'er tea in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau was formed at that time." Zhou Zhi picked up the small cup handed to him by Mai Xiaomiao: "Guangdong Province has a hot and humid climate. Pu'er tea, due to its post-fermentation characteristics, is mild and suitable for the constitution of people in Guangdong Province, especially the elderly. Therefore, it is known as 'longevity tea' or 'elder brother tea.' Come on, everyone, have a taste."

Every type of tea has its own brewing method. If you don't know how to brew it, the tea won't taste good. For example, if you brew Pu'er, black tea, or old Yi tea the way people in Sichuan brew green tea, it will turn into a medicinal soup.

It can also easily cause the leaves to become overcooked and mushy, making the rotten taste in the leaves more prominent and affecting the flavor.

Now, with the Mai Xiaomiao brewing method, which involves slow brewing and quick extraction, it tastes quite delicious.

"Smooth, with a sweet aftertaste." Fei Guan, a veteran who once served as the general manager of the Arts and Crafts Department Store, is quite knowledgeable about tea: "Thank you, Xiao Miao. This tea, and this way of drinking it, is quite an art."

"Then foreign trade was cut off," Zhou Zhi said. "Then the Guangdong Provincial Tea Import and Export Company was re-established in 1953. At that time, under the planned economy, tea was a commodity subject to unified purchase and sales, and only Guangdong, Fujian and Shanghai had export rights."

"In order to resume the export of ripe Pu'er tea, the tea import and export company also set up a task force to start working on the artificial accelerated post-fermentation technology of Pu'er tea, which is the lost ripening technology. However, at that time, it was given a very unpleasant name, called 'Pu'er tea water-drying technology'."

"After two years of hard work, we achieved rapid success. The processed Pu'er tea has a bright red liquor, a unique aged aroma, and a mellow and sweet taste. It is especially suitable for the tastes of consumers in Hong Kong, Macao, Southeast Asia, and island countries, and is very popular. From 1957 to 1983, Pu'er ripe tea rose to the top of all export tea categories."

"Later, due to market development needs, the foreign trade system began to be reformed after 1974, and export rights were delegated to the provinces, and more provinces began to export tea. Several tea factories in Yunnan Province sent specialists to Guangdong Province to learn from their experience and bring the technology back to Yunnan Province. Later, they also improved it with modern equipment."

"In the late 1980s, the tea market was fully opened up. Some major tea-producing provinces, for their own interests, began to prevent tea from flowing out and processed it locally, which affected the source of raw materials for Pu'er tea in Guangdong Province. In the end, although Guangdong Province was still a major exporter and seller of ripe Pu'er tea, it became a middleman, while the producers ultimately became the manufacturers in the raw material areas."

"So there are so many twists and turns. It turns out that Pu'er tea is divided into raw and ripe, and people in Guangdong Province prefer ripe Pu'er, not raw Pu'er."

"They're drinking oolong tea now too. It came from the island nation. First, Dongding oolong became popular in Taiwan, and now Fujian oolong, the kind called Tieguanyin, is becoming popular as well."

"I've never had it." The circulation of goods is still quite limited, especially consumption habits, which are very slow to change. Zhang Cheng picked up another cup as he spoke: "Master Zhang is very sincere. It's not good to return half of that tea cake after it's been opened. How about we... take it with us later?"

"It's not that bad." Fei Guan picked up his cup and drank with Zhang Cheng first, then gestured to Zhou Zhi, "Isn't the main character right here? Why don't we just get it from Zhou Zhi?" (End of Chapter)