Tea was later to be appreciated as a common drink instead of a herbal remedy, and to be enjoyed by farmers as well as noblemen. Nowadays, serving and savoring tea is often treated as one of the most pleasurable of life's enjoyments, an essence of Chinese culture and one of the arts of refinement. The scholar sips tea when drafting deep theories; rural villagers savor tea while swapping stories of bygone days, urbanites substitute tea for snacks when watching TV. Tea has closely and naturally amalgamated itself into every corner of Chinese daily life.
Tea plantations always grow best in the gentle, coolly moderated climate of those foothill slopes about 600 feet above sea level. Taiwan's northern and central mountainous areas contain its major tea growing districts, and Ping-lin, a small town perched on northern Taiping Mountain, is such an area, famous islandwide for its Paochung Tea.
Old, narrow Ping-lin Road is now a one-way street, lined on both sides with shoulder-to-shoulder teas hops. The fragrance of their tea wafts from the shop interiors, where big barrels of tea leaves stand by on shop floors awaiting buyers. Well-infused tea is always prepared, ready for the tasting. Here along the street, a few local folk pass the time leisurely, relaxing on a well-worn bench -the whole area still dipped into a slow-paced past. In contrast, along the nearby, newly-completed four-lane highway, beneficiaries of new traffic convenience, modern teashops with come-hither deco rations and neat displays, are hustling, crowded with tourists from cars and buses.
Past Ping-lin, a zigzaging muddy old road leads to rows of neatly-trimmed tea shrubs. Groups of pickers spread through the plantation harvesting the new leaves of spring tea. On one side of the hill, a two-story mansion rises prominently among the neat, green tea gardens. This is our destination, the home of the Fu family, Ping-lin's largest tea grower.
The drive to the mansion was steep and rough, and as our shiny car jolted badly over the rocks, the driver's face took on a woebegone look, and his car's torture continued. When we arrived, the head of the family and two big black dogs welcomed us at the large cemented patio before the front door.
"Hard to find my location? Come on and have some tea," Fu said in a breath. Carefully crossing the cemented patio, which was near carpeted with freshly-picked, drying tea leaves, we entered the house. In the living room, two children were watching a Taipei game show on TV, though in this mountainous area, the television reception was fuzzy.
We followed Fu into a processing room. The strong, fresh fragrance of tea rose here from stacks of semi-processed tea leaves in big, woven-bamboo trays. Several types of machine were in operation.
Fu showed us the producing process, describing the steps-picking tea leaves, drying them first in the sun, machine mixing, frying, crumbling, and oven baking. "The whole cycle takes 12 hours, and once underway, it can not be stopped before completion, or the tea will be spoiled. During harvest season, my whole family has to work till late at night," he said.
The mansion accommodates 27 members of the family—the aged parents, his wife and two kids, and four younger brothers and their wives and children. The two youngest brothers operate the family wholesale business in Taipei. "All of us here are needed, because tea growing requires lots of hard work. During our four seasonal harvest periods, we hire at least ten extra people from the village for NT$600 (US$15) per day, plus room and board," Fu said.
Spring tea is considered the best quality of the year. And every morning, after the dew evaporates, a team of women begin the picking work, woven-bamboo baskets strapped to their backs, round bamboo-leaf sun hats on their heads, and floral-design sun scarves covering their faces. They work from morning to dusk, practiced eyes combining with dexterous hand movements to select and pick the most tender tea leaves with great efficiency. Fu's 65-year-old parents, as group leaders, also designate the shrub groups to be exploited for each day's picking.
In the past, young people would sing love songs when collecting tea, and their exuberant, resonant tones would echo across the mountain. Gradually, as the young were wooed away by urban factories, older people and children populated the tea gardens, and the songs faded. Today, family chatter flows between housewives and their kids and husbands.
Fu, himself, takes the responsibility for transporting the freshly-plucked leaves back to the patio, where his brothers and wives do the processing work, cooperating in the effort with practiced ease.
"I was not at all used to such busy work when I first married Fu, but after a year, with a new-born baby strapped to my back, I carried on easily," Fu's wife told us.
The tea leaves are sun-dried for only 10 to 30 minutes after being picked, depending on how hot the sun is that day. Then, before subjecting the tea leaves to higher temperatures, Fu mixes them by machine to stimulate the fermentation process brought on by the sun.
Paochung Tea is categorized as a semi-fermented tea, with a shorter fermentation time than for red tea. Following mixing, frying, crumbling into strips, and final baking in ovens, the tea is ready for market. So experienced is the family, that without at all watching the time, they know the exact moment to proceed with the next step, from observing, smelling, and feeling the tea as it is shuttled between machines.
We have been here for three generations. All of us grew up with tea. So, we know tea like an old friend, every aspect of its growing and character. Our oldest tea shrubs are 18 years of age, but our 8-year-olds produce the top quality," Fu noted, adding that proper control of each producing step also influences tea quality. The market prices of his teas vary from NT$40 (US$1) to NT$800 per pound.
Fu's spring tea is harvested from April to mid-May; summer tea, from late June to early August; fall tea, late August to late October; and winter tea, late November to early December. During the slack interludes, the family members grow rice and vegetables and raise hogs and fowls. They keep up an abundant supply of foodstuffs.
Since the new highway was completed eight years ago, the area's tea farmers have been able to efficiently bring fertilizers and other supplies in, and ship their seasonal production out. The road has brought on prosperity:
Courting couples, family groups, and noisy students now swarm into the area on weekends and holidays to ramble in the tea gardens and camp or fish in the Peishih River basin—a water source for Taipei city.
Tea baths are an offering little known abroad, that especially attracts local visitors. Taking a tea bath is reputed to relieve exhaustion and to cure many skin diseases.
"Savoring several cups of tea as I gaze over my fish pond, I am happier than an emperor," Fu told us. We joined him in a cup.