Green Teas

Jiukeng Tea, from Wild Trees

Wild tea trees provide the leaves, or most of them anyway, for this famous tribute variety of the Tang dynasty. They grow in small clumps all about the hills and valleys of Jiukeng township in Chun'an county in west central Zhejiang province.

Once in spring and again in summer the people go out for the plucking. From trees standing about as tall as a man they remove the branches and usable parts and carry them home. There the thick, fat, glossy yellow green leaves are stripped off.

The processed leaves are sold under several different names:

Maojian (hair Point) plucked before Qingming in early April, the best and most famous, and the basis of some high-grade scented teas.
Yuqian (Pre-Rain-the Grain Rain, April 20)

Three made from the crop after that rain are:

Hongqing (de-enzymized by baking)
Chaoqing (de-enzymized by panfiring)
Hongchaoqing (de-enzymizd by both processes)

The  latter three kinds became known abroad under different names, as formerly the crude tea was sold to local tea factories which packaged and sold it under the names Chun Mei, Feng Mei, Emei, Hyson, Song Luo, and Xiumei.

Teas from Chun'an and the former Suian county nearby are often sold together under the name Suilu (Sui Green). With flower fragances added, the first picking is sold as Huamaojian (Flower Maojian), huayuqian (Flower Pre-rain), both favorites in north China.

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