How does tea get onto your table?

In the beautiful region of Taimu Mountain in the Fujian Province of Chine is a major tea growing area where some of the world’s best tea is harvested.  One in particular is oolong, specifically Tie Kuan Yin, also called the Iron Goddess.  In fact, when it comes to white tea as well, the Taimu Mountain produces the best you will find.

Throughout this region of China are many small and large farms, a great place where families can experience life to its fullest.

Farms in the Fujiun Province

For instance, you would find a massive farm divided on two mountains that are separated by miles.  In addition to growing wonderful Chinese tea and harvesting it, these farms are also used to raise boars and grow other foods.  This type of farm would likely be owned by the state with workers consisting of men and women, most being quite young.  In fact, many of the workers are just out of high school.

Keep in mind that during the Cultural Revolution of china, once a boy or girl completed high school, they were immediately sent to a rural farm where they would be taught the value of hard labor.  This meant most kids growing up in China were not given an opportunity to go to college, instead being housed together, and even sharing dinner as one, large family.

Plucking Tea Leaves

Many kids have been to a Chinese tea garden, usually with a mother, aunt, or older sister that worked long hours each day plucking leaves for green tea, loose black tea, oolong, and white tea.  Often, the man of the household would have the job of inspecting all the leaves and then weighing them.  Depending on the amount of loose green tea or other tea plucked, the women would be paid accordingly.

Once the women completed a long day of plucking leaves, processing was done at night.  While most farms grow Chinese green tea, other varieties are also grown and harvested.  For processing, the leaves would be dried, which involved both firing and frlying, a process that took all night, which involves the men taking time to eat, usually consisting of a bowl of hot noodles or congee.

Many times, the men’s children will stay to watch, even staying all night while the fathers work.  Some children would simply roll up the sacks in which the tea leaves are stored, using them as blankets and pillows.  Kids being kids, there are stories of some slipping inside the bags and friends performing a prank by tying it up, causing the child to go to the bathroom inside the sack because of not being able to get out.

During the processing of healthy tea leaves, some break, which are then set aside from the whole leaves.  At that time, the mothers and children would spend time going through all the tiny pieces, which was both time-consuming and physically exhausting.  Of course, the more broken leaves processed the more money the mother would make.  The goal with this process was to ensure no broken pieces ended up with the whole tea leaves.

Tea Packaging and Distribution

Additional processing of the Chinese black tea, Chinese white tea, or whatever variety was being worked, followed by packaging so it could be distributed.  All of the tea was then taken by foot from to farm to a tea refinery, which would have been miles away.  While in town, workers would take time to purchase snacks, buy clothing, and even have their hair cut.  After all, in the city, workers could find fancy products from Shanghai and other large Chinese cities.

While parents stay on the farm working, some kids are sent to live in other towns with the grandparents although in the summer, they go back to visit.  Unlike tea grown in other parts of the world, farming tea in China is necessary to have money to live.  If you look at all Chinese families, whether rich or poor, they have lineage to tea farming at some point, which is used as a daily beverage or for entertaining.

Drinking Chinese tea is a custom of China, a time when friends are greeted with a cup or bowl of hot green tea or other variety.  Usually, homemade snacks are served too and different from westernized countries, children of China are not raised on fast food, ice cream, pop and other unhealthy foods and beverages.  The only thing people enjoy is tea and homemade snacks.

Most children grow up and move to a large city where they live a life of modern luxuries but they also miss the simply life associated with growing tea.  Sure, they now have modern appliances and gadgets, convenience stores, and even ice cream, fast food, and pop but the memories from China, often thousands of miles away are missed and cherished.

In fact, many people moved to the United States to attend college, eager for a life of prosperity and more choices.  Some start out with menial jobs, working their way up to a better life.  However, they also discover that life in the States is much different from life in China, being fast paces and hectic.  Instead of the joy and convenience of tea, people drink pop and most find that with such buy lives, there is no time to relax with a cup of tea.

Some people now living in the US who were raised in China will tell you that they have not sat down and enjoyed a cup of tea for 15 or 20 years.  However, upon retuirning home, they remember the joy of special teas and the hard work and processing it takes for production.  Once back in the US, they begin drinking tea again, having the chance to remember the beautiful land from where they came, China, thousands of miles away.