Red Circle Tea

Today we visited with Ms. Lee, a friend of our teacher. She’s a farmer, and a little more than a farmer; she’s also a judge of sorts. There is no formal tea competition for Dragon Well tea, nor are there names for the different grades of Dragon Well so you need an “official taster” or authenticator to tell you exactly what you’re drinking, where it was grown and what day it was picked. The day it was picked is the most important discerning factor in judging the commercial value of a Dragon Well tea to most farmers.  I’d guess if China had the Japanese version of a Living Treasure she’s well on her way to becoming one. Today, and more importantly in years to come, she will be one of very few people who will be able to connect the rest of us to the tradition of enjoying real Dragon Well tea.

We started at her tea shop in a commercial district of Hangzhou at 9 am. She arrived in town to renew her business license, then she and her son then drove us outside the city and I was surprised at how close we were to important tea growing areas. About 15 minutes later we arrived at Long Jing Village to see the 18 famous Shi Fung Long Jing shrubs that Qian Long drank. To make a long legend short: Qian Long was an emperor from a few years back who while visiting the countryside grew tired and stopped at a temple to rest where he was served a lovely tea. “What tea is this?” he asked the monk. The monk, knowing he was serving the emperor replied: “Long (literally, Dragon, and also the emperor’s last name) Jing (from well, or the spring where the water came from.)” Long Jing. Liking the tea, the Emperor requested annual donations of this tea to be made to him.

We walked further up and saw the hills of Shi Feng (Lion’s peak.) This is the highest part of the mountain, and it’s easy to see the steep terraces give high mountain tea.

The air is amazingly clean up here. It’s sweet and fresh and a gentle breeze rolls in from time to time to take any edge of any heat that might start to build up. The views are amazing from here and everywhere you look it is lush and green.

We drove a little further down to Mei Jia Wu and there we looked at two varietals. We saw the traditional varietal and a new Mei Jia Wu Dragonwell varietal called #43. Number 43 is an important introduction to the tea family because this plant blooms 2 weeks earlier than traditional Mei Jia Wu, meaning that in a couple years when the tea bushes reach their maturity (5 years) and production really begins, this will be one of the first Dragon well teas to market. Yes, but how does it taste? I asked. #43 is more fragrant but the traditional varietal has more body, so I guess we’ll see soon enough if the demand for tea can create a first-to-market tea that still tastes good. That’s going to depend a lot on soil and processing and a bit of luck. Later that afternoon we were treated to lunch by our host where we had a chance to sit down and ask her questions about Dragon Well tea and its production. I’ll detail that conversation in my next post.

We took the non-stop train to Hangzhou two days ago. Yesterday we visited West Lake. It’s a huge and very beautiful natural lake. We walked around part of the lake, watched the ducks and geese and people and boats. There’s a reason the summer palace was built here, it’s gorgeous. There are pagodas and gardens, manicured lawns and maple trees too. The air around the lake is actually quite fresh and I wondered if the humidity contributes any significant or discernible moisture to the surrounding area and how that would affect Puerh storage in Hangzhou….

We splurged and ate lunch at a high end restaurant called Lo Wai Lo. I discovered a new favorite food. It’s like a Chinese version of Tabouli. Its chopped greens, fresh and grassy, a little dry, but not as dry as cilantro, and not minty at all. It’s also has a soft quality from the toasted pine nuts tossed in. It’s refreshing and clean, not too heavy to eat, delicious!

We also enjoyed Dong Buo Ro. It’s slow roasted fatty pork belly in a sweet soy sauce with spices. It’s very heavy and while the meat is delicious, I don’t like the texture of fat. The flavor of what little meat there is is amazing.

We also tried a particularly a northern specialty. It’s a stir fried rice cake with pork. The rice cake is mochi-like in its consistency and originally a log shape that’s rolled to a certain thickness and sliced. These slices are tossed with meat, green onion and a special sauce and sautéed. I’ve also heard they have the same (similar) in Korea.

The most unique dish we tried was an orange hollowed out and filled with a soup like food. It was so thick it was almost like a sauce rather than soup. It was shark fin, crab and orange, it was juicy and rich at the same time. I mixed in a little bit of rice on my spoon with the soup and it was delicious.

There are other culinary specialties we’ve seen here in shops. Cured meats like duck and pork.

There is a comical bun vendor who is actually a character from a famous Chinese tale. The buns are just ok, but it’s the presentation that’s so interesting.

It’s after 11 am on Sunday morning in China.  Having left SFO Friday night my body clock tells me that by now, I’d be used to a hot shower, new clothes, and a quick walk up the streets of Tim Sha Tsui, looking for a late breakfast in the warmth of a humid and overcast sky. Instead, we were given a kindly welcome to our Dragon Air flight to Shanghai by our second pilot: Captain Jeremy Pickles – and I was served my second set of soggy airplane eggs. And currently, a shaky taxi driver has us dodging cars on the motorway from Shanghai Pudong airport to our hotel.

More traveling than usual to start our trip up north. It’s definitely worth it and I love traveling but I’m tired of it now. The weather is definitely better than Hong Kong. Fresh and cooler, much more like San Francisco. No sticky heat here in April. And there are more “newer” cars here, Shanghai is the capital of auto production for China, and you see Volkswagen, BMW and a “Buick” just passed us.  This is making me skeptical: is that for real? It’s a good reminder that in China, sometimes things are what they seem and sometimes not. In the case of the Buick, I later learn, there is a GM factory outside of Shanghai, but the same is true for tea, a healthy skepticism is always prudent.

We’ll check into our hotel then head for lunch and a little sightseeing in downtown.

Later today, we checked out the Pearl, a horrific building that would soothe the soul of any troubled French person still loathe to embrace the Pyramid.  Staggeringly tall and with neon fuchsia reflective glass windows, a pearl she might be, a beauty she is not. I was a little sad that this was the star of Shanghai… or so I thought… then, a taxi ride changed my mind. A short while later, we taxied over to Shing Wang Temple. A beautiful and breathtaking collection of hundred plus year old traditional buildings that once held hotels and restaurants and shop, today is home to all three: cheap, (Think Dairy Queen- seriously) moderately priced (Taiwanese octopus dumplings) and fabulous (Shanghaiese) restaurants all in a small group of buildings clustered together. We ate Xui Long Bao, or little pork buns with broth in them, a speciality of Shanghai and one of my favorites. It is served with vinegar and julienned ginger.

It’s 4 pm for us now, so we’re headed to bed. Pictures to come in the am. Stay tuned!