The Tea Culture of WuYi Mountain---History of Tea Cultivation

Wuyi Rock Tea enjoys a long history. Being one of the top tea in China, it is also the forefather of Oolong tea. It played an important role in the tea development in China. During the North and South Dynasty (about 479 A.D) the tea had already been well-known. Later in Song and Yuan Dynasty it was paid as a tribute to the royal family. In the sixth year of Dade Reign in Yuan Dynasty (about 1302 A.D), a Royal Tea Garden was set up by the bank of the Fourth-bend of the river. In Ming Dynasty tea makers improved the tea-processing techniques, thus producing the oolong tea, which is the present Rock tea. In the 17th century, Wuyi tea was even sold abroad and enjoyed an even greater reputation.

Wuyi Rock Tea, with its "special rock charm and fragrance" is well-known at home and abroad. The most famous is the Big Robe Tea for it is the King of Tea.
The Wuyi Rock Tea is especially noted for its high quality, due to its natural environment of green mountains and clear waters, as well as its unique techniques. Therefore when you drink the tea, you'll fell an everlasting fragrance in your mouth. The "rock charm" of the tea has always been a delight and a desire.
The main component of Wuyi Tea is middle-sized or small-sized leaves and tea made of these leaves is called Wuyi rock-essence tea, which is the earliest Oolong Tea and the treasure of Oolong Tea. It grows in the area governed by Wuyishan City.
  
The meaning of Wuyi rock-essence tea: It’s Oolong Tea with unique flavor grown in specific natural ecological environment in Mount Wuyi, bred and cultivated from proper tea trees and made with unique traditional technology. 
The traditional varieties of Wuyi rock-essence tea are: Shuixian, Rougui, Wuyicaicha, Aijiaooolong and so on.
Rare varieties: Chosen from Wuyicaicha, there are Big-Red-Robe, Tieluohan, Baijiguan, Shuijinggui, Bantianyao, Beidou and so on.
Products of Wuyi rock-essence tea are divided into Big-Red-Robe, Mingcong, Rougui, Shuixian and Qizhong.
We mainly plant and make Oolong Tea as well as Black Tea and Green Tea.
The sale of Wuyi Tea: As export was forbidden before Ming Dynasty, it was mostly for the domestic market. People used to trade tea for horses in Shanxi and Nermeng, which extended to Russia later on. At the end of Ming Dynasty, merchants from Holland, England and France came to purchase Wuyi Tea and sold it to European markets. Nowadays, besides export, Wuyi rock-essence tea is mainly sold to south Fujian and Guangdong and is beginning to enter markets of North China. Black tea is still sold to European countries.
The Legend of "the Big Robe Tea"
The Big Robe Tea is regarded as the King of the Wuyi Rock Tea. It's once paid as a tribute to the royal family. It's our national essence. Due to its magic fragrance, clear taste and refreshing charm, it has been well-known at home and abroad. According to the legend: during the Qing Dynasty, a scholar wanted to Beijing for an official examination. When he got to Tianxin Temple (now the Yongle Temple) in Wuyi mountains, he suddenly felt a stomache. But instantly after he drank the tea given by the monks in Tianxin Temple, he got recovered. Thus he went just in time for the examination. Moreover he won the title of the Number One Scholar. To thank the tea, the scholar came back himself to pay a homage to the tea. He burned scents and put his own big robe on the tea, thus giving rise to its present name. 

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