None of the tea trees will refuse to go out to Mount Wuyi, but every native tea tree in Mount Wuyi seems to refuse to go out.
From a hundred years ago to now, Mount Wuyi tea plant germplasm resources are widely recognized. It is like a salad bowl of germplasm resources. No matter local species, introduced from other places, wild tea plants, or artificially bred and cultivated new varieties, they can play a role in this land
Mr. Chen Dehua opened a variety garden in Qianlan in the late 1990s, which now preserves more than 30 varieties, basically all of which are recognized as national and provincial excellent varieties of oolong tea in Fujian Province
In 1943, Lin Fuquan wrote in his book “The Production, Manufacturing, and Marketing of Wuyi Tea”:
“According to the current survey, there are ten varieties of tea trees cultivated in Wuyi Benshan, which are totally different in ecology and quality, namely, the above-mentioned vegetable tea, narcissus, oolong, peach kernel, qilan, tieguanyin, meizhan, snow pear, huanglong, cinnamon, etc. Among them, vegetable tea is the original variety of this mountain, which is the most cultivated, accounting for 85% of the total tea. As for narcissus, oolong, tieguanyin, meizhan, qilan, etc., they are all exotic species, and their introduction history is very gradual.”
From the record of rock tea planting varieties, exotic varieties have always accounted for a considerable proportion of planting in Mount Wuyi, and narcissus is a representative example.
However, in Lin Fuquan’s investigation records in 1943, there were nearly 300 tea trees in the Huiyuan Rock Tea Tree Flower List alone. As the king of tea, Dahongpao and Cinnamomum cassia, which are also provincial-level varieties and also the leading varieties of Wuyi tea, went out of the province. In the province where the popularity rate of improved varieties reached more than 90% in the Wulong Tea District of Fujian, except for Mount Wuyi, there was almost no trace of these tea trees taking root.
Mount Wuyi mountain area is not exclusive, but why did the native tea tree species not go out?
Part.1
Wuyi tea in the turning point of history,
The ‘Wu Piao’ and ‘Indigenous’ of those years
Tea germplasm resources in Mount Wuyi, whether imported or exported, actually contain many historical and cultural reasons.
After the five ports of Fuzhou were open to trade, the sales of Wuyi tea began to move southward from the original land Shanxi merchants and westerners, and Wuyi tea began to flourish in the southern Fujian area of Chaoshan, Guangzhou. During this period, it was the most prosperous in the Guangxu period. Many foreign varieties of Mount Wuyi today were introduced with tea merchants in the southern Fujian area during this period.
In the 1940s, there were a series of publications about Wuyi tea, including Lin Fuquan’s “Production, Manufacturing and Marketing of Wuyi Tea”, Liao Cunren’s “Wuyi Rock Tea”, Chen Shunnian, Xiang Xin and others’ “Tea and Scenery of Mount Wuyi”
The narcissus was introduced from the great and small lakes of Shuiji, with a history of only a few decades. The five species of Wulong, Meizhan, Qilan, and Taoren were directly or indirectly moved from Anxi
During the reign of Emperor Daoguang, Wulong was first relocated to Jian’ou by the Jinjinpu family from Anxi, and then to Wuyi by Jian. Tieguanyin, Taoren, and Qilan were relocated from Anxi twenty years ago, but their production was limited
There are dozens of plants in the Water Curtain Cave of Yugui and Huanglong, and it is said that their tea seedlings were also purchased from Dahu. Huanglong looks like vegetable tea, and Yugui looks like big leaf oolong, so it should be another variety
——Wuyi Rock Tea “by Liao Cunren, originally published in” Fujian Tea Industry “in 1943
Qilan, this variety was transplanted from a small lake in Jianning Prefecture to Wuyi with a history of only thirty years
“Tieguanyin was planted in Mount Wuyi in the early years of the Republic of China. It was carried from Anxi to Wuyi by spring merchants.”
“Snow pear has not been cultivated much in the mountains. It is not planted in ten clusters in the slurry pond rock, only one cluster under the mantuo rock, and only one cluster in the water curtain cave. Its planting history is not long. The investigation was carried from Anxi to Wuyi by Anxi Tea Merchant (manager of Fangmao Tea House) in the early Republic of China.”
——Production, Manufacturing, and Marketing of Wuyi Tea “by Lin Fuquan, 1943
The old clusters of narcissus trees in the Qingshiyan area of Shuilian Cave
In the 21st century, a large number of new varieties from Fujian Provincial Tea Research Institute and Mount Wuyi Tea Research Institute, such as Jin Guanyin, Huang Guanyin, Dan Gui, Jin Peony, are also widely planted in Mount Wuyi.
Today, Huang Guanyin has almost become the most widely planted variety in Mount Wuyi after cinnamon and narcissus.
There is a thin looking Huangguanyin tree under the cliff of Dakengkou Mountain, but it is over 20 years old
In fact, the endless planting situation of Mount Wuyi tea varieties has a certain relationship with the production model of Mount Wuyi where a hundred schools of thought contend.
Nowadays, most of Mount Wuyi is based on the production mode of small workshops. However, whether it is a big brand or a small factory, almost every household has some representative varieties other than cinnamon and narcissus. Or stagger the production cycle to improve economic efficiency, or use it for exclusive blending formula, or as an exclusive gimmick, in short, enrich the product category through Mount Wuyi’s rich germplasm resources.
We previously shared the fairy flowers of Prince Lao Cong’s family, the red peonies of Ye Haibin’s family, and the golden Buddha of Teacher You Yuqiong, among others. Every time we talked about these varieties, they would show a proud and coquettish attitude of ‘I have what others don’t have’.
The Golden Buddha Mother Tree of the Playball Family grows in this hidden Playball Pit
At the beginning of the last century, the same was true in the production structure of Yanzhu Baotou. Yan Zhu refers to tea merchants who are usually from their hometown, mostly from southern Fujian. The rock owner has set up a rock factory on Mount Wuyi Mountain and a tea house at the foot of the mountain, which is almost a one-stop production and sales model. The variety of Mount Wuyi introduced by Minnan people must also be for the purpose of developing the leading variety.
In 1943, Liao Cunren summarized the types of tea plants in Wuyiyan Tea Factory, which not only recorded the tea tree varieties owned by different tea factories, but also added a special column to mark the famous tea plants.
Ticong refers to a tea tree that is selected from thousands of superior single bush varieties and individually made, which is probably what we now call a famous bush. This is a tradition that Mount Wuyi has had since the Song Dynasty, and there are countless names.
It is recorded in the article that the famous clusters of Zhuke Rock are Iron Arhat, Taohua Rock is Tiger’s whisker and Buddha’s hand, Guilin Rock is Golden Chicken Mother and White Willow, Sanyang Peak’s Inner Factory is Jade Gui and Golden Keystone, Tianjing Rock is Diaojin Bell and Mountain Dragon, etc.
Some old tea houses that have been operating in the tea industry for over a hundred years also produce some official tea, which is now known as “Pindui” high-quality tea products, and are named with special tea names, similar to the flower names we often refer to. For example, the iron Arhat of Jiquan, the white cockscomb of Quanyuan, and the narcissus species all have their own enterprise standards.
These tea varieties, or rock tea products with flower names, or tea trees themselves, are often used as representative publicity signs of each family, and even many of them are confidential. Let alone the famous Wuyi trees out of Mount Wuyi, it may be difficult to walk out of a tea factory.
Part 2 For the variety itself, it has not gone global,Is it because it’s not excellent enough?
At least in Mount Wuyi, the answer is no.
Throughout history, places with diverse styles have attracted foodies, and foodies have given birth to more diverse styles. The abundance of famous Wuyi is likely due to this reason.
These foodies have left a lot of poetry and prose for Wuyi tea, and recently it has been described as fragrant, clear, sweet, and full of Eastern imagination. Rock tea can definitely occupy a place in the field of high-end cuisine.
In terms of comprehensive traits, as a cinnamon variety bred from Mount Wuyi native tea trees, when it was identified as a provincial improved variety in 1985, the variety that was examined and evaluated against it was the narcissus that was already a national improved variety.
However, what we can see is that narcissus has been promoted almost all over Fujian Province, while cinnamon is only lonely all over Mount Wuyi Mountain. What’s more lonely is that there are more than 20 national and provincial varieties of oolong tea in Mount Wuyi, and only cinnamon and Dahongpao are recognized as provincial varieties.
The earliest district trial base for cinnamon was located in the open area of Xingcun Shuangshi Playing Ball Mountain Field
Among the excellent varieties of oolong tea in Fujian, many varieties that are suitable for producing oolong tea are also suitable for producing white tea, green tea, black tea, and other types of tea. In the early days, in the market environment where black tea was hot and white tea was hot, the same variety of oolong tea was often harvested in combination with different types of tea in tea gardens to expand economic benefits, such as Baxian, Meizhan, hairy crab, etc.
In fact, from the perspective of tea germplasm resources, tea plants themselves reflect the ecological characteristics of their respective places of origin. Most famous clusters in Mount Wuyi are shrub type, mid late growing species with thick leaves.
Longer growth cycle is conducive to the accumulation of contained substances. In addition to the nourishment of minerals and humus in Mount Wuyi’s special landform, the combination of Mingcong and Shanchang has created geographical flavors that cannot be copied, such as rock tea’s heavy water fragrance and rock bone flower fragrance.
Neigui Cave Mountain Field
Once away from these small regional environments, it is difficult for Mingcong’s traits to be fully utilized. Throughout Mount Wuyi, before the large-scale promotion of cinnamon, tea production areas outside the Zhengyan area were mainly planted with narcissus, wild tea and other plants, with few famous clusters.
For a tea variety in a broad sense, the specificity of the variety itself, that is, the identifiable characteristic traits that distinguish it from other varieties, degenerates or cannot be expressed, thus losing the significance of promotion itself.
At the entrance of Huiyuan, there is a single cluster resource base in Shuiliandongxizi, Shuiliandong
In addition, the most profound experience we have gained in the process of implementing variety protection plans is the purity issue of the variety itself.
Some may have been pruned from the same mother tree, but due to differences in growth environment and management mode, the species has undergone variation; Some even have doubts about the mother tree itself, and we have heard from many eyewitnesses who have been secretly dug up and harvested in the early years, such as the Half Day Demon Mother Tree, the Tea King Tree at the top of the Tea King Pit, and the Big Red Plum Mother Tree in the Eighteen Villages.
Even the representative five major collections, each with a different version, have been compiled for the same reason as the Half Day Demon Discourses.
Red crabapple mother tree
To sum up, the reason why there are so many introduced varieties in Mount Wuyi, but there are so many famous clusters and rare tea tree resources in the local area, there are certain historical and cultural factors. These varieties are the unique signboards of each family, and they are not easy to share. Therefore, there are many anecdotes about stealing tea and trees in history.
From the perspective of tea tree’s own characteristics, the tea trees growing in Mount Wuyi can play a very high quality or economic value, but they are easily acclimatized when going out, which inhibits the development of their own personality. At the same time, their strong personality makes them only suitable for making oolong, or even rock tea.
The outside world is both exciting and helpless.
Outer Ghost Cave Strange Species
The most representative of Mount Wuyi’s local characteristics is the wild tea tree population bred in the typical Danya landform, such as the strange species of Waigui Cave. There are also famous clusters that have been selected by predecessors from the native tea tree population and planted in the core mountain area, such as the Zhuke Drunken Begonia that we have shared before.