Basic Introduction to Zhenghe White Tea
Zhenghe Dabai Tea, also known as “Zhengda.” This is a clonal tea plant variety. It is a small semi-arbor type with large leaves and is a late-season cultivar. Naturally triploid. Recognized as a national cultivar by the National Tea Plant Cultivar Approval Committee in 1984, it is numbered “Huachaya 5 (GSCT 5).” Originating from Tieshan Town, Zhenghe County, Fujian Province, it has been cultivated for over 100 years. It is mainly distributed in Jianyang, Chong'an, Zhouning, Fuan, and other places in Fujian Province. After the 1960s, provinces such as Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hunan, Sichuan, Guangdong, and others introduced limited cultivation.
Zhenghe Dabai Tea, also known as “Zhengda.” This is a clonal tea plant variety. A small semi-arbor type with large leaves and a late-season cultivar. Naturally triploid. The plant is tall and erect with sparse branching. The leaves are dark green with a glossy surface, elliptical in shape, and the leaf surface is convex with relatively thick texture. The buds and leaves are robust with an abundance of downy hairs; the weight of one hundred three-leaf buds is 123.0 grams. The flower diameter is 4.3 to 6.2 centimeters, with six to eight petals, a hairy pistil, and a trifurcate style. The plant flowers but does not produce seeds. It has strong cold resistance. In spring tea, the content of tea polyphenols in the one-bud-two-leaves stage is 24.9%, amino acids 2.4%, caffeine 4.0%, and total catechins 14.9%. It is suitable for producing black tea and white tea with high-quality products. Suitable for promotion in black tea areas and white tea areas south of the Yangtze River.
Nutritional Value
In addition to its effects of relieving summer heat, reducing fever, clearing fire, quenching thirst, and moistening the throat, it also has benefits of lowering blood pressure, detoxifying, stopping diarrhea, antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-radiation, and anticancer properties. It is renowned both at home and abroad, enjoying a high reputation within the industry.
History and Folklore
As an important main production area of Chinese white tea, Zhenghe County has a deep historical connection with white tea that can be traced back to the late Tang and early Song dynasties. By the Song Dynasty, Zhenghe had become a significant production area for Beiyuan tribute teas. The silver needle tea produced there was highly esteemed and praised by scholars as “the finest spirit buds of Beiyuan.” During the Zhenghe era of Emperor Huizong's reign (1115), the county named Guandui was granted the imperial year name due to its tribute of silver needle tea, thus changing its name from Guandui to Zhenghe.
In the Ming Dynasty, the production of Zhenghe white tea had reached a considerable scale. By the Qing Dynasty, it entered its prime. In the 55th year of the Qianlong era (1790), the county magistrate Jiang Zhounan of Zhenghe wrote a poem titled “Praising Tea,” detailing the situation: “Fine tea bushes cover the mountainsides, sprouting tender shoots in the drizzle, clustering around sturdy branches. Who would believe that the roots of the fragrant plants withered in Beiyuan? Another variety thrives in Donghe. The processing in early spring is somewhat crude, yet a great deal is sold in the local market. Sold in shops below Wuyi Mountain, how lamentable that talents of Chu serve Jin!” (Note: Zhenghe is also known as Donghe). During the early Qing Dynasty, the production of tea in Zhenghe County was so prosperous that even the famous Beiyuan production area paled in comparison. With the arrival of the tea season, all available labor was hired, and it may have been that there were no tea houses or tea shops set up in the mountainous regions of Zhenghe County. Instead, basket after basket of tea was transported to the city of Wuyi for sale, causing the county magistrate to lament the loss of famous tea.
Until the Xianfeng period of the Qing dynasty did Zhenghe have tea processing facilities. According to “A General History of Tea,” “During the Xianfeng period, there were over one hundred tea factories in Zhenghe, Fujian, employing thousands of workers; during the Tongzhi period, there were dozens of private tea factories, exporting tens of thousands of boxes of tea.” Particularly in the fifth year of the Guangxu era (1879), the discovery of Zhenghe Dabai Tea in Tieshan Village (some say discovered during the Xianfeng period) and its extensive propagation significantly advanced the development of the tea. The industrious and intelligent people of Zhenghe used Zhenghe Dabai Tea as raw material to produce various famous teas, greatly improving their quality.
Chen Yuan's monograph “Tea in Zhenghe, Fujian” (1943) states: “The varieties of tea in Zhenghe are numerous, the most notable being gongfu tea and silver needles. The former is exported to Russia and the United States, while the latter is exported to Germany. Next comes Baimaohou and lotus heart, which are sold in Annan (Vietnam) and Shantou. The third is Bai Mudan, sold in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, and Xiaozhong, sold in the United States, with annual sales totaling millions of dollars, truly becoming the lifeline of Zhenghe's economy.” There is a popular saying among the people: “When marrying off a daughter, don't look for an official's family; just ask about their tea and silver needles.”
New China's establishment brought about the recovery of the national economy and the state's support for tea production, leading to the development of tea production in Zhenghe County and profound changes in the tea-producing areas.
The two accounts regarding the origin of Zhenghe White Tea in the local area:
One account says that in 1879 (the fifth year of the Guangxu era of the Qing dynasty), a large white tea tree was found in the tea garden of a villager named Wei Chunsheng in Tieshan Village. This tree only bloomed but did not produce seeds. Later, when a mud wall collapsed, burying the tea tree, the following year several new tea saplings sprouted from it. After this, villagers began using artificial layering to propagate tea saplings, allowing the large white tea to develop.
The other account is that during the Xianfeng period of the Qing dynasty, a geomancer from Tieshan Village discovered a large white tea on Gao Lingtou Mountain and transplanted it home for cultivation. Because the branches were buried deeply in the soil, new tea saplings sprouted, and later, they propagated the large white tea using the layering method.
Manufacturing Method
The primary process in the initial manufacturing of white tea is withering. The purpose of withering white tea appears to be primarily to remove moisture, but in reality, it triggers a series of spontaneous biochemical changes. Initially, these changes promote certain processes, then inhibit them, and finally have a drying effect. Moisture evaporation starts rapidly and then gradually slows down until the tea is completely dried. Chemical changes start slowly, accelerate, and then slow down again, essentially stopping once the tea is sufficiently dry.
The withering process in white tea production can be considered the beginning of fermentation. Therefore, some categorize white tea as a slightly fermented tea. During withering, the evaporation of moisture in the fresh leaves causes changes in tannins, a decline in cell vitality, and an increase in oxidase activity. The balance between synthesis and decomposition of organic compounds within the leaves is disrupted, and the fresh leaves begin to ferment under intense respiration. The oxidation of tannin complexes transforms the original bitter and astringent taste and grassy scent of the tea leaves, making the color, aroma, and flavor more desirable.
However, the fermentation in white tea should not progress like in black tea but must be limited to a certain extent to maintain the unique style of white tea. For example, the soup color required for white tea, explained from a biochemical perspective, could result from the yellow color formed by the oxidation of catechins in tea tannin complexes. If the activity of these complexes can be stopped at the right time, a light yellow or orange-yellow tea soup can