One of the joys of travel in China is the authentic, fragrance-rich Chinese tea and profound Chinese tea culture & history. By enjoying a cup of tea, you have a glance of the haunting Chinese tea culture. In southeast China's Fujian Province, a pretty mountainous country named Anxi produces Tie Guan Yin – a superior variety of oolong tea in China.
Anxi is the birthplace of Tie Guan Yin. Loacal Chinese tea farmers here began to plant this special tea in 1725 during Qing Dynasty. After that, Anxi ushered in its heyday of tea production. The “Inner Anxi” is the main producing area of tieguanyin tea, with the exceptional advantage of warm climate (the mean annual temperature is 15-18 degrees centigrade), abundant rainfall (the annual rainfall is 1700 – 1900 mm), a large area of acid red soil, and being locked with continuous hills.
Why is called Tie Guan Yin?
Tie Guan Yin is not only a name for the tea but also for the tree. The tree is not plump, but a bit week, with thick and dark green leaves. The edge of each leave is a little folded resembling the folded palm of bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (known in Chinese as Guan Yin). The dark green color and its heaviness make people to think of iron (tie). While the “posture” suggests guan yin, hence the name Tie Guan Yin. Tie Guan Yin tree is not very productive, so the tea turns to be more valuable and expensive.
The semi-fermented Tie Guan Yin Chinese tea has a unique faint scent also reflecting the romantic charm of Kwan-yin. The other most-used names include Ti Kuan Yin, Ti Kwan Yin, Iron Goddess of Mercy, Iron Goddess Oolong, and Tea of the Iron Bodhisattva.
The picking time of Tie Guan Yin tea
There are four picking seasons throughout the year, according to the differences in climate, altitude and fertilization conditions. Therefore, local tea farmers gain the spring Tie Guan Yin, summer Tie Guan Yin, autumn Tie Guan Yin and winter Tie Guan Yin. Among them, the spring tea is the best in quality, and known as one of the best new China tea.
Health benefits of Tie Guan Yin Tea
Tie Guan Yin is one of the top ten teas in China, and enjoys a high reputation worldwide for both superior taste and many additional health benefits. It contains a wealth of healthy substances including tea polyphenol, alkaloid, vitamin, protein, pectin, amino acid, and fragrant oil, etc.
In addition to the normal healthcare function like any other tea, Tie Guan Yin can also slow down aging, help lose weight, strengthen the immune system, prevent cancer, etc, makin it a Chinese slim tea and Chinese detox tea. Since it is good for health and beauty, Tie guan yin tea has been introduced to Japan, Australia, Britain, United States and many other countries.
The correct way to brew a perfect cup of Tie Guan Yin Chinese Tea
1. Prepare the clean Chinese teapot.
2. Fill the teapot 1/5 full of tea.
3. Pour boiling water into the teapot. The first brew is used only for warming up the Chinese teacup.
4. For the second brew, wait for the boiling water to drop down to 90-95℃ (194-203℉) centigrade, then pour it into the teapot in a high and slow way.
5. Wait 25 to 30 seconds then pour tea water into the tea pitcher.
6. Pour the tea from the tea pitcher into smelling cup and wait for a couple of seconds.
7. Pour the tea water into the drinking cup and enjoy the flavor of tea from empty smelling cup.
8. Finally enjoy the color, aroma, taste and essence of the Tie Guan Yin tea.
