Related tea: Anji Baicha (安吉白茶)

I have been wanting to travel to Anji ever since Anji Baicha became my tea of choice while I am at work. Anji is famous for being where ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ was filmed and is only a 3-hour drive from Shanghai.

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Anji is unfortunately a dirty, dust-covered town. As an industrial center for bamboo it appears furniture manufacturing is the major local industry. The bamboo tourist parks are located 10-15 km to the SW of the city. The Anji China Big Sea of Bamboo (安吉中国大竹海) is of great natural beauty and worth the extra drive from the city (keep driving beyond the Bamboo Expo Garden and follow the brown tourism traffic signs).

The Anji Bamboo Expo Garden (安吉竹子博览园) is closer to the city and has pandas, but can be a little disappointing if you do not like heavily-visited Chinese tourist destinations or are not a kid who likes amusement rides.

The real find for this China Tea Trail was the village of Xilongxian (西龙县) located just to the NE of Anji town proper. Xilongxian is the base for Anji White Tea (安吉白茶基地).

Within the village there is a White Tea Street (白茶街) where you can find a number of tea retailers and wholesales.

The street was pretty abandoned when we visited, but October is almost the end of green tea season. There are a number of concrete pillars with ‘tea’ carved into them in various languages.

Talking to a number of the wholesale vendors it seemed almost all of them also had a retail presence in Shanghai’s Tianshan Tea City  (天山茶城) near Zhongshan Park.

Of course, we picked up some tea for gifts.

The highlight of the trip was a drive along a quiet country road just south of Xilongxian (the road south of Xilong Central School).

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Rolling hills, tea plantations and no tourists made this a relaxing and beautiful spot.

Related Tea: Muzha Tieguanyin (木栅铁观音)

Muzha is one of the most convenient tea tourism day trips I have come across. Located just outside of the city of Taipei, it is easily reachable by MRT, by first going to the Taipei Zoo station, then transferring to a very scenic and inexpensive 4km gondola ride to the top of the mountains at Maokong Station (猫空战). From the center of the city, the trip can be done in less than an hour.

The gondola up the mountain

A view of Taipei city from the gondola with Taipei 101 poking above the surrounding hills

Maokong Station at the top of the gondola route

A map of the walking paths near Maokong Station

The route to the left when exiting Maokong Station. The arrow to the Tea Promotion Center (茶推广中心) caught my attention.

The entrance to the Tea Promotion Center

A highlight of the trip – drinking tea and conversation with local Tea Master Chen  (陈茶师)

I believe it is only a matter of time that Tea Tourism follows in the footsteps of Wine Tourism. Tea Master Chen shared with me his plans to build a small boutique hotel in the surrounding mountains where guests would be able to partake in the entire process of picking, manufacturing and then drinking tea themselves. He is thinking of charging $150 / night. The project is not yet complete, but contact him directly below to inquire about the current status of his project.

Of course, I had to purchase some of Tea Master Chen’s Spring Tieguanyin (春天铁观音). Tea with a memory/narrative also seems to taste better.

One of the many tea houses dotting the mountain trail

One of Tea Master Chen’s demonstration tea fields just up the hill from the Maokong Station.

One last view of Taipei before heading back down to the city. Supposedly, the city lights are amazing to experience at night.

Related tea: Big Red Robe (大红袍)

We took a late night, one-hour flight from Shanghai to Wuyishan. We stayed at the Yeohwa Resort which was about 15 minutes from the airport, reasonably priced and overall very good.

The scenic area around Wuyishan

One of the many waterfalls around the area. Nice to see crystal clear water in China!

The most popular tourist activity is probably taking a 1.5 hr ride on a bamboo raft through the Nine Bend River.

Some spectacular sheer cliff faces

It is not hard to see how this is the home of cliff teas

To finish off a first day of sightseeing a trip to the ancient town of Xiamei (下梅) which used to be an important tea trading port exporting Chinese tea to Europe.

Day 2 – a trip to a local tea market

Some dark Dahongpao tea (selling at 300RMB per 500g)

One of the other Si Da Ming Cong (四大名樅, literally: The Four Great Bushes) - Tiě Luóhàn (鉄羅漢) (selling at 700RMB per 500g)

With a late flight back to Shanghai we decided to visit the Dahongpao scenic area at 3pm after the hottest part of the day. We were advised that the admission fee to the park was 210RMB per person. Our driver suggested we find a local guide who could help us avoid these fees and also lead us through a more private, secluded route (to find a similar guide visit the tourist office just before you cross the one bridge in town).

The route was idyllic

With amazing contrast

And amazing colors

Nearing the Dahongpao cliff face

The Dahongpao cliff face with the six remaining first-generation plants.

All the other tea plants are considered second-generation.

The entrance on the way out

We took the bullet train from Shanghai to Hangzhou and then had a family friend pick us up, take us for lunch in the Hangzhou village of Meijiawu and then drive us to Longjing. We stayed at the boutique hotel, Landison Longjing Resort, which is probably the closest hotel to Longjing Village.

A plantation at Meijiawu

Workers harvesting the tea

Tea plant

The resort

The view from the resort

A ten-minute walk from the Landison are the hills of Longjing village proper

The most famous peak in Longjing village -  Lion Peak Mountain (狮峰)

A residence in Longjing village

A tea plant

Also a must see for any Chinese tea enthusiast – the nearby China Tea Museum (the website could really use some work).

We drove two hours west of Shanghai to Dongshan, which is just south-west of Suzhou. We stayed at the Dongshan Hotel.

Just south of the hotel there are three scenic spots for those interested in Biluochen green tea. First, there is a plantation.

The sign at the bottom-left reads “flower is more beautiful on tree than in hand”

A teahouse along the plantation trail

It is possible to drive around the entire Dongshan mountain. The entire route is about 40km. To the south of the mountain they have seafood farms along Taihu Lake that stretch as far as the eye can see. To the west of the mountain there are fabulous mansions that overlook the lake. Also to the south of the mountain is a market that sells tea-related items. Driving this loop is a good way to get a feel for Dongshan as a whole.

The third point of interest for those interested in tea is the Jiangnan Tea Culture Museum

The tea-growing regions of China. Notice how most of them are south of the Yangtze river. A common tale heard in tea villages is that Northerners drink alchohol, Southerners drink tea.

茶, or cha, the character for tea

Somewhat creepy exhibit

Some design inspiration

A Biluochun teapot

We drove 4 hours from Shanghai to Tianmu Lake, near Liyang. We stayed at the Liyang Garden Hotel.

While the accommodations were fine, if I was to go again I would stay at the hot spring hotel near Nanshan (just outside of Liyang). The “Sea of Bamboo” (竹海 in Nanshan is absolutely beautiful and great for hiking.

Bamboo

A pavilion

A tea house along the hiking trail

The tram route

More bamboo from the tram on the way down

Back along Tianmu Lake, a small island devoted to Tianmu Lake white tea

Tea leaves

On the way back to Shanghai, we drove along the west side of Taihu going through the small, dusty town of Yixing. Yixing is famous for its clay tea pots. To the south of the town there is a very large market where all kinds of tea paraphernalia can be purchased.

I flew from Shanghai to Tunxi, then took a cab to my hotel in the mountains.

Hiking on Day 1

Huangshan is famous for its rock formations

Unfortunately for me the weather was terrible, yet there were still substantial crowds.

Back off the mountain I picked up some Maofeng and Taiping Houkui tea.

Day 2: I traveled to the nearby village of Shexian and found a local tea museum sponsored by the most famous Huangshan Maofeng brand “Xie Zhengan”. Shexian was an important transit point for the tea trade. The only way I found this museum was by asking a cab driver. None of the travel websites or books I referenced had any mention of it.

The story of Xie Zhengan

Some Maofeng that I bought

A tea plant

The various plantations around Huangshan

Both Maofeng and Liuan Guapian are available on Huangshan. Supposedly, you can take a boat trip to a secluded island to the north of Huangshan where they grow Taiping Houkui. Qimen, of Qimen Hongcha fame, is just to the southwest of Tunxi.