Alot of why I go to Taiwan may be for the whimsical people and culture. For example, what about that stinky tofu that I can smell from 5 streets away, advertised along with the vegetarian street food? Or the fried Baochong tea leaves with the fried wild ginger flower, one of my absolute favorite must haves each trip. The wild ginger flower is more fragrant than gardenia and osmanthus flowers combined, if that can be possible. Then, once I make it up the mountain on Wenshan, I would spend time with Mr. Lee, our Baochong farmer with whatever activity
he is doing. Today, he's tending his bees. Little racks of bright yellow honey combs in his little beehouses are his pride and joy. But, first, we have to go help the tea harvesters finish the day's work. There are not enough farm hands available anymore, so all the extended family members pitch in. We counted about 4 generations worth, from the 70 year to the 13 year old grandnephew. the problem with Mr. Lee's farm is that his teas are extrem
ely sought after, but he's also extremely honest. He refuses to increase his prices despite the scarcity and hard work tending his mountains by himself. He simply finds other means of supporting his 5 kids through school, such as harvesting honey from his beloved bees. 'Look!' he said to me, tilting his bottle of honey almost vertical, 'good quality honey congeals so much it hardly flows!' Good tea comes from high mountains, so goes the saying, but great tea comes from great people.
Alot of why I go to Taiwan may be for the whimsical people and culture. For example, what about that stinky tofu that I can smell from 5 streets away, advertised along with the vegetarian street food? Or the fried Baochong tea leaves with the fried wild ginger flower, one of my absolute favorite must haves each trip. The wild ginger flower is more fragrant than gardenia and osmanthus flowers combined, if that can be possible. Then, once I make it up the mountain on Wenshan, I would spend time with Mr. Lee, our Baochong farmer with whatever activity 
he is doing. Today, he's tending his bees. Little racks of bright yellow honey combs in his little beehouses are his pride and joy. But, first, we have to go help the tea harvesters finish the day's work. There are not enough farm hands available anymore, so all the extended family members pitch in. We counted about 4 generations worth, from the 70 year to the 13 year old grandnephew. the problem with Mr. Lee's farm is that his teas are extrem
ely sought after, but he's also extremely honest. He refuses to increase his prices despite the scarcity and hard work tending his mountains by himself. He simply finds other means of supporting his 5 kids through school, such as harvesting honey from his beloved bees. 'Look!' he said to me, tilting his bottle of honey almost vertical, 'good quality honey congeals so much it hardly flows!' Good tea comes from high mountains, so goes the saying, but great tea comes from great people.
1 意見:
I love hearing about all these people in China because whenever it gets to the tea sources it always seems like everything is cleaned up. Everyone becomes more honest and honorable. It shows how more of tea can change everything.
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