Anxi county and its famous oolong tea is facing serious bad rap around China because of pesticides, fertilizers and other reasons. Here are a few thoughts on the rise and fall of Tieguanyin with some light at the end of the tunnel.
Without a shadow of a doubt I can say my first love in this story of Chinese teas from Fujian province is definitely raw Tieguanyin (Tiěguānyīn, 铁观音, “Iron Boddhisatva of Mercy”) from Anxi county. This marvellous oolong tea is brought to real life by using the traditional gaiwan plus gongfu combination.
Anxi being only a few hours drive away from Xiamen where I live, one would be offered Tieguanyin everywhere, at any given opportunity if enjoying local hospitality. Everything about it was appealing: the smell is the paramount of its presence – it is larger than life, and often well surpasses the actual flavour. The colour varies in any shade of light green to heavy, musky yellow (at which point one can suspect it being oversteeped, and might be hit rather hard with some tart notes that should not be there, by the way). When the tea leaves are still dry, they should look like pretty, even sized, green pearls that open into about 2,5–5cm leaves through the brewing. It can have a long lingering aftertaste, depending on your price range, but can also be surprisingly curt in some cases considering how promising the smell has been… a wonderful first acquaintance to make in the vast tea family. Most people will definitely enjoy it when first served it!
Hence, the fall of grace Tieguanyin has experienced and even my own observations while visiting Anxi, cause me personally great concern. The thing is, for some years now, not as many people drink raw Tieguanyin anymore, only exception being Anxi folks themselves (they can’t imagine a day without their own precious local dew). Not to mention, at the Xiamen Tea Expo October 2018 it was nowhere to be seen. Only ever mentioned when producers of other areas scoffed at the thought of it. All in all very sad.
The whole phenomenon was quite accumulative. Whenever serving or being served Tieguanyin, it was almost like a compulsory part of the table conversation “musn’t drink too much of this, not good for you, harms the stomach it does”. To the point one felt obligated to ask if everybody in the table party would even drink it, if made. Also let the record show, these were local Fujian people, not some random far away folks with other shady agendas. And when asked why, the answer was always pretty much the same: pesticides. I have even personally come across tea dealers whom refuse to sell the spring harvest, because of the level of pesticides. One even stating she was not able to keep on exporting raw Tieguanyin because of the inconsistent levels of chemicals used in production.
But there is more at play – it was already many many years ago that Old Zhang from the antique shop made the beautiful remark about the farmers – 他们忘记山顶要戴帽子 – forgetting the mountains must wear hats. The meaning being, if you cut down all the other growth all the way to the top, thus maximising your area of growth, you at the same time running the risk of completely depleting your soil. Rain water will start washing it all away, now that there are no other plants with their roots to hold it down, and your soil will inevitably with time be less and less rich with no other sources of renewal ie. leaves etc from other plants turning in to new soil. The unfortunate solution for meeting the ever growing demand, has been fertilisers. What a cocktail!
As if all of this was not enough, there is also the peculiar little addition of location. Granted what is about to follow does not apply to all orchards and to all farmers, but the unfortunate fact is it applies to some and thus cannot be ignored. You see, during harvest season the whole of Anxi is busting at the seams with life – everybody is busy. The window to get the harvest in is limited. There is just so much to do. One of the steps is, to have the freshly cut leaves spread out in the sun for a moment, just to let them wilt a tad and have some of the water evaporate, before proceeding with the rest of the process. Where does one find a sunny, large enough flat area on the hill sides of Anxi to do this? The answer is sadly, on the road. The cars will obediently go around the leaves – all being in mutual understanding that tea comes first – but exhaust fumes won’t . Not to mention, the mountains of Anxi look like one big cluster of unending tea bushes. The farmers have literally turned every corner they can into growing tea. Hence, some of the bushes are right by the roads, exposed to the various degrees of traffic. Not to mention, the bushes in Anxi are kept really low, just around knee height. So if there is any exposure to exhaust fumes, it is sure to land on the leaves to be harvested next.
As I stated, not all of this applies to all Tieguayin. My dear friend from Anxi, her maternal uncle grows tea, and his fields are located away from the main roads, way up away from any other traffic than their own. However, and this is the case with many, he too has a plot reserved where he grows tea for his personal use only. He said it is not possible not to use at least some pesticides – otherwise the bugs would completely overrun the whole tender little bud, with nothing left to make tea from – but the tea grown for personal use by a rule of thumb has way less chemicals applied to it.
One obviously hears often mentioned: the reason why you wash the tea leaves with hot water before making your actual beverage, is precisely the chemicals. You wash them away. Let’s be really honest here – is that even possible? Rinsing the surface of a produce that has both internally and externally infused a plethora of chemicals over a period of time, and then been cooked in an oven for some time, can hardly result in a chemical free drink. Sounds like wishful thinking. While one definitely recommends doing so, one would not dare claim rinsing the leaves has such a potent ability.
This is where one of the many problems facing the consumer starts: anybody accustomed to the packaging of Chinese oolong tea will know, the one thing it excels in is lack of information. The package will not state which harvest it is (spring, summer, autumn being the options), it makes no mention of year, nor specific location of growth (Anxi being quite a considerable area of mountainous nature). Handy of course for the shop keepers – whom by the way, are usually the ones to do the packaging – they can sell you whatever they so choose. Admittedly, there are some properties that distinguish one harvest from the other and the change in flavour over time etc etc., but still – unless you know the farmers personally and/or have a very trustworthy shopkeeper who has personally been to the plantation (not all are so directly connected to their source, especially chain stores who need bigger volumes, tend to source from many different places and blend) one will always have a hard time knowing what your Tieguanyin actually is.
Enough of this – I am getting depressed just writing this – I would like to present you with the good news dear readers! A change is brewing. How long will it take to simmer, we need to wait and see. It seems to be since 2016 Anxi county has received – let’s put it this way – some special attention: the use of fertilisers and pesticides has been restricted heavy handedly. The use of certain disruption machinery (mainly to do with pressing the leaves to start oxidation process) has been banned. Rumours of conviscating the machines have been circulating also. What this mounts up to, is way less produce, but an uncompromised flavour. Forcing the more hand-made authenticity back into the process, will leave everybody inevitably with less tea, but will hopefully one day restore the reputation of Tieguanyin to its past glory, if not even beyond it. We wait and see with great anticipation.
I still drink, and enjoy, my occasional cup of fresh raw Tieguanyin. I love tasting the flavours of the most recent harvest. It is born of a conscientuous choice; I mean come on, who doesn’t have a soft spot for one’s first love?
