Shanwei Salty Tea

Shanwei Salty Tea

　　Salty tea, popular in Shanwei City, Jieyang City, and parts of Guangxi and western Hunan, was once a grand yet economical way to receive guests. Whenever visitors arrived, the hospitable hostess would get busy: first, she would put tea leaves into a ya bowl (a specially made pottery with serrated inner walls), moisten them, then use a pestle made of pomegranate or lychee wood—about three feet long—to stir and crush the leaves. Next, she would add roasted peanuts, sesame seeds, mint leaves, and other ingredients one by one into the ya bowl, pounding them into a paste-like consistency, then add an appropriate amount of salt and pour in boiling water to complete the brew, hence also called leicha (pounded tea).

　　Haifeng and Lufeng Salty Tea Culture

　　Overview

　　Haifeng and Lufeng salty tea is sweet, fragrant, and mellow, combining the aroma of tea leaves, the richness of mint, as well as the crunchiness of fried rice, the crispness of peanuts, and the fragrance of sesame. It is believed to strengthen the spleen and stomach, and promote longevity. The custom of eating salty tea has been passed down through generations and has a long history. The Qing Dynasty’s Ru Dunru wrote in “Yue Yan Shi”: “In the regions of Jiang and Guang, there is leicha, a remnant method of boiling tea with Qiang salt, retaining an ancient charm.” During the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty, Huang Hanzong, a successful candidate in the imperial examinations from Haifeng, also wrote a poem: “In Haifeng, the custom favors salty tea, ya bowls held up for the whole family. Where can you see the depth of human feelings? Just watch how much sesame she puts in.” This depicts the prevalence and social nuances of salty tea drinking in Haifeng and Lufeng during the Qing Dynasty.

　　Tea Customs in Haifeng and Lufeng

　　Today, people in Haifeng and Lufeng still maintain this ancient tradition. In addition to having salty tea at home as a substitute for breakfast or lunch, on occasions such as weddings, birthday celebrations, births, new house constructions, returns from afar, recovery from illness, or survival of dangers, it is customary to invite neighbors, relatives, friends, and colleagues to a grand “salty tea banquet.” For instance, when a man’s family proposes marriage, they host a “betrothal tea,” and the woman’s family reciprocates with a “wedding engagement tea.” When a patient is discharged from the hospital, they host a “good fortune tea” to thank visitors. At the same time, it serves as a way to strengthen bonds among neighbors and colleagues. As a folk rhyme goes: “Women in Haifeng love salty tea, the pestles in ya bowls pound noisily, respect for elders and love for children can be seen here, not in whether you add more or less fried rice.”

　　Origins of Tea Culture

　　China produces tea and has developed it into a tea ceremony. Tea can cure ailments and was historically known as “auspicious grass,” used as herbal medicine. Shennong said: “Bitter tea, consumed over time, benefits the mind.” Chen Cangqi of the Tang Dynasty said: “It quenches thirst and prevents plagues; how precious tea is—it is the medicine for all illnesses.” Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty said: “Drinking tea helps improve thinking, reduces sleep, lightens the body, and improves eyesight.” The discussions and evaluations of tea by these medical experts throughout history all highlight the role and benefits of tea for human health.

　　By the Song Dynasty, influenced by Emperor Huizong’s love for tea, Chinese scholars began the practice of “dou cha” or “tea competitions,” also known as “ming zhan.” “Dou cha” involved competing over the quality of tea and evaluating its superiority or inferiority. In “ming zhan,” the winning tea was designated as “tribute tea.” Fan Zhongyan’s “Dou Cha Ge” described the grand occasion of the time: “Tea from Beiyuan is offered to the Son of Heaven, while the heroes under the trees first compete over beauty.”

　　Pounding Salty Tea

　　On June 22, 1988, Reference News translated a piece from Japan News titled “Japan’s Chinese Tea Salon—Iwate Tea House,” which read: “Another wave of enthusiasm for Chinese tea: this time, not motivated by drinking oolong tea for weight loss or pu’er tea for fat reduction, but purely for entertainment or culture—that is, to enjoy the pleasure of drinking tea.” Japan had adopted China’s Classic of Tea as early as the Tang Dynasty, gradually transforming and developing it into a unique Japanese tea ceremony. This is undoubtedly one of their strengths.

　　Tea Ceremony, the most popular in Guangdong can be said to be the “morning tea” in Guangzhou (including Hong Kong and Macau) and the “gongfu tea” in Chaoshan. Guangzhou has long been a commercially developed port city, where merchants and workers have a fast-paced life. To catch up with work, they would get up early to eat something and drink tea at street-side congee stalls or tea stands to fill their stomachs and ward off sleepiness. Astute businesspeople spotted this opportunity and gradually set up teahouses, building grand “tea residences” with painted beams, carved pillars, and dazzling southern-style decorations. As a result, even residents took to the habit of drinking morning tea. Elderly people take a morning walk, buy a newspaper, and then go to the teahouse to “taste the world.” Housewives are also accustomed to getting up early, taking a basket to the park for morning exercises, and then heading to the teahouse for a “one pot two pieces” meal before going to the market to buy fish and vegetables.

　　Drinking Morning Tea

　　In the Haifeng and Lufeng region, drinking morning tea first became popular in Shanwei; as a trading port to Guangzhou and Hong Kong, Shanwei was influenced by the lifestyle habits of merchants and travelers, naturally adopting the practice of morning tea. However, initially, it wasn’t as early as in Guangzhou or Hong Kong, typically opening around 9 a.m. (until noon), called “morning tea and late breakfast.” The “zou lou” (waiters calling out) at old teahouses like Deyun, Letian, Yunquan, Youdezhan, and Zhenxiang still imitated those in Guangzhou and Hong Kong by using Cantonese (“baihua”) to call out buns and dim sum. The emergence of teahouses in Haicheng and Lucheng came later than in Shanwei, and they only served midday and evening tea, not morning tea. Morning tea only became popular nearly 20 years after the reform and opening-up.

　　Drinking Gongfu Tea

　　As for “gongfu tea,” only literati and scholars had the leisure to enjoy it, and even today, it is far less popular or widespread compared to the Chaoshan region. In Haifeng and Lufeng, only “salty tea” is rare and unique, combining with local customs and traditions to form a distinctive tea culture activity.

　　Drinking Salty Tea

　　The making of Haifeng and Lufeng salty tea—pounding salty tea—involves two tools: a tea pestle and a ya bowl. The tea pestle is made of hard materials such as branches from a latkan tree; the ya bowl is a wide-mouthed pottery that is rough inside (with ridges) and smooth outside. When making the tea, tea leaves (or leftover tea leaves if in a hurry) are placed into the ya bowl, slightly moistened, and then pounded into a paste-like consistency with the pestle, a bit of salt is added, and boiling water is poured in to finish—very simple; but the rituals of “drinking salty tea” are quite varied.

　　Housewives make the salty tea in the morning, store it in a “grass wen” (woven straw container), cover it to keep it warm, and offer it to family members anytime to quench their thirst, called “ao cha” or “ya bowl tea.” If served in a bowl, sprinkled with roasted sesame or fried rice (puffed rice) or roasted peanuts, it becomes “sesame (sesame) tea,” “fried rice tea,” or “peanut (groundnut) tea.” If cooked rice or beans are added, it is called “rice tea,” mainly popular in Hakka mountainous areas.

　　There are two types of sesame tea: one is roasted; the other is made by pounding raw sesame mixed with tea leaves in the ya bowl. Fried rice tea also comes in several varieties: one uses premium aromatic rice that is steamed, dried, and fried; another uses red rice that is boiled, dried, shelled, and pounded white—husked and fried, called “fried millet.” These are usually prepared in advance after the harvest season by most households (especially farming families); another type is made by temporarily soaking rice in salted water, drying it, and then frying and eating it immediately, called “fried burnt rice” or “fried rice bits,” a last-resort way to indulge in “tea cravings” while conserving staple food. In the Lufeng area, people also like to add herbs when pounding salty tea, but this is rare in Haifeng, with only the addition of “kucixin” (a plant growing on hillsides and in ditches), called “kucixin tea.”

　　In Haifeng and Lufeng, salty tea is always prepared by women, with men not participating in the process but still enjoying the drink. Usually, salty tea is consumed twice a day, around 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. A folk poem reads: “By the hour of Chen, the meal and tea are already done, the sound of ya bowls pounding echoes through several homes; where can you see the depth of human feelings? Just look at how much sesame she adds.” People commonly refer to this time as “tea drinking time,” often used as a figurative term for scheduling meetups with friends and family. Drinking salty tea is regarded by women as a gesture of hospitality; when guests arrive, they are immediately served one, two, three, or four bowls of salty tea... urged with gestures, almost as if in a friendly scuffle, insistently encouraging you to eat your fill—the more you eat, the happier the host is.