Wengba Golden Rooster Tea

Wengba Golden Rooster Tea

　　Wengba Golden Rooster Tea

　　Originating in the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, it has a history of nearly 500 years. It is a specialty tea of Wengyuan County, mainly cultivated in Bazhai Town. The tea is named “Wengba Golden Rooster Tea” because its production area is located in Jinchijie Village, Bazhai Town. The tea offers a fragrant and refreshing taste that lingers on the palate. Its key pharmacologically active components include tea polyphenols, caffeine, and lipid polysaccharides.

　　Legendary Origins

　　Legend has it that long ago, “Golden Rooster Mountain” was an unnamed hill covered with tea bushes. Although the tea plants looked beautiful, their taste was harsh and unpleasant. It was said that only one tea plant produced sweet, aromatic, and mellow tea—its brew could rejuvenate the elderly, make children extraordinarily intelligent, and even revive the dead. Yet, no one could find this special plant, so no one experienced its miraculous power. Many years later, one day, a young man suddenly appeared. He claimed to be a descendant of the Huang family, coming specifically to relocate his ancestors’ graves. His family’s burial site lay on this very tea land.

　　When the local villagers heard about it, they all came to watch the excitement. The young man scanned the crowd, then suddenly knelt and bowed before an old man with white hair but a youthful face: “Respected elder, you are the oldest here and know best how the world has changed. Where is the Huang family’s ancestral grave buried? Please tell me.” The elder smiled but did not answer. When the sun set and the onlookers dispersed, the elder asked the young man mysteriously: "Are you the eighth-generation descendant of Huang Youren?"

　　“Indeed I am,” the young man replied, greatly surprised. The elder chuckled: “The day before yesterday at midnight, I had a dream about a sacred tea. In the dream, a man surnamed Huang came to ask me to move a grave. These past two days, I’ve been reflecting deeply on that dream—and just then, you showed up. Tonight, when the Southern Heavenly Gate opens at midnight, we can officially open the grave.” The young man joyfully cupped his hands and bowed deeply, asking the elder to point out which tea plant was the “sacred tea.” The elder replied: “You’ll know when the time comes.”

　　At midnight, a thunderclap sounded from the southeast, followed by a flash of golden light. A single tea plant in the bush emitted a gem-like glow that dazzled the eyes. “The sacred tea!” the young man exclaimed eagerly. He rushed over, pulled out the glowing tea plant, and frantically began digging a pit. A gleaming stone slab appeared. “Don’t move it. Let the slab open on its own. There’s...”—before the elder could finish, the young man lifted the slab. A pair of beautiful, adorable little golden chickens “whooshed” and flew away. The young man chased after them without hesitation. Unfortunately, the chicks were not yet fully mature; they didn’t fly far, flapped their wings a few times, and fell one after the other into the small river and disappeared. Since then, the river has been called “Falling Chicken River,” the tea land has been named “Golden Rooster Dam,” and the highest point of Golden Rooster Dam has been called “Golden Rooster Hilltop.”

　　It is said that ever since then, the tea produced from this natural tea garden has lost its bitterness and gained a uniquely fragrant taste. The leaves turned golden in color, and the infusion became a tender yellow, offering drinkers boundless delight. Henceforth, it became tribute tea, passed down through generations until today.