Si Zhou Green Tea

Si Zhou Green Tea

　　Si Zhou Green Tea is a specialty of Cengong County in Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province. Si Zhou Green Tea boasts a rich and fragrant aroma, a clear and delicious taste, and is considered an exceptionally high-quality tea.

　　Cengong County is located in the low to mid-altitude hilly and mountainous transition zone from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau to western Hunan. The terrain is higher in the northwest and lower in the southeast, featuring a mix of low to mid-altitude mountains, hills, valleys, and basins. It has a subtropical monsoon humid climate, with an average annual temperature of 16.2 degrees Celsius, annual rainfall of 1,143 millimeters, and a frost-free period of 298 days—ideal conditions for agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, sideline production, fisheries, and especially tea cultivation.

　　Si Zhou Green Tea from the Tang Dynasty, although still produced using primitive manual methods, was renowned across the land for its "exquisite flavor." The tea sage Lu Yu of the Tang Dynasty wrote in his classic *The Classic of Tea*: “In Qianzhong [a region that includes Si Zhou], Si Zhou, Fei Zhou, and Bo Zhou... produce teas of extremely fine quality, often highly sought after.” The *Taiping Huanyu Ji* (*Comprehensive Gazetteer of the Taiping Era*) from the Song Dynasty also records that during the Tang Dynasty, “the Yi, Si, and Bo commanderies offered tribute tea,” indicating that Si Zhou tea was once an imperial tribute for many dynasties. Legend has it that Chen Yuanyuan, a famous beauty from the late Ming and early Qing periods, fled to the dense forests of Lion Mountain in ancient Si Zhou (today’s Cengong County) with her young son Wu Qihua. After settling in Damu Cave, the first thing she did was to purchase Si Zhou tea. She had developed a deep fondness for the tea’s fragrance and lingering aftertaste when she tasted it at the Mingxiang Teahouse along the Qinhuai River. A poem praises it: “Since ancient times beauties have savored fine teas, their days lightened by its presence. Si Zhou green tea, graceful and rare, fills the air with fragrance beyond compare.”

　　1. Si Zhou Green Needle Tea

　　This tea is made from meticulously selected single buds. It features a jade-green color, strong and upright buds, a tender chestnut-like aroma, bright green liquor, and a fresh and refreshing taste. When brewed, the buds stand upright with their tips pointing upward and stems hanging down, floating on the water’s surface before slowly sinking, resembling “sinking fish and falling geese.” Eventually, they stand upright at the bottom of the cup like bamboo shoots breaking through the soil or beautiful women gathering together, with leaves and water blending seamlessly into one.

　　2. Si Zhou Spring Ming Tea

　　Produced in early spring, this tea is also known as Spring Bright Tea. Based on the processing techniques used for Maojian (downy tip) tea and applying a de-fuzzing technique to remove the snowy fuzz, this tea sheds its downy appearance. While Maojian tea, with its faintly visible silver fuzz against a green background, symbolizes the stirrings of spring, Spring Ming tea is clean and fuzz-free, representing the arrival of spring. Hence, it is also referred to as the “child of Maojian.” This tea has a tender and fresh aroma, a clean, sweet, and mellow taste, a bright liquor, and tender, vibrant leaves. Savoring it slowly feels like spring water cleansing the soul, leaving you feeling refreshed and pure.

　　3. Si Zhou Sword Tea

　　Made from carefully processed one-bud-one-leaf early unfolding fresh leaves, this tea is flat and sword-shaped, with sharp, resilient peaks and an elegant inner beauty. It boasts a rich and lasting fragrance, a bright liquor, a refreshing and sweet aftertaste, and upright leaves. It symbolizes health, confidence, and a positive, upward spirit.