Qingshan Biluochun

Qingshan Biluochun

　　Qingshan Biluochun

　　Qingshan Biluochun, a renowned local tea from Gaochun, is produced in the picturesque Qingshan hills of eastern Gaochun. This area boasts fertile soil, charming scenery, and beautiful forests and valleys. Legend has it that during his southern tour, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty noticed the tea’s jade-like green color, its curly, spiral shape, and the fact that it was harvested in spring, and thus bestowed upon it the name “Biluochun.”

　　Biluochun is made from the young shoots and the first leaf — just one bud and one leaf — of the tea plant. The leaves are about 1.5 centimeters long, and the tender undersides are densely covered with fine hairs, also called white down. The more down there is, the younger and higher quality the tea leaves. The characteristics of high-quality Biluochun include: a lush green color, tightly rolled and slender curled appearance with abundant white down; a rich aroma, mellow flavor, refreshing taste, and a sweet aftertaste. When brewed, the tea liquor is clear and emerald green, with bright, tender green leaves at the bottom. Biluochun tea contains caffeine, theophylline, various vitamins, and trace elements. It is known to refresh the mind, strengthen the spleen, calm the spirit, improve vision, and soothe the throat. Drinking it can invigorate the spirit and help relieve fatigue.

　　Making Biluochun is both a labor-intensive and meticulous task as well as a highly skilled traditional craft. To produce one jin (500 grams) of dried Biluochun tea, 55,000 to 60,000 young buds must be picked. The process involves careful selection, fixation (kill-green), rolling, and twisting into small rolls, with picking needing to be timely and precise, and the crafting process being very particular. On spring mornings, in tea fields across the hills, tea-picking girls work with lively energy, deftly and swiftly plucking tender leaves from the tea bushes — a moving sight. By night, mountain villages glow with lights as everyone busily gets to work. Tea roasters pour the selected fresh leaves into sizzling hot woks, spreading their fingers apart and constantly stirring the leaves. When the leaf buds turn deep green and soften, they maintain a moderate heat in the wok and begin the rolling process, allowing moisture in the leaves to evaporate and the leaf strands to tighten and curl into spirals. Then, while gradually reducing the temperature, they continue to twist and roll the leaves. When the tea leaves can loosen on their own when squeezed and then released, a pot of premium-quality Biluochun is complete.