Our bao zhong green tea is grown in Ping Lin, Shi Ding village.
The tea grows around a drinking water reservoir. For this reason, pesticides are forbidden.
Our tea grows on this island shown across the water. It is located on the slope on the right. This island is only accessible by boat. This tea is only harvested in the spring.
Yang Su enjoys the serenity and beauty of the lake.
These workers are harvesting tea from a farm in the lake area.
The tea is freshly picked by hand. It takes 4 pounds of raw tea to make 1 pound of tea.
Then the tea is stored inside to reduce the moisture content.
The next step is to place the tea outside for 30 minutes when the sky is cloudy. The farmer must judge the weather and determine the appropriate time to do this. It should not be sunny or rainy.
The circular trays contain our hand-picked tea. The leaves are full and fragrant. The tea on the rectangular mat in this picture is another producer's tea which has been harvested by machine. The machine harvested leaves are cut in pieces, and less fragrant.
Yang Su enjoys the harvest.
Mr. Lin, the owner of the tea farm. He and his wife pick all the tea themselves.
Yang Su learns how the bao zhong tea is picked.
The tea must be properly picked to ensure the highest quality aroma and taste.
Once the tea has been picked, the processing continues nonstop until it is finished. This can take 24 hours.
Mr. Lin holds a basket representing the day's harvest. The tea in this basket weighs about 15 kilograms (33lbs.)
During the spring harvest his six children come back every weekend to help separate the stems from the leaves.
The harvest season is also a family gathering.
After the stems have been removed the tea is ready.
Teatime starts. Mr. Lin's son shows us that this is the freshest tea you can enjoy.
Yang Su's turn to brew the tea.
Bao zhong green tea is brewing.
This sign shows that Mr. Lin's bao zhong tea won first place in a competition in 2007.
We have spent a long time talking. Now it is time to join the family for a delicious lunch.
My friend Carrie took these pictures. We had fun recording this memorable trip.
