“Traditional Chinese tea processing techniques and associated customs” have made a splash in the industry and academia since being listed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. In the past month, numerous reports have appeared in the media, and there have also been many posts and videos in new media. As China's southernmost tea-producing area and the only tropical island tea region, Hainan possesses a unique native tea variety – the Hainan Large-leaf tea. With the boost from its ‘World Heritage' status, Hainan has every chance to reach the pinnacle of its tea products.
Experts believe that for a good cup of tea, the processing technique is as important as the tea leaves themselves. Let us first review the development of tea processing in Hainan.
Many Li tea farmers in Shuiman Town, Wuzhishan City still insist on handcrafting tea. (Photo by Li Tianping)
From historical records, we can see that tea activities began in Hainan as early as the Song Dynasty. Su Dongpo's poem line “After burning the tea spear, there is some left” could very well describe the tender shoots of wild tea trees in Hainan. However, Hainan's tea processing technology was relatively backward historically. Records show that tea processing skills were introduced to Hainan Island during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, about 100 years ago. Hainan's tea processing technology only became standardized and scaled up, aligning with the rest of the country after the island's liberation in 1950.
Processing Technology Brought by Late Qing Dynasty Tea Merchants
In 1882, American missionary Charles Gutzlaff visited Hainan Island and saw wild tea trees in Fumen Village, Xishui Township, Baisha Li Autonomous County. He learned that the local Li people would dry the fresh leaves and either drink them or sell them at the market. Later, he wrote about his observations in his book “Travels in the Interior of South China.”
From Charles Gutzlaff's description, we can infer that 140 years ago, the Li people in Baisha did not even know basic processing steps such as spreading out, withering, and killing the green. They certainly had no knowledge of rolling and Fermentation techniques.
In 1928, Huang Qiang, commander of the Hainan Island garrison and commissioner of the Qiongya Industry, accompanied French missionary Savina into the Li areas for an investigation. In his lengthy article “A Visit to the Li People in Wuzhishan,” he mentioned a tea merchant named Li Shuying: “Mr. Li is a tea merchant. His father served in Feng Zicai's army and was taught how to make tea by a guest official from Meixian. He believed that there were many wild teas in Wuzhishan and that making tea from them would be profitable. Thus, this became his family business, and they have been traveling to the mountains for years.”
Feng Zicai was ordered to Hainan in the thirteenth year of the Guangxu period (1887) to suppress banditry. One of his officials from Meizhou taught Li Shuying's father how to make tea, and the Li family continued this trade, moving between areas rich in wild tea in Wuzhishan.
This shows that the Li people in Shuimandong, Wuzhishan, mastered tea processing techniques earliest around the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
“There has never been artificial tea planting on the island. Most of the tea consumed here is imported. The tea produced on the island comes from wild tea trees, and the processing methods are crude, resulting in poor color and taste. The most famous tea is from Shuimandong in Wuzhishan, where the trees are large enough to embrace. Although the tea produced has a clear flavor, the processing methods are crude.” From the book “Hainan Island Gazetteer,” compiled by Chen Mingchu and published in Shanghai in 1933, we can gain insight into the state of wild ancient tea trees on Hainan Island 90 years ago and understand the quality, export, and supply situation of the tea produced back then. “Every year, tea worth about 6,000 to 7,000 yuan is exported from Lingshui, Wanning, and Ding'an counties.”
This reveals that at that time, although Hainan had high-quality wild Hainan Large-leaf tea, it could not produce tea with excellent color and taste due to immature processing techniques.
The First Year of Industrialized Tea Production in Hainan: 1958
Hainan's tea processing technology matured after the full liberation of Hainan Island on May 1, 1950.
According to Chen Dexin, a member of the Academic Committee of the China International Tea culture Research Association and author of “Tea Affairs in Hainan,” the “Wuzhishan Commune Tea Factory” established in Baisha County in 1958 (located in Fanglong Village, Shuiman Town, Wuzhishan City today) mainly processed tea from the wild Hainan Large-leaf tea. It was also the first to artificially cultivate and plant Hainan Large-leaf tea trees and implement industrialized tea production on the island. The factory was dissolved in 1985. Its existence brought modern tea-making techniques to the people, allowing more people in Shuiman, Wuzhishan, to master the processing techniques for the Hainan Large-leaf tea, bidding farewell to the history of “crude processing methods” for Hainan tea.
Mechanized tea production has become common in Hainan, from small cooperatives to large tea factories. This image shows workers at a tea factory in Shuiman Town, Wuzhishan City pouring fresh tea leaves into a rolling machine for processing. (Photo by Li Tianping)
The establishment of tea farms under the Hainan Farm System, though slightly later than the “Wuzhishan Commune Tea Factory,” surpassed it in terms of area and output.
The large-scale artificial cultivation of tea by farm system tea farms guaranteed capacity. According to “The Gazetteer of Hainan Province – Agriculture System,” published in December 1996, in 1958, Southern Farm planted 8 mu of tea trees, becoming the first farm in the Hainan Farm System to do so. Following instructions from central leadership to establish export commodity bases, the Foreign Trade Base Bureau of Hainan Prefecture began establishing Tongshi, Lingtou, and Baimaling Farms (later merged into Southern Farm) in the central mountainous area of Hainan in 1960, and they planted 100 mu of tea trees that year. Afterward, the farms cultivated over 30 varieties of tea trees, including Yunnan Large-leaf, Hainan Large-leaf, Taiwan Large-leaf, Assam, Fuyun No.7, Maochao, Qilan, Ben Shan, Anhui Qimen Zhumuye, Fujian Fuding Dabai, and Phoenix Shuixian.
Among these, Yunnan Large-leaf, due to its fast growth, robust buds, high quality, and ease of picking, was particularly suitable for making black broken tea. Since the Hainan Farm System began producing tea products in 1961, it has become the main product for foreign exchange earnings.
Mechanization of Tea Processing Techniques in 1977
Before 1977, the Black Tea produced by the Hainan Farm System was made by rolling and cutting the withered leaves on a tray-type rolling and cutting machine. In 1979, this was changed to using a 90-type rolling and cutting machine and a rotor rolling and cutting machine together, which greatly improved the technological operation, reasonably optimized the machinery combination, and enhanced product quality. As a result, the “Jinding Brand” black broken tea produced by the Tongshi Tea Factory after 1977 won the “Quality Excellence Award” four consecutive times at national black broken tea quality evaluation meetings. The key features of its processing techniques include: strict control of leaf quality, low-temperature and wind withering, moderate and slightly lighter processing, machine combinations for better rolling and cutting effects, moderate fermentation and timely baking, and timely refinement and blending before shipment. These techniques ensure the tea has fine, uniform granules