A TASTE FROM THE SPOUTS

Lingnan has, for a long time been famous for tea production, and it is worldwide known that Cantonese have a liking for tea.

For people in the Lingnan area, tea is about a craft, a business, a culture, and it’s also a kind of lifestyle that suits both refi ned and popular tastes.

Text by Lan Xiaojiang Translation by Bian Jiajin&Yishan Photo by CFP & 東方IC & Huang FuyangCantonese love drinking tea; they also love “eating”with tea.

“Morning tea” can be the representative of Cantonese lifestyle. At the weekend, the old and renowned restaurants such as the Guangzhou Restaurant and Taotaoju Restaurant are always crowded with people coming for “morning tea”. Most of them are families with the elders and kids. They usually order a pot of Pu'er tea or Chrysanthemum tea, some steamed prawn dumplings, chicken claws, a plate of dry crystal noodles and a bowl of porridge, chatting and laughing, sharing the same tastes together. Cantonese lay much emphasis on family life and take family reunion into account, so there are no more important things than spending time with family on weekends.

Even on weekdays, tea houses are very busy. In earlier times, tea houses were for passing businessmen to rest. Thus, they were also called“one-mile houses”. Later, this kind of venue got more and more specifi ed, and the contents were more plentiful. They became the place for talking business as well. The passing tourists and businessmen were there getting together, discussing their ideas. In Lingnan, trades have been important since ancient times; the businessmen also needed places like tea houses allowing them time to communicate with each other. The place must not be too sophisticated, but should not be too casual. Thus tea houses, restaurants, tea rooms, tea lounges were born under the situation.

The types of tea on the tables of the Lingnan people are diverse, and their qualities are also different. In the Ming Dynasty, tea bushes were planted in an increasingly larger area. After the policy of One Treaty Port in the Qing Dynasty, teas from all over the country were collected in Guangzhou, being processed and distributed. Therefore, Cantonese also imported tea from other areas and cultivated their own types. In the Lingnan area there are home-grown 1000-year-old tea bushes such as “Red Monkey” and “Phoenix Dan-cong tea”, and also black tea originally from England and Germany was evolved into Yunnan black tea. The tea in Lingnan was once listed into one of the exporting commodities. During One Treaty Port period in the Qing Dynasty, Thirteen-Trades Monopoly were full of businessmen from inland and overseas, and the tea trade was an essential part of commerce. Chinese Tea was at that time regarded as the “green gold” for westerners, exported via Guangzhou to Europe, and then to America, British colonies and then fi nally spread over America.

With the development of trade and business and the Lingnan-style tea house culture, street cool herbal teas were further developed or created. And all kinds of new ways to make tea were initiated and evolved into more unique tea customs, of which the most famous would be “Kungfu tea” in the Chaozhou-Shantou region. “Kungfu“ in Chaozhou dialect means being extremely particular and honest about something. Enjoying “Kungfu Tea” is also a particular tea activity which requires exact tea picking, the right tools for tea making, the correct techniques and also the perfect way of tasting. Kungfu tea has even been a kind of “ceremony” in traditional culture. The Hakka area is famous for traditional tea from mountainous areas. People in the Hakka area have kept the “l(fā)iving fossil”—the technique of grinding tea, from the Jin Dynasty to now, and also a variety of historical tea songs, dances and related operas, which have formed another special culture different from the refi ned one in Guangzhou and in the Chaozhou-Shantou Region.

飲春芽

春天，是飲春茶的好季節(jié)。嶺南歷來盛產(chǎn)茶葉，廣東人嗜飲茶更是中外聞名。茶葉在嶺南人的手中，變成一種手藝，一門生意，一種文化，更成為一種鬧中有靜、雅俗共賞的生活方式。

廣東人愛喝茶，更愛“吃”茶。

“早茶”幾乎成了廣式生活的代名詞。每到周末，廣州酒家、陶陶居等老字號(hào)里，就擠滿了排隊(duì)來喝早茶的人。多半是一個(gè)家庭，從老人到小孩，叫一壺普洱或菊花，再來幾籠蝦餃、鳳爪、一碟腸粉、一碗粥，有說有笑，分甘同味。廣州人重視家庭，沒有什么比周末陪家人喝早茶更重要。

即便是工作日，茶樓里也是熱鬧非常。最早時(shí)，茶樓是給過路的商人歇腳的地方，又叫做“一厘館”。后來，這樣的場所越來越專業(yè)，內(nèi)容越來越豐富，來往的客商開始聚集，便也成了談生意的地方。嶺南地區(qū)自古重商，商人們需要這種既能聚集又能交流，既不用太繁復(fù)又不會(huì)太隨意的地方，各種茶室、茶館、茶樓、茶寮相應(yīng)而生。

嶺南人茶桌上的茶葉品種繁多，品質(zhì)價(jià)格也有高有低。嶺南素來產(chǎn)茶，明代時(shí)期茶葉種植面積大大增加。清代一口通商后，全國各地的茶葉都匯聚在此，在廣州進(jìn)行加工和分裝。于是，廣東茶葉也引進(jìn)了各地的茶種，培育出自己的特色。在嶺南，既有本土生長的千年古樹茶“猴采紅”“鳳凰單樅”，也有根據(jù)滇紅改良的英德紅茶。嶺南的茶葉也曾一度列入出口行列。清廷實(shí)行“一口通商”時(shí)期，廣州十三行商館中西方商人云集，茶葉貿(mào)易是重要組成部分，中國的茶葉曾一度成為西方社會(huì) “綠色的黃金”，從廣州傳入歐洲，接著傳入當(dāng)時(shí)為英屬殖民地的美國，繼而傳遍了美洲大陸。

隨著商業(yè)貿(mào)易的推進(jìn)，嶺南特色的茶樓文化、街頭涼茶文化衍生發(fā)展。各種泡茶方法應(yīng)運(yùn)而生，更形成了特有的茶俗文化，其中，尤以潮汕“功夫茶”最為著稱?！肮Ψ颉痹诔闭Z意中喻意做事考究、用心。品功夫茶是一件很講究的茶事活動(dòng)，對(duì)茶葉、茶具、沖沏手法、品評(píng)都有要求，把品茶上升到“禮”的程度?？图业貐^(qū)則以山地茶傳統(tǒng)聞名，保存有晉朝前流傳下來的“活化石”擂茶，還有各種歷史悠久的茶歌 (客家山歌)、茶舞和采茶戲劇，形成了有別于廣州、潮汕精細(xì)茶文化的另一種特色。

FENG-HUANG (PHOENIX) DAN-CONG TEA, CHAOZHOU CITY

潮州鳳凰單樅茶

One of the three major tea production regions of oolong tea and the origin place of the “feng-huang suhi-xian (phoenix narcissus)” tea tree. The selected “feng-huang shui-xian” tea trees, after generations of development has gained the name of “feng-huang dan-cong” tea in the past 700 years and has become well-known around the country.

潮州是我國三大烏龍茶產(chǎn)區(qū)之一，國家級(jí)茶樹 “鳳凰水仙種”的原產(chǎn)地。數(shù)代茶農(nóng)從鳳凰水仙品種中分離篩選出來的眾多品質(zhì)優(yōu)異的單株，即“鳳凰單樅”。 潮州鳳凰單樅茶，有700多年的生產(chǎn)歷史，是國家級(jí)的名茶。

YING-DE BLACK TEA, YING-DE CITY

英德紅茶

The tea planting in Ying-de can be dated back to 1,200 years before the Tang dynasty. Ying-de black tea, developed from the combination of Yun-nan da-ye tea and feng-huang shui-xian teas, was fi rstly established in 1959 and gained recognition as another major breed of Chinese black tea.

英德種茶歷史可追溯到距今1200多年前的唐朝。英德紅茶創(chuàng)建于1959年，是英德特產(chǎn)之一。所栽培的茶樹以云南大葉與鳳凰水仙兩優(yōu)良群體為基礎(chǔ)，較之滇紅、祁紅別具風(fēng)格。

XIAN-REN (THE IMMORTAL) TEA OF HUI-DONG CITY

惠東仙人茶

It is said to be panted by immortal Ge Hong in Hui-dong thousand years ago. Until now, the wilding tea trees only grow in few mountainous areas in Hui-dong city. The tea usually enters the market a couple of days before or after the Tomb Sweeping Day (Apr 4th of the lunar calendar). It can also serve as medicine for bad appetite or an upset stomach.

仙人茶傳說是葛洪仙師親手栽種，是惠東特產(chǎn)，傳已有千年歷史，僅在惠東多祝、白盆珠、高潭、寶口等高山地區(qū)野生生長。此茶上市時(shí)間為清明前后八九天，藥理效果特好，可清熱解暑，也可調(diào)節(jié)腸胃不適、厭食等。

BAI-MAO (WHITE HAIR) TEA, REN-HUA, SHAO-GUAN CITY

韶關(guān)仁化白毛茶

During the Qing Dynasty, bai-hao tea picked from Huang-ling Peak at Renhua county gained a name of “Yun-wu (cloud and fog) bai-hao” and was sent to the emperor Jiaqing for tribute. Until now, with thick buds and an elegant scent of the orchid, Ren-hua bai-mao ranks top among the three Chinese bai-mao teas.

仁化縣是嶺南白毛茶的故鄉(xiāng)。仁化紅山鄉(xiāng)黃嶺嶂的“云霧白毫”茶，曾是清代嘉慶朝的宮廷貢品。仁化白毛茶具有芽頭肥碩、帶蘭花香味等特點(diǎn)，為我國三大白毛茶之首。

XIN-HUI JU-PU (ORANGE SKIN PLUS PU-ER), XIN-HUI CITY

新會(huì)橘普

As one of the three famous special products from Guangdong, Xin-hui ju-pu has gained recognition for its medical value. With the processed combination of pu-er tea leaves and fried orange skin, ju-pu has been famous for the use of facilitating digestion, reliving a cough, and reducing sputum.

陳皮作為廣東三寶之一，藥用價(jià)值早已得到廣泛的認(rèn)可。將有著“百年陳皮”美譽(yù)的新會(huì)陳皮與陳年普洱，經(jīng)過特殊工藝結(jié)合在一起的橘普，可以助消化，止咳化痰，頗受茶客們青睞 。