Trip to the Maojian Tea Plantation

A friend of mine came to China for a visit. I told him when he came to Guilin I would guide him around and introduce him some new teas and take him to a tea plantation. He and his girlfriend spent seven days with me and we had a blast digging through my tea vault for teas he had never tried, and spending hours in my tea shops sipping teas.

One day of the visit, I took him to the Maojian Tea Plantation in Guilin. I often visit the plantation for a stroll. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, it is a fantastic way to spend an afternoon and it always ends up with a tea tasting.

My friend, his girlfriend, and I strolled through the tea fields, taking photos, and watching the tea pickers work their magic. The tea pickers were elderly and one of the couple's grandson was playing next to the fields. He had captured a beautiful iridescent but and had tied a string on it. This is a very traditional toy in China for countryside children. Sometimes they capture butterflies, small birds, dragonflies, or lizards and tie a string on it. The children love watching the insects and birds fly and it keeps them busy so the grandparents can work the fields.

The plantation was germinating new tea seedlings and we got to see how they do it. The tea seeds have to be planted almost immediately upon maturing, or they will either rot, or dry out. Either way, they will not germinate then. They are placed in the soil and the soil is kept damp and black plastic is kept above them to keep the sun from drying them out or overheating them. Once the trees are large enough, they are thinned and then finally, planted. It takes many years for a tree to mature enough to be picked, so they have to be planned well in advance.

We then visited the visitor center where my friend and his girlfriend saw how the freshly picked leaves were fried, shaped, and dried. Afterwards, we chatted with the workers for a while before being invited to play volleyball with them. We had a blast playing and nobody kept score. It was just for fun. It was a fantastic day and one I plan to repeat often.

Liu Sanjie Tea Plantation

Last fall I visited the Liu Sanjie Tea Plantation. It is located in the suburbs of Guilin. Although beautiful, it is little more than a tourist trap aimed at selling tea. The "plantation" is named after Liu Sanjie (Third Sister Liu), a famous legend about a Zhuang Minority girl who lived in Guilin and whose voice was incredibly beautiful. There are movies, TV shows, and performances about it. It is a common name for places in and around Guilin. The plantation is a typical tea site found on most China Tour itineraries. They produce very little tea, and it is mostly for show. The tea they sell was not produced here and it is poor quality tea that is overpriced. Why then am I making a post about it. Well, for two reasons. First, I want to show people the types of fake tea plantations that are out there, and second, it was pretty and I got some nice photos


which I wish to share. I visited the site as a tourist. They had no idea I knew tea and that I worked for a tourism company. I wanted to get an honest feel for the place, as a normal customer would.

When I got off the bus, a guide met me and she started by explaining the tea plantation. We then headed up the hill to look at the tea trees.


They centered around a hill which had a pavilion on top which housed a wok for frying tea. They used it for presentation. She didn't fry any leaves when I was there, because it was not tea season. She then wanted to take me to the shop, but I refused because I

wanted to get some photos. The site is very small. It could be visited in half an hour, but I took much longer because I wanted photos. After I did go to their shop where they showed me the machines they use to make Gaoshan Wulong Tea. Gaoshan Wulong is produced in Taiwan, so the teas they make and sell are fakes. I did drink some tea before leaving. It was very poor quality. Even though I dislike these tourist traps, it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

For more photos, check out my Flicker Photo Album:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37908265@N08/sets/72157626499070826/

And here is Liu Sanjie herself!