Green tea production technology (Lu'an Guapian)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: green tea making techniques (Lu'an Guapian)

Applicant: Yu'an District, Lu'an City, Anhui Province

Project No.: 931

Project No.: VIII - 148

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Anhui Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Yu'an District, Lu'an City, Anhui Province

Protection unit: Tea Industry Association of Yu'an District, Lu'an City

Introduction to green tea production technology (Lu'an Guapian)

Applicant: Yu'an District, Lu'an City, Anhui Province

Tea production technology has a long history in China. More than 3000 years ago, tea for drinking appeared in the sacrificial rites of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Tea is called "tea" in ancient times, and its name can be seen in the book of songs. During the Three Kingdoms period and the Western Jin Dynasty, tea drinking in the south of the Yangtze River became a custom. Tea was very popular in Tang Dynasty. Xuanzong changed "tea" into "tea" in "Kaiyuan characters", and later Lu Yu's "tea classic" appeared. Before the Song Dynasty, most of the tea was pressed tea, that is, the tea was steamed, mashed and made into lumps. When drinking, the tea was boiled with water, and sometimes dried fruits such as melon seeds and pine nuts were put into the tea. In the Qing Dynasty, it was changed to boiling water brewing. Green tea is a kind of tea which is killed by high temperature without oxidation and fermentation, also known as "non fermented tea". The production process mainly includes picking fresh leaves, killing green, rolling, drying and other steps. Top grade green tea is made from tender sprouts. It is usually picked before Qingming or Guyu. The finished tea is commonly known as "Mingqian" or "Yuqian". In the Tang Dynasty, it was popular to pick small sprouts of tea, which were sharp as a spear and had small leaves shaped like a flag. Because they were called "spear", their name has been used to this day. It can be divided into steamed green tea and roasted green tea. In ancient China, high-temperature steam was used to kill the green, which was called "steaming green"; in modern times, it was used to fry the green in an iron pot instead of "frying green". The tea leaves are softened and rolled tightly into a stick shape by rubbing with fingers, which is called "rolling". Rolling is beneficial to the extraction of tea juice during the brewing of finished products, and reduces the volume of tea, which is convenient for storage and transportation. At present, green tea is mainly produced in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Fujian, Sichuan and other places. Among them, Hangzhou West Lake Longjing and Jinhua Wuzhou Juyan in Zhejiang, Huangshan Maofeng, Taiping Houkui and Lu'an Guapian in Anhui, and Suzhou Dongshan Biluo (original "Luo") spring in Jiangsu are the most famous.

Lu'an Guapian tea in Lu'an City of Anhui Province originated from Lu'an tea. As early as the Ming Dynasty, Xu Guangqi's agricultural administration book pointed out: "the tea in Lu'an is the product of tea." In the Qing Dynasty, Lu'an Guapian was listed as a tribute, and its production reached its peak. At that time, the production of this tea was mainly concentrated in Mabu street, Lu'an.

After the founding of new China, Premier Zhou Enlai and other state leaders praised Lu'an Guapian. In July 1971, US Secretary of state Kissinger visited China for the first time, and the Chinese government presented Lu'an melon slices to him as a national gift. Now, Lu'an Guapian is still in production, and its production areas are mainly concentrated in Dushan, huangjianhe, Tongxin temple, Longmen Chong, yingjiangchong, hongshigeng and other places in Yu'an District of Lu'an City.