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1.
"Biluochun" (Green Spring Snail Tea) The
special tea from Tai Lake in Suzhou.
Biluochun has the natural quality of flower and
fruit fragrance, its fragrance strong, its taste
heavy, and its color bright. So it is labeled as
"precious tea".
Suzhou 's Biluochun Tea is one of the ten most
famous teas in China It is locally known as
"Fearful Incense" due to the strong aroma of the
brew.
During the Qing dynasty, Emperor Kangxi visited
Suzhou and praised the flavor of this aromatic
tea. The tea leaves are picked from the Biluo
Mountain near Tai Lake , and are collected
traditionally in early spring between what is
known as "Tomb-sweeping Day" and "Grain Rain
Day"! The technique for collecting tea leaves is
very complex. Only the tender tip of the leaf is
used for the tea making process. This part of
the leaf should be no longer than one inch long
and shaped like the tip of a spear. One tin of
tea uses 60 thousand spears! It's no surprise
then, that some of the finest Chinese teas are
very expensive. The next step in the process is
to repeatedly knead, rub and roll the leaves by
hand. The Biluochun tea involves a particularly
labor intensive process but the end result are
leaves that are compact, tender and wonderfully
fresh and aromatic.
2. STORIES ABOUT BILUO CHUN
It is said that there was a peak called Biluo on
the East Hill of the Dongting Mountain. on the
side of which grew several tea trees, and every
year people came here and pick tea leaves to
process them and then drink. One year, in the
tea picking season, the local people tea leaves
grow luxuriantly. They picked and picked, and
there was too much to be held in their crates.
So they put the rest in their clothes. As the
fresh leaves were heated by the bodies, they
spread out strong fragrance which made all the
pickers shout, "It is surprisingly fragrant!"
After that, nobody used crates to hold tea
leaves; instead they all carry them on their
chests and named these tealeaves "frightening
fragrance"(meaning strong fragrance). Among the
pickers was one called Zhu Zhengyuan who was
proficient in processing "frightening
fragrance". One year, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing
Dynasty came sightseeing in the Tai Lake, and
the official Song Luo presented "frightening
fragrance" to the Emperor. The Emperor was very
pleased with its taste, but disliked its name.
So he renamed it as "Biluochun". |
