At this point his huge fingers softly pinched the last two leaves using only his nail. Lovingly he held up the bounty. One bud or heart per leaf. This is how the high quality Oolong is handpicked. With a brisk show of gestures Father told me of the urgency once the shoots are picked and how quickly they must be treated. Fermentation begins immediately, and then drying takes place, rolling and in some cases roasting depending on the tea and its master. “Drying under the sun,” he whispers, “is too quick and subtle tastes are lost, becoming coarser.” His grim face emphasized the point. “At ten years, a tea plant starts creating outstanding vintages.” At this point, an iron grip grabbed my wrist, and he whispered about tea plants that were ‘ancients’ way up. Nothing was visible through the fog but his eyes shone in the hills. “Old” was his answer to my forming question.

"[H]e whispered about tea plants that were ‘ancients’ way up." (Jeff Fuchs)

His voice dropped. “There is wild tea that grows on its own, special tea that people search for…it hides and has been here for hundreds of years.”

As we re-entered the sanctum, tea’s simple purpose was made clear. As a natural thirst quencher it is unrivalled. Polyphenols, proteins, vitamins a, b, and c, amino acids and more fluoride than any plant on earth along with hundreds of other compounds are found in tea, but for me at least this stunning array of benefits were temporarily forgotten.

Wing was happy to have us back, with a riot of family members having joined in. Father sat down and the eight of us sipped on a powerful Oolong, which was the ‘family favorite’. I asked where this was from Father’s eyes looked up to the invisible spot way up to the hill where the ‘ancients’ grew. Perhaps this was tea’s gift: that beyond talk of vintages, elegant names and histories, its basic function was still to bring people together. Ironic that what spends its life lonely in the mists and mountains alone is rarely consumed without friends.

Resources:  Please consult the following websites for additional information:

Wang De Chuan Tea: www.dechuantea.com
Jeff Fuchs Photography: www.jefffuchs.com

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