New Tea - 午牛早

These photographs are from this past march when my friend was processing his freshly harvested Wuniuzao.


A basket of 茶青, or the green, unprocessed tea buds.



The tea dryers are from Hangzhou. They make 龙井 or Dragonwell tea. The younger one is a welder in the off season. Tea is highly seasonal (obviously) and even if your tea must be harvested four times a year, there is still a significant amount of time off. They are only here because Wuniuzao is harvested at least a month before Dragonwell. They have plenty of time to get back before it starts.



I am learning how to make green tea. I didn't do a very good job, but gave up early so as not to interrupt. My friend, Xiaoguang is convinced that its a great idea to have these guys making the tea by hand outside the shop as a sort of advert.



This is my wife and Xiaoguang's wife Xiaohong outside their larger teashop in Baixiang. Note the tea processors are staring at them.