The tea bricks on display at the China Tea Culture Museum
Luo Rongli, the national intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Fu tea, is demonstrating the process of roasting tea
A leaf, a tea brick, an ancient technique, from the distant and charming fragrance emanating from a hot summer day more than 600 years ago, turned into a surprise of "Chenghong Yulu incense condensation, bright golden flowers dazzling pupils".
In that year, it traced the Jing River to the north and westward, and traveled thousands of miles to reach Rome, which achieved the millennium story of "knowing the camel and the horse galloping to the west pole from afar, and the taste will be the same for all countries".
Fu tea is known as the "Silk Road Black Gold", and its fragrance has been floating for hundreds of years. It is a memory of the Silk Road spanning ancient and modern times, and it is also a commodity representative of the Silk Road economic and trade exchanges in the new era and a cultural symbol of the ancient capital of Xi'an.
The wonder of tea
Legend has it that during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty (1068-1077 AD), a large ship was unloading docked at the Jinghe wharf.
At that time, it was the height of summer, and after the tea bags were salvaged and dried, the tea leaves turned black and appeared in the shape of golden flowers. Since then, after a long period of exploration, in the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty more than 600 years ago, Jingyang tea makers gradually mastered the production process of "Golden Flower" tea, and "Silk Road Black Gold" also came from this.
The golden flowers hidden in the tea bricks are the secret of tea. These "golden yellow stellate spots" are produced by the growth, reproduction and metabolism of "golden flower fungus" in the secondary fermentation of black hair tea, which greatly changes and improves the quality of black hair tea produced in the south and forms a unique style of Fu tea.
Recently, in the Yuxing remade tea exhibition area of the China Tea Culture Museum, accompanied by bursts of tea fragrance, Luo Rongli, the national intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Fu tea, told reporters about the tea building process of Fu tea "lost and recovered" while roasting tea.
"If it's not Jingshui, it's not Futian, it's not Jinhua, it's not Jingyang." From the collection of tea leaves to the production of drinks, the traditional ancient production process takes 5 years and goes through more than 20 processes before it can be finally completed.
Luo Rongli has been studying tea skills for 18 years, and his tea house, "Yuxing Chongcha House", has also witnessed the heyday of tea in history.
"Among the more than 1,000 kinds of tea products in the country, only Jingyang Fu brick tea grows and reproduces a beneficial Aspergillus, which is often referred to as the black gold 'golden flower fungus' of Fu tea. It can be said that tea cannot be made without the water of the Jinghe River, cannot be made without the climate of Jingyang, and cannot be made without the technology of Jingyang people. Luo Rongli said.
The name of Fu Tea
Fu tea flourished in the Song Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and was once included in the tribute tea.
Jingyang is a very important trade center for tea processing, production and transportation on the ancient Silk Road. Enter the snowy plateau from the "Ancient Tea Horse Road"; From the marginal tea to today's health and wellness products, Fu tea has gradually evolved from a single industry to an inclusive, innovative and innovative development of key industries, and has performed different wonders in different eras.
After the rise of the tea making process, Jingyang County gradually became a gathering place for tea processing factories, and it was a place where merchants tied camels to live in shops and raise tea.
At that time, in Jingyang County, there were many merchants selling tea to the northwest in the alleys, and camels were often parked on the roadside, and Camel Lane was also named after it. Around Camel Lane, some upstream and downstream industries around tea making, such as Mabu Lane and Grain Lane, also began to gather. The small streets and alleys carry a vivid story of Shaanxi merchants and a precious tea cultural heritage.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Shaanxi merchants walked the world with the heroic image of "horses and fast knives, heroic courage, dry meat and water bladders", and they walked on the "Ancient Tea Horse Road" to trade, opening the legendary experience of Shaanxi merchants in all directions. The people of all ethnic groups in the mainland have used the wisdom of life to create a variety of ways to drink tea, such as Uygur milk tea and fragrant tea, Tibetan butter tea, and Mongolian salty milk tea...... At that time, tea was also exported to more than 40 countries including Russia at that time.
Fu tea, as the tea of life on the Silk Road, is known as the three major commodities of the Silk Road foreign trade together with silk and porcelain.
It carries the history of the development of the tea industry in mainland China, is an important member of the treasure house of Chinese tea culture, and is also a witness to the economic, trade and cultural integration of the Silk Road.
The revival of tea
Time has passed, the tea is fragrant as before, and there are few people who taste tea. Historically, Jingyang City and Fucha have risen and fallen due to trade, and have also prospered again due to the proposal of the "Belt and Road" initiative.
In the 60s of the 20th century, the tea factory was closed and declined, there were fewer tea merchants, trade was broken, and there was also a fault in the tea making technology of Jingyang.
It was not until 2006 that the Jingwei Fu Tea Project was established. With the mission and responsibility of reviving tea, it took nearly three years for the old tea workers to successfully restore this traditional tea-making technique.
At that time, Luo Rongli, who was working on construction projects abroad, returned to his hometown and devoted himself to the "Yuxing Heavy Tea House". He believes that only by inheriting the tea-making process of his ancestors and practicing his internal skills can he bring forth the new and eventually carry forward this time-honored brand. The calluses on Luo Rongli's hands record the bitterness and joy of a tea maker.
Because of the inheritance, the "old tree has new branches" and has new vitality.
From a leaf in the mountains to a cup of tea in ten thousand homes. In recent years, relying on the demonstration effect of Fucha Town, Xi'an has promoted the "upgrading" of the Fucha industry through innovative mechanisms, "gathered" new development momentum in the development of high-quality clusters, and realized the extension and value-added of the industrial chain. A number of leading enterprises have emerged, such as Jinghe Fu Tea, Mojun Fu Tea, Jing Wei Fu Tea, Jing Xin Fu Tea, Jing Shengyu and so on.
Because of cultivation, the tea industry has formed a scale and continues to grow and develop.
Qiu Huiling, a native of the South of Xixian New Area Fucha Town International Trade Co., Ltd., was attracted by the profound historical and cultural heritage of Fucha when she came to Jinghe New Town for a tour, and decided to put down roots here. "At present, we have established tea culture and industry exchange centers and trade and trading centers in Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, so that tea can further go to the world and become a 'friendship tea' connecting the countries of the Belt and Road Initiative." She said.
Qiu Huiling said that in the past year, in order to open up the business channel for tea to be sold to Europe, Fucha Town has carried out scientific research cooperation with Greek universities to jointly develop tea products that meet EU standards; Signed a tea trade order with the government of Palodia District, Cyprus; In the Beijing Building in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, a comprehensive marketing and exhibition center for tea was set up, which became a business reception room for local enterprises. In 2024, Xi'an Fu tea will be exported to Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Laos and other countries.
Because of the spread, Fu tea is going to the "Belt and Road" and the fragrance is overseas.
The Road to Fragrance
In the new era and new journey, Fu tea shows a new look, continues to write a new Silk Road story, and is filled with the fragrance of tea that travels with the times.
This journey conveys the ingenuity of production skills and reverberates the long-lasting reverberation of culture. It is full of vitality and vitality of integrity, innovation and living inheritance, so that intangible cultural heritage can be "lived" in the present generation. Passing on the tea culture is also conveying the concept of "tea and the world", inclusiveness, and highlighting the humanistic spirit of humility, harmony, courtesy and respect.
This journey has accumulated the Silk Road spirit of inclusiveness and mutual learning. With tea as the medium and "Silk Road Black Gold" as a "cultural messenger", Xi'an will be more deeply integrated into the overall pattern of the "Belt and Road".
This journey is pregnant with the hope of high-quality development of tea industry. Through standardization, branding and industrialization, we will promote "Wenrun tea, bring tourism with tea, and promote tea with tourism", so that Fu tea can be plugged into the wings of the industry, truly prosper one party and benefit the people.
How does the fragrance of "black gold" spread all over the world, and how does the Mianmian Tea Road extend thousands of miles? Xi'an is in action.
Strengthening joint protection is the only way to go. Establish a more sound protection system for the representative inheritors of production skills, guide practitioners to self-discipline management, and work the protection, inheritance and innovative application of traditional tea-making skills.
Strengthening inheritance and promotion is an important measure. Tea craftsmen, tea enterprises, and tea industry associations jointly carry out inheritance and promotion activities, carry out research and experience of tea culture, increase the intangible cultural heritage of tea making skills into campus activities, jointly build a protection and cooperation platform, and continue to expand the dissemination and influence of tea culture.
Deepening the integration of tea, culture and tourism is a necessary condition. We will continue to build a full-industry tourism resort integrating the integration of primary, secondary and tertiary industries including the Fucha Cultural Tourism Zone, the Fucha Industry Industrial Tourism Zone, the Fucha Leisure and Health Cultural Tourism Zone, and the Characteristic Sightseeing Agricultural Tourism Zone, excavate and develop Fucha cultural and creative products, and promote the high-quality development of the tea culture and tourism economy.
At the Digital Silk Road Development Forum of the World Internet Conference held in April this year, an important topic was "Silk Road E-commerce International Cooperation". Come to think of it, whether it is a cultural symbol of the Silk Road or an e-commerce product, it is a good carrier.
(Source: Xi'an release)