A philosophical approach

"Poet Geng Wei once visited Lu Yu, and the pair enjoyed a lyrical discourse. When Geng expressed his awe at Guzhu Hill's misty beauty and longing for Lu's life, Lu replied that he has to climb up the hill every day before dawn and study the tea leaves, which confirms that Lu worked at the tea factory," says Lin Ruiyang, director of the organization.

While contemporary people typically brew processed tea leaves, as recorded in The Classic of Tea, the manufacture of Zisun Tea involved seven procedures, before the tea leaves were compressed into its distinctive flat and round shape with a hole in the middle.

Since the 1970s, the Changxing government has been engaging tea experts in the restoration of the traditional tea-making technique. As a provincial-level inheritor of the Zisun tea-making craft himself, Lin embarked on a journey to make improvements and innovations.

One day, while delving into ancient texts, Lin stumbled upon a steaming technique used during the Tang Dynasty, which transforms the enzymes in the tea and prevents the leaves from turning brown.

This led him to rethink the process of making Zisun Tea.

After countless attempts, and much trial and error, he finally came up with a modernized steaming technique that helps preserve the tea's distinct flavor, as well as substantially increasing its shelf life.

"Based on many ancient records, Zisun Tea enjoyed immense popularity. So, as an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, it is my duty to pass down the ancient tea-making technique from one generation to the next," Lin says.

Apart from producing tea, the factory is also a tourist destination, where visitors can admire the cliffside inscriptions left by Tang Dynasty scholars, study tea culture and history, or simply spend a quiet afternoon sipping tea amid the soothing scenery.

It is also a platform for promoting and exchanging tea culture.