Those who like to taste tea may have heard, "Tea on Mengding Mountain, water in Yangzi River." Mengshan tea is one of the oldest teas in China, originating from the top of Mengshan Mountain in Sichuan Province. It is said that back in the Western Han Dynasty, the monk Wu Lizhen personally planted seven tea trees, hence the name. There are several varieties of Mengshan tea, including Ganlu, Shangqing, Lingjiao, Mengding Yellow Buds, Stone Flower, Jade Leaf Evergreen, and Wanchun Silver Needle. Among them, Mengding Ganlu is the most famous, which is the best among green teas and belongs to one of the top ten famous teas in China.
I. History of the Creation of Mengding Ganoderma
Although tea trees were already planted in Mengshan during the Western Han Dynasty, the form of green tea similar to that of the near-modern era had to wait until the Ming Dynasty, more than a thousand years later. According to the General Records of Sichuan and the Ya'an Prefecture Records, in the twentieth year of the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty (1541 A.D.), Mengding Ganlu was officially created. Documentation at the time stated, "Shangqing Peak produces manna."
Mengding Ganlu is made from high quality raw materials of Mengshan tea trees, and is harvested around the vernal equinox with the standard of single bud or one bud and one leaf at the beginning of development. It is processed according to the traditional "three stir-frying and three kneading" method. From the finished product, the shape of Mengding Ganlu has many hairs, compact and slightly curled strands, tender green color, oily and glossy, and the aroma of the dry tea is rich, which is even more long after brewing. The soup color of Mengding Ganlu is mainly clear and yellow, slightly light in color, with fresh and smooth taste and excellent sweetness, which is a precious product among green teas. Ming Dynasty tea Qian Chun in the "Tea Spectrum" wrote: "Tea production in the world more than enough! Jiannan Meng Ding stone flower, Huzhou Guzhu purple bamboo shoots, Xiazhou sometimes Jian Mingyue ...... its name are famous. Pin the ground, the stone flower is the most on the purple bamboo shoots second ...... "Visible, Meng Ding Ganlu as early as the creation of the beginning of the green tea is the best, dominating the top.
II. Why recent obscurity?
Mengding Ganlu is one of the oldest famous teas in China, and is honored as the oldest of the teas and the forerunner of the famous teas. However, in modern times, it has become less famous than it once was, overshadowed by green teas from the south of the country such as Xihu Longjing and Biluochun, and has almost disappeared. Outside of Sichuan Province, very few people have actually drunk Mengding Ganlu, why is that?
On the one hand, there are many varieties of Mengshan tea, and Ganlu tea is only one of them. Although a lot of money has been invested in the construction of tea gardens in recent years and the production has been expanded, the overall production is still limited. Meng Ding Ganlu tea can only meet the provincial market demand, it is difficult to meet the needs of the national market.
On the other hand, although the production of Sichuan green tea is large, but the overall popularity is not high. Especially in recent years, due to a large number of imitation of provincial tea, destroyed the reputation of Sichuan tea, so that many people no longer trust Sichuan tea. Now in Zhejiang, Anhui and other places, there are a large number of imitation of the West Lake Longjing and Huangshan Maofeng with Sichuan raw materials, further corrupting the reputation of Sichuan tea.
Of course, the reputation of Mengding Ganlu also has to do with the local socio-economic environment. Sichuan is an important southwestern province, radiating the entire western region, but compared with Jiangnan, the state of economic development still has a certain gap. This gap is mainly geographical, the western region and the eastern region in the natural conditions and the degree of development there is an imbalance. In the commodity economy, a tea to be successful, must be in product quality, marketing and promotion, brand building and other aspects of efforts. The quality of Mengding Ganlu is undoubtedly first-class, but in terms of brand promotion and construction, and the West Lake Longjing there is still a huge gap.
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