Minnan Qingxin wulong

Minnan Qingxin Wulong Fujian Province In December 2018, I set off with a small group of friends on a road trip through the tea plantations of Taiwan. We rented a car in Hualian county and wound our way into the mountains through the breathtaking Taroko National Park. Over two weeks, we had the pleasure of tasting exceptional wulong teas from Lishan, Dayuling, Yuchi, Shanlinxi, Alishan and beyond. It was during this journey that I came across a Taiwanese book on wulong varieties — and stumbled upon a detail that stopped me in my tracks. The Qilan cultivar, whose name translates as "Beautiful Orchid", is one of the most celebrated teas of the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian province, prized above all for its extraordinary fragrance. It has long been one of my personal favourites. What surprised me was the book's note tracing its origin to the Minnan region of Fujian — a detail that planted a seed and set the whole journey in motion. Once back from Taiwan, I made a plan. I would travel to Fujian and find this place myself. Fortunately, I crossed paths with Ilja, a fellow tea enthusiast from Russia whose Chinese was every bit as good as mine. He joined me right at Chinese New Year — which, as it turned out, made the journey all the more memorable. We travelled for several days to reach the area — a place that is nearly impossible to get to without a car. When we finally arrived, the village was wrapped in the quiet of the New Year festival, every shop and door firmly shut. Then, one house appeared with its door open, two old friends inside sharing a pot of tea. The owner, generous as he was welcoming, invited us in without hesitation. The tea was extraordinary — and as we soon discovered, it was his own family's production. To my delight, alongside his Qilan he also had this remarkable Qingxin wulong — a cultivar originally brought from Taiwan and planted here in the Minnan region of Fujian. I was astonished to find it thriving so far from its homeland. The Qingxin wulong is a tea of quiet elegance. The dried leaves carry a gentle nutty fragrance, and the moment a few leaves meet hot water in the gaiwan, a refined aroma begins to unfurl into the infusion. The liquor is light green with a full body and a long, lingering aftertaste. The steeped leaves emerge whole and well oxidized by shaking and rolling. The caffeine is moderate rather than striking, but the tea will wake you up all the same. Give it a try. You won't be disappointed.