The Origin of Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin Tea 木栅铁观音茶由来

Tie Guan Yin tea is originally produced in Xiping Town (西坪乡), Anxi (安溪), Fujian Province (福建省) and has a history of more than 200 years. The origin of Taiwan's Tie Guan Yin tea is said to have occurred in the 21st year of Guangxu’s (光绪) reign in the Qing Dynasty (1895), when the ancestors of the Zhang (张氏) family brought tea seedlings from Anxi to Taiwan for planting and reproduction. It was first planted near Daqijiao Village (大崎脚村), Jiayi County (嘉义县), Taiwan, and later moved to Mu Zha Zhanghu Mountain (木栅樟湖山). Ten years later, the tea-making technology was passed on to the tea maker "Zhang Naimiao" (张迺妙). After that, Zhang Naimiao and fellow countryman Zhang Naigan (张迺干) returned to their ancestral home in Anxi, Fujian Province several times and brought Tie Guan Yin tea seedlings back to Mu Zha, Taiwan. From then on, Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin was born. In memory of this tea master who promoted Tie Guan Yin, the descendants of the Zhang family established the "Zhang Naimiao Memorial Hall" (张迺妙纪念馆) in Taipei for future generations to visit.

Origin of the Name “Tie Guan Yin” 铁观音茶

Tie Guan Yin can refer both to a kind of product and a kind of production process. It is not necessary to have both. However, only Tie Guan Yin that is truly made from Tie Guan Yin varieties and Tie Guan Yin manufacturing processes has the Guan Yin essence (观音韵) (here yun 韵 meaning “rhythm” or “rhyme” and referring to the essence of the tea often associated with its particular terroir), with a ripe fruity aroma like orchid and osmanthus and a sour taste.

One of the stories is that in the first year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1736), Wang Shirang (王士让), a person from Yaoyang (尧阳), saw a tea tree next to the deserted garden that was different from other tea species. He transplanted the tea trees and harvested them to make tea. After drinking the tea, he felt that the tea was fragrant and sweet, so he presented it to Emperor Qianlong for drinking and won the emperor's praise. Because the tea leaves were dark, moist and firm, the color of the tea leaves was as dark as iron. Drinking it made people relaxed and happy, just like the Bodhisattva Guan Yin spreading sweet dew, and because this tea was found under the Guan Yin Rock in Nanshan, it is called "Tie Guan Yin Tea."

Another story tells that during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a villager named "Wei Yin" (魏饮) from Songyan, Anxi, who believed in Buddhism and worshiped Guan Yin Bodhisattva with a cup of tea every morning. The Bodhisattva moved him to worship sincerely and told him in a dream to go up the mountain and he would find a tree as a gift. Later, Wei Yin went to the mountains in his dream and found a strange tea tree. It was particularly beautiful in the morning light. He went to transplant it and cultivate it again, and the tea he produced had a unique aroma. The tea leaves are as heavy as iron and are believed to be given by the Bodhisattva Guan Yin, hence the name "Tie Guan Yin.”

Origin Environment 产地环境

Mu Zha Tea Area is located in the rolling hills south of Zhinan Temple (指南宫). It is mainly grown in the Mu Zha Zhanghu Mountain area (木栅樟湖山区). Therefore, the soil quality and climate environment are similar to those of the original environment in Anxi, resulting in high yield and excellent quality. The tea is grown on an east-facing slope which provides a mild micro-climate. The soil color of the Mu Zha growing area is brown or light red soil mixed with gravel, and it has good drainage, moisture and breathability. Year-round rain and mist nourish the tea trees, which is suitable for the growth of Tie Guan Yin tea trees. Compared with other tea trees, Tie Guan Yin tea trees are quite different. The tree branches grow sparsely and horizontally, and its yield is comparatively low. The fresh leaves have a thick, soft surface, and are somewhat wrinkled. The leaves are mostly facing the sun so the tannin content of the tea is high.

History of Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin Tea 木栅铁观音茶历史

1770: Immigration from Anxi County, China’s tea hometown, to Taiwan for reclamation.

1895: Tea master Zhang Naimiao introduced 12 varieties of Tie Guan Yin tea trees from Anxi, Fujian, and cultivated 3,000 tea trees in the Mu Zha Zhanghu area. This area has become the only Tie Guan Yin tea production area in Taiwan.

1919: Mu Zha's first tea company “Mu Zha Tea Company" (木栅茶叶公司) was established, and seven years later the larger Wenshan Tea Co., Ltd. (文山茶叶株式会社) appeared. This was the beginning of Mu Zha’s own homemade high-grade tea. 

1938: Zhang Naimiao once again introduced Tie Guan Yin tea-making technology from Anxi. Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin owes its current reputation to Zhang Naimiao's many visits to Anxi, Fujian to study Tie Guan Yin planting techniques that were passed on.

2007: Mu Zha Tea Garden was designated as a tourist tea garden, becoming the earliest tourist tea garden in Taiwan.

Characteristics of Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin Tea 茶之特色

The growth shape of the Tie Guan Yin tea tree shows horizontal branches and wrinkled surfaces, which is different from ordinary tea trees, so the yield is not high. The altitude of the Mu Zha Tea Area is about 300-350 meters. Generally, tea with higher tannin content will have a more bitter and astringent taste. However, after oxidation, kneading over slow fire, and roasting at medium to high temperature, the bitterness of the tea is relatively reduced, and theophylline is changed due to the medium to high temperatures. Roasted teas also tend to be easier on the stomach. 

Tie Guan Yin tea should have tea leaves that are curled, heavy and solid, and have the shape of a dragonfly head with a green base and a green belly. The tea leaf color is fresh and sandy green, with a white frosty appearance on the surface of the tea leaves. The tea soup is a rich golden color. After drinking the tea, a strong sweet aftertaste will be experienced.

The aroma of Tie Guan Yin can have a unique combination of orchid, fruit and honey and is very refreshing. These characteristics are unique to the tea species itself. Tea experts call the unique fragrance of Anxi Tie Guan Yin "Guan Yin Yun".

Mu Zha Tea Mountain---- 木栅茶山

"Maokong" (猫空) is located in the Mu Zha area of ​​Wenshan District (文山区), Taipei City (台北市), and belongs to the Er Ge Mountain (二格山) System on the southern edge of the Taipei Basin. It is the southernmost tip of Taipei City, adjacent to Xindian District (新店区), New Taipei City (新北市). Maokong was originally a small valley on the east side of the tea area. There are different opinions on the origin of the place’s name. “Mao” means “cat,” and “kong” means “empty,” “vacant,” or “deserted.” The most common theory is that it comes from the pothole riverbed landscape formed by local rivers eroding rocks. Due to the uneven hardness of the geology, a terrain of pits and holes were formed after being washed by the river water. The water flow resembles the traces of a cat's claws. Later, under the influence of Japan, it was recorded and passed down under the name of "Maokong".

Maokong is the main area where the well-known teas ​​Tie Guan Yin and Baozhong are produced in Taiwan. Now Maokong can be considered the representative tea culture tourist area of ​​Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin. This place not only retains the most complete Tie Guan Yin tea varieties and tea-making techniques coming from the past hundred years from Anxi, Fujian Province, but also has a rich cultural history and natural ecological landscapes. There are more than 100 large and small tea art residences in the tea mountains above Maokong. 

Fujian immigrants first planted tea in the Ruifang (瑞芳) area of ​​New Taipei City and spread to the Mu Zha area in the mid-19th century. In 1853, poet Lin Zhanmei (林占梅), a wealthy man in Taiwan at that time, described it this way: "most rice is planted in Pinglong, and half of the tea is planted in Gaoyuan" (“平陇多栽稻，高园半种茶”). The poem talks about the scene of tea plantations in the Nangang (南港) and Mu Zha areas of Taipei City. Due to the turmoil of World War II, the development of Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin was affected and caused sales to decline. After World War II, Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin tea producers tried to make a comeback, and slowly business became feasible for the farmers again. However, from 1979 onwards, the export sales of Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin dropped sharply, and the local tea market shifted from exporting tea to domestic sales. The Mu Zha area came up with various activities to promote tea drinking habits and tea sales.

In 1974, the Taipei Tie Guan Yin Baozhong Tea R&D and Promotion Center was established (台北市铁观音包种茶研发推广中心), which was formerly known as "Taipei Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin Baozhong Tea Exhibition Center" (台北市木栅铁观音包种茶展示中心). The tea promotion center industry mainly combines agriculture, life, culture and leisure, and guides the public to have an in-depth understanding of the local tea industry.

In 1975, the Mu Zha area began to hold the "Tea King Competition" (茶王赛) tea competition. The concept of “tourist tea gardens” was invented to increase interest in tea drinking and efforts were made to improve the quality of the tea.

In 1980, Mu Zha Tourist Tea Garden was established under the guidance of the Taipei City Government’s Farmers’ Association. It was the first tourist farm established in Taipei City. This innovative agricultural management model was known as the "Zhi Nan Li Model" (指南里模式) at the time.

In 1982, tea production management policies were removed, allowing tea farmers more independence. In 1987, the further rules for tea factories were removed which promoted the development of small family tea businesses. After the 1970s, various tea art residences, teahouses, and folk tea art groups in Taiwan quickly popped up. The most popular tea among locals is semi-oxidized oolong tea. Mu Zha Guan Yin from Maokong became an integral part of the famous gathering places for tea enthusiasts.

Maokong is located in a small valley southwest of Mu Zha Er Ge Mountain and east of Wenshan Tea Area. Due to its hilly terrain and good drainage, it has become a treasured place for growing tea. It is a well-known tea area in the suburbs of Taipei. The area of ​​Maokong Tea Garden has grown to 110 hectares in the year 2000, extending from neighboring Nangang to Pinglin. 

Mu Zha Tourist Tea Garden 木栅观光茶园 

The tea gardens in Zhi Nan Li (指南里), Wenshan District (文山区), Taipei City are surrounded by beautiful scenery. With an altitude of about 300 meters and an annual tea production of about 50,000 kilograms, it is the first tourist tea garden in Taipei City. The area taken up directly by tea cultivation is approximately 95 hectares. The tea factories here are all renovated family-style factories. In addition to displaying and selling various types of Baozhong tea, Tie Guan Yin, and tea sets, they also have tables and chairs to provide tea tasting services. Visitors can enjoy the scenery and explore the mountain gardens to see the process of tea picking and tea making. In addition, a tea tree park has been opened on the open space on the hillside behind the tea tasting area, where various strains of tea trees are planted.

Tea gardens can either be classified as a "citizen farm", which is an open public style of farming, or a "tourist tea garden," which is mainly distributed in the mountainous areas of Zhi Nan Li, Dailao Keng (待老坑) and Houshan Keng (猴山坑) (the highest concentrations in the area from Nanguo to Maokong). In this area there are about 80 to 90 tea farmers. Various activities are held such as the Tie Guan Yin tea competition, tea mountain tours, tea knowledge talks, tea art life lectures, tea exhibitions and sales are held every year.

Picking Season 采摘季节

Although Mu Zha Tie Guan yin tea can be harvested four to five times per year. The Spring and Winter harvests are considered the best in terms of yielding excellent quality. Instead of picking very young buds and leaves, the picking method for Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin is unique as two to three leaves of the mature shoots are picked. This is commonly known as “open-face picking” (开面采) because picking is done once the leaves have fully expanded and formed buds. 

Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin tea is one of the oolongs that is usually more oxidized and is difficult to get the finished product just right. It takes a relatively long time to make, but the end result is truly unique and exceptional. Important factors that are variables affecting quality are season, geology, and roasting. The color of Tie Guan Yin tea soup is yellow or orange-red if it is not roasted or lightly roasted, and orange-red to brown-red if it is medium-roasted or heavily roasted. The color of the tea soup is bright and can be seen in the last bit at the bottom of the cup.

Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin tea is lightly withered and allowed to oxidize to about 15-30%. Repeated roasting and kneading are needed to create the special flavor. 

The general process of making tea is:

• pick the tea leaves

• withering in the sun or hot air

• withering indoors for 8 to 12 hours

• tossing (Big waving) 4 to 5 times

• pan-firing

• initial kneading

• bagging and kneading 2 to 3 times

• re-firing 3 to 5 times

• soft-fire re-drying about 10 to 20 times

• initial baking

• sorting 

• re-baking

Repeated roasting and kneading can gradually transform the ingredients in the tea leaves through the roasting temperature to form the special aroma and taste that has a hint of astringency and sweetness along with a pure and mellow fruity sour taste. The sweet aftertaste lasts through many steepings of the tea. 

Northern Taiwanese Tea 台湾北部茶起源

In Taipei’s surrounding area the two most famous teas are probably Wenshan Baozhong Tea (文山包种茶) and Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin. In the south, Dongfang Meiren (Oriental beauty 东方美人) oolong is well-known in the Taoyuan (桃园) and Miaoli (苗栗) areas. The tea mountains are close and accessible, and this has made for a thriving and intimate tea culture. It is a common pastime for locals to drive up the mountain to taste tea on weekends. Especially in the Mu Zha Maokong area, there are many tea houses that are convenient and enjoyable places to enjoy the scenery and sip tea.

Representative Tea From Northern Tea Area 北部茶区代表茶

New Taipei City 新北市: Pinglin 坪林, Shiding 石碇, Xindian 新店, Sanxia三峡, ​​Linkou 林口, Sanzhi 三芝 , and Shimen 石门 all have tea areas. Pinglin, Shiding and Xindian produce Wenshan Baozhong tea. Sanxia produces Haishan Longjing (海山龙井), also called Sanxia Longjing (三峡龙井). Shimen produces Shimen Tie Guan Yin (石门铁观音) and Linkou produces Longshou tea (龙寿茶). 

Taipei City 台北: Muzha Tie Guan Yin and Nangang Baozhong are the most famous in Taipei. 

Taoyuan County 桃园县: Longtan 龙潭 produces Longquan tea (龙泉茶), Daxi’s 大溪 Wuling tea (武岭茶), Fuxing’s 复兴 Meitai tea (梅台茶), Luzhu’s 芦竹 Lufeng Oolong tea (芦峰乌龙茶)，and Guishan's 龟山 Shoushan tea (寿山茶) are all produced in Taoyuan. 

Xinzhu County 新竹县: "Dongfang Meiren" (东方美人/椪风茶), known in english as Oriental Beauty, is produced in Emei 峨眉, Beipu 北埔, Hengshan 横山 and Zhudong 竹东. Among them, Emei has the largest tea planting area.

Miaoli County 苗栗县：This area produced black tea, green tea, Baozhong tea and other oolong teas. However, as the popularity of black and green tea declined other tea types filled in for them. Two notable varieties are Miaoli Oolong Tea' 苗栗乌龙茶 and Miaoli Penfeng Tea(苗栗椪风茶) Miaoli oolong tea refers to the "Mingde tea" (明德茶) from Touwu 头屋 and Toufen 头份. Miaoli Penfeng tea refers to the "Fushou tea" (福寿茶) and "Baihao oolong" (白毫乌龙茶) produced in Touwu 头屋, Toufen 头份 and Sanwan 三湾.

Taiwan Tea Producing Areas 台湾产茶区域

Taiwan's tea region is divided into four regions: northern, central, eastern and southern tea regions. The northern tea area is the birthplace of Taiwanese tea and includes Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan County, Xinzhu County, and Miaoli County. Oolong tea, green tea, and black tea from the northern tea region were once Taiwan's best-selling export products. 

Although the central tea area started later, it is now the largest tea area in Taiwan. The central area Includes Taizhong City 台中市, Nantou County 南投县, and Yunlin County 云林县. Dongding Oolong (冻顶乌龙), Shanlinxi (杉林溪), and Lishan (梨山) are all produced in the central area. 

The southern tea areas are mainly Pingdong County 屏东县 and Jiayi County 嘉义县 where the famous Alishan Mountain 阿里山 is located. 

The eastern tea area includes Hualian County 花莲县, Yilan County 宜兰县 , and Taidong County 台东县. Famous teas coming from the eastern area are the honey-flavored black tea (蜜香红茶), and red oolong (红乌龙). Dayuling high-mountain oolong (大禹岭高冷茶) from Hualien is the highest altitude tea in Taiwan and is known as the king of high mountain tea in Taiwan.

Taiwan Tea Tree Varieties 台湾茶树品种

Taiwan has many famous teas, especially oolongs, such as Baozhong tea, Qingxin Oolong (青心乌龙), Qingxin Dayou (青心大冇), Yingzhi Hongxin (硬枝红心), Daye Oolong (大叶乌龙), and Tie Guan Yin. These varieties were brought by ancestors from Fujian 福建 in mainland China. 

The Taiwan Provincial Tea Industry Improvement Center 台湾省茶业改良场 began to investigate the characteristics of tea tree varieties in various parts of Taiwan Province in 1910. Researchers collected 17 varieties for comparison. In 1918, Qingxin Oolong, Daye Oolong, Qingxin Dayou and Yingzhi Hongxin were selected due to the fact that they were famous and propagated in large quantities. Later, Taiwan Tea Improvement Center selected as many as 21, naming them numerically, e.g. Taiwan Tea No. 1-21. Among these varieties 13 were considered suitable for making oolong tea. Taiwan tea No. 12 台茶十二号 (Jincha 金查 ), No. 13 (Cuiyu 翠玉), No. 14 (Baiwen 白文) are very popular among tea farmers and are being vigorously propagated and promoted.

Shimen Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea 最不像铁观音的“石门铁观音”

From the 1930s to the 1950s, Shimen's "Hard Branch Red Heart Tea Tree" (硬枝红心种茶树) was produced as "Ali Bang black tea" (阿里磅红茶) and exported to Japan, North Africa and the United Kingdom. These teas, unknown in mainland China, were in high demand abroad. In 1960, export sales began to decline, and Taiwanese tea producers turned to domestic markets. In order to cater to Chinese tastes, farmers in Shimen had to change the hard branch red heart tea leaves into Baozhong tea. Since this tea is best suited for heavy roasting and high oxidation, making this Baozhong into green tea just to suit Chinese tastes did not turn out to be a successful venture and Shimen tea disappeared.

It was not until the 1990s that the Shimen Farmers Association brought in leader Li Zhaojie (李兆杰) who’s understanding of tea turned the tides. Li was shocked to find out that the Ali Bang black tea that was popular in Japan turned out to be Tie Guan Yin. Li gathered a number of tea farmers who bravely tried using the Tie Guan Yin processing methods to make the hard branch Red Heart tea and they were successful. Shimen Tie Guan Yin and Ali Bang black tea were thus resurrected after disappearing for nearly thirty years.

Tea and Health 养生作用

Aged Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin has similar benefits to green tea and is filled with antioxidants. The tea polyphenols and catechins in Tie Guan Yin provide the most important antioxidant effects, including:

• removing free radicals 

• slow down cell aging

• prevent a variety of chronic diseases

• promote metabolism

The tea polyphenols and catechins in Tie Guan Yin are also considered beneficial for fitness as they can accelerate fat burning, increase energy expenditure, help with weight loss and improve body fat distribution.