Tea Name

Mengding Ganlu (蒙顶甘露) means sweet dew “gan lu” (甘露) from Mengding Mountain (蒙顶), or just Meng Shan Cha/Mengding Cha (蒙山茶/蒙顶茶) meaning simply Meng Mountain Tea. Some records trace the name back to a Monk named Ganlu Puhui, who was said to have planted seven tea plants on the Mountain.

Location

Mengding Mountain is the main producing area of ​​Mengding Ganlu tea. Mengding Mountain is located in Mingshan County on the southwestern border of the Sichuan Basin. It is 100 kilometers away from Chengdu and 15 kilometers away from Ya'an. It is within the Qionglai Mountains (邛崃山) of Sichuan with Emei Mountain (峨眉山) to the east, Daxiangling (大相岭) to the south, Jiajin Mountain (夹金山) to the west, Chengdu Basin (成都盆地) to the north, and Qingyi River (青衣江) passing by the foot of the mountain.

Tea Processing

Today, the production process of Mengding Ganlu follows the "three stir-frying and three kneading" (三炒三揉) method of the Ming Dynasty. After the fresh leaves are collected, they are spread out and partially dried. Then the leaves are stir fried until they are soft, dark green, and even, revealing the tea fragrance, and reducing the water content to about 60%. After fixing, the tea goes through the “three times” kneading and the “three times” frying process. After shaping and drying (known as the primary drying), the leaves are then uniformly assembled into small piles. Afterwards they are re-dried to achieve sufficient dryness, then uniformly assembled into large piles, and finally they are stored in the warehouse for collection. Compared with ordinary green tea, the taste is more fresh and mellow due to the addition of the rolling process during the processing.

Tea culture

Mengding Mountain in Sichuan is one of the birthplaces of tea planting and tea making. The altitude, soil, and climate of Mengding Mountain are most suitable for the growth of tea. As early as 2000 years ago in the Western Han Dynasty in China, Wu Lizhen (吴理真), the tea master of Mengding Mountain, began to domesticate wild tea trees in Mengding Mountain and began the history of tea cultivation.

Mengding Ganlu tea is known as the “mother of the ten thousand teas” Wan Cha Zhi Mu (万茶之母) because it occurs so early both in history and in terms of its early picking time each year. One of the most ancient teas of China, famous Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi (白居易) wrote in his poem “Qin Tea” 琴茶 the following, “The guqin knows and hears only "Lu Shui", and the old tea is from Meng Mountain." Here he is referring to “Lu Shui” which was one of the most famous pieces written for the guqin, the classical Chinese string instrument. To say that Meng Mountain tea is to all teas as Lu Shui is to guqin music was indeed a huge compliment.   

Tea skills

Mengding Mountain's long-mouth teapot technique "Eighteen Styles of Longxing" (龙行十八式) is a tea mixing technique that is unique to Mengding Mountain. Legend has it that it was created by Master Chan Hui (禅慧), an eminent monk in the Northern Song Dynasty of China when he was rehabilitating Mengding Mountain. As a course for monks to practice, the tea art of "Eighteen Styles of Long Xing" is only spread among monks on Mengding Mountain. Tea skills integrate traditional tea ceremonies, martial arts, dance, and Zen. In a very ornamental tea ceremony, the tea technician holds a long-mouthed copper pot with a spout that is more than one meter long and uses flipping and dancing to turn the teapot.