Sips of a Mystical Past: Searching for Chinese Tea Legends

Stephan van der Mersch
smersch@oxy.edu
Occidental College

My first day, in Shanghai, I began moving from teashop, carrying with me polite conversation and the same question-"do you know any tea stories?" Not many people did, and I did not expect them to. Shanghai was too
removed from the heartlands of tea. After visiting the first five stores (I would pick the small ones that had more personal service
instead of the big ones with attendants), I'd found two legends, one of which I'd heard before. I'd at least had a good time, sipping tea and warming up my Chinese. The next day I went ahead into a large store and asked the same question. By chance, the owner happened to be in. By chance, the owner, Mr. Fang, happened to have come from a family that has been exporting tea for generations. He told me the story of how his great grandfather was the first to start exporting teas from west China to the US. I told him some stories, and we talked for hours. I told him of my plan to go searching for legends mostly in Sichuan, Hebei and
Fujian. He said to me, "To understand all of Chinese tea, you must go to Yunnan. Begin in Yunnan, and then go to Sichuan, and then Hebei and then here to tell me of your trip. If you still have time, then you can go to Fujian. I will ask people I know to help you."

With that incredible stroke of luck, I began an adventure that I will never forget. A few days later I landed in Kunming, Yunnan, and was picked up by one of Mr. Fang's friends, who took me to his tea factory in the hills several miles outside the city. I spent three weeks with him and talking to the many people that grew tea for him and around there. The young people in the area welcomed me, and I made friendships
and heard stories that I will always remember. I have never felt so
welcomed by people.

After that I went to Sichuan, where a family friend who did public health work in the countryside helped me for twelve days wander around the mountains and hills of the region, speaking to people whose lives were completely centered around tea. Chatting and sharing stories I picked up a bit of the twang of the Sichuanese dialect.

A week later after floating down the Yangtze, I found myself in Dingshan, Jiangsu province, looking at thousands and thousands (and thousands) of teapots. The heartland of Chinese pottery, from Dingshan grows a whole new branch of earthy tea legends. I spent three days there. One of Mr. Fang's friends even taught me how to make teapots, though I'll need to practice a bit.

I went back to Shanghai and found Mr. Fang. Again, we talked for hours. I did not have time to go to Fujian. But Mr. Fang said that if (when) I go back, he has some friends there. And I want to go back to visit him, and visit those friends I made in Yunnan too. It feels shallow to put words to this experience-I can only say that I have been deeply changed by it.