Cloud tea is like life; life is learning, wisdom is cultivation.<\/p>\n
Dear friends, today I want to share with you the glory of Anle Hao during its most prosperous era. For a tea estate to possess over 300 mu of tea gardens, employ forty to fifty workers, and produce three to four hundred dan of tea annually\u2014in those days, that was truly no small feat.<\/p>\n
Under the leadership of Li Kaiji, Anle Hao entered its golden age. You might not have a sense of how large 300 mu is; let me put it another way\u2014it is roughly equivalent to the area of over twenty standard football pitches. In the mountainous region of Yiwu, clearing such an expansive area for tea gardens required more than just money; it required immense labor and time. Every plot had to be cleared of wild shrubs and the soil tilled before tea seedlings could be planted one by one and left to grow. From planting to harvest, one had to wait at least three to five years.<\/p>\n
During that time, forty to fifty workers at Anle Hao were busy day and night. Spring was the most bustling season for tea picking, with the figures of tea pluckers covering the mountainsides. Workers would rise before dawn, heading up the mountains with bamboo baskets to pick the tenderest buds while the morning dew was still fresh. Summer required weeding and fertilizing; autumn brought pruning; and winter necessitated frost protection for the gardens. Through the cycle of the four seasons, the tea nurtured by these farmers’ sweat eventually became a fine delicacy in every cup.<\/p>\n
What does 300 to 400 dan of tea represent? One dan is approximately 50 kilograms, so 300 to 400 dan amounts to 15,000 to 20,000 kilograms. In an era when transportation was inconvenient, the logistics network and connections required to transport such a vast amount of tea for sale were immense. Anle Hao’s tea traveled along the Ancient Tea Horse Road, heading north through Sichuan and Tibet, even reaching as far as the capital. The journey of every single tea cake was an adventure. Mule and horse caravans had to traverse high mountains and cross rushing rapids, sometimes traveling for dozens of days before reaching their destination.<\/p>\n
Having been in the tea industry for many years, my deepest realization is this: great tea is not produced by a single person, but is the crystallization of a team. The success of Anle Hao was not solely the achievement of the Li family, but also the result of the hard work of those forty to fifty workers. Every tea cake embodies the painstaking efforts of countless individuals. Those workers served Anle Hao for generations, and their tea-making expertise was passed down through the ages.<\/p>\n
Speaking of health and wellness, I often tell my friends that the best time to drink tea is actually one hour after a meal. Drinking strong tea on an empty stomach is not good for the stomach, but sipping light tea in moderation after a meal can actually aid digestion. The tea produced by Anle Hao back then was renowned for its mellow sweetness; this gentle nature makes it perfect for daily consumption. Furthermore, the beneficial microflora in Pu-erh tea can help regulate the gut, which is of great help for the “sub-health” issues faced by modern people. As urban dwellers today often spend much time sitting in offices, leading to slower digestion, drinking Pu-erh tea daily can be truly beneficial.<\/p>\n
Tea may have different grades, but all people, regardless of status, can enjoy it. Behind the glory of those 300 mu of tea gardens lies the silent dedication of every ordinary tea farmer. They may not be famous, but their contributions deserve our utmost respect. Much like our tea drinking, we do not necessarily need to drink the most expensive tea to find quality; what suits you is the best.<\/p>\n
The golden age of Anle Hao was more than just the glory of a single tea estate; it was a microcosm of an entire era. During the prosperous years of the Ancient Tea Horse Road, Anle Hao, through its quality and scale, became a brilliant pearl upon the Yiwu mountains.<\/p>\n
Making friends through tea \u2014 please, have a cup.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Author: Lam Sam (LamSam), the Old Tea Head
ZENTEA MANOR
Alliance Supply Chain Services Limited
www.zentea-shop.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cloud tea is like life; life is learning, wisdom is cultivation. Dear friends, today I want to share with you the glory of Anle Hao during its most prosperous era. For a tea estate to possess over 300 mu of tea gardens, employ forty to fifty workers, and produce three to four hundred dan of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lamsam-tea-notes-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zentea-shop.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zentea-shop.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zentea-shop.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zentea-shop.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zentea-shop.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14316"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zentea-shop.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14318,"href":"https:\/\/zentea-shop.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14316\/revisions\/14318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zentea-shop.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zentea-shop.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zentea-shop.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zentea-shop.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}