Description
Mount Wudong road is like one of those insane mountain roads one sees in the Tour de France, always bending and always upwards to an unseen misty peak. For those that make the pilgrimage, it is a revelation to see some of the oldest tea trees outside of Yunnan. Some are majestic, some windswept, some with the local villagers growing beneath them, and some in groups like small orchards. Master Lin, a self taught tea maker, has made teas from many of the iconic ancient trees although doesn’t own any land himself, preferring to rent single trees and process their leaf by hand.
Master Lin’s family were not tea makers so his success and passion are all the more extraordinary. A tea maker for over 30 years, he made a point of travelling all over the Phoenix mountains to learn both from the terrain and other tea makers. Once he was confident in his own tea making skills, from 2002 he started to compete at tea competitions where his skills both as a tea maker and as a national level tea taster have helped him win many awards including the Top Gold Medal for Dan Cong at the International Tea Expo at Guangzhou in 2007. Master Lin attributes his success in competitions to his preparation and willingness to consult his fellow master tea makers.
