Basic Introduction to Huning Songluo Tea
Songluo tea is a historic and famous tea, belonging to the green tea category. It was first created during the early Ming Dynasty and is produced in Songa Mountain, Lunche Village, Wanshan Town, Huining County, Anhui Province. The mountain stands at 882 meters high and is connected with Langyuan Mountain, Jinfoshan, and Tianbao Mountain. The terrain is steep and perilous, with cliffs hanging from the sky. The peaks are towering and elegant, with pines and vines intertwining for miles, creating a picturesque landscape. “Songluo Snow Clearing” was once listed as one of the eight scenic views of Huining Haiyang. During the Tang Dynasty, there was a Songluo Monastery on Songa Mountain. Most of the tea gardens are located between 600-700 meters above sea level. This area has a mild climate, abundant rainfall, and is often shrouded in mist. The soil is fertile and deep, allowing the tea plants known as “Songa variety” to thrive. These plants have large canopies, thick leaves, sturdy buds, and bright green tender shoots with prominent down, making them excellent raw materials for processing Songluo tea.
The harvesting and processing techniques of Songluo tea reached a sophisticated level several hundred years ago and were later spread to provinces such as Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Hubei. According to the Ming Dynasty's Wen Long's “Tea Notes,” “When tea is first picked, twigs, old leaves must be picked out, only tender leaves should be kept, and the tips and stems should also be removed, to avoid burning. This is the method of Songluo. When stir-frying, someone needs to fan it to dispel the heat; otherwise, the color, aroma, and taste will diminish. From my personal experience, fanning makes the color greener. After the heat slightly subsides, knead the tea heavily by hand, then scatter it back into the wok, and stir-fry over low heat until dry and ready for baking. Kneading brings out the essence of the tea, making the aroma and flavor more pronounced when steeped.”
Nutritional Value
The pharmacological effects of Songluo tea include stimulation, strengthening the heart, diuresis, astringency, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Therefore, drinking Songluo tea can eliminate mental fatigue and enhance memory. Drinking large amounts of decoction is highly effective for treating dysentery. Catechins can promote the absorption of vitamin C. Vitamin C can help move cholesterol from arteries to the liver, lowering blood cholesterol levels while also enhancing the elasticity and permeability of blood vessels, effectively treating coronary heart disease and hypertension. In the “Compendium of Materia Medica” compiled by Zhao Gongshang in 1930, Songluo tea is described as: eliminating food stagnation, greasy foods, clearing heat, descending qi, and reducing phlegm.
Product Features
The quality characteristics of Songluo tea are tightly coiled and uniform strands, bright green color, high fragrance, rich taste, with an olive-like aroma, clear green liquor, and tender green leaves at the bottom of the cup. Drinking Songluo tea can be exhilarating and soothing. In ancient times, people praised it with the saying that “the aroma of Songluo surpasses that of Longjing.” Those who have tasted Songluo tea know that initially, there may be a slight bitter and astringent taste, but upon careful tasting, it reveals a sweet and mellow flavor, a rare olive-like taste in teas. A distinctive feature that sets Songluo tea apart from other famous teas is its “three heavies”: heavy color, heavy fragrance, and heavy taste. “Bright green color, high fragrance, and rich taste” are the prominent features of Songluo tea.
History and Folklore
The creation of Songluo tea dates back over 500 years. According to Shen Zhou (1427-1509) in his work “After the Book of Differentiating Tea,” “Like the Qingyuan and Wuyi of Fujian, Tianchi and Huzhou of Wu County, Longjing of Hangzhou, Xin'an's Songluo, and the Yunwu of Mount Lu, their names are well-known, yet they cannot rival Jie tea.” According to historical records, before 1600 AD, Songluo tea from Xin'an and Huizhou was always mentioned alongside the major famous teas in China. Luo Bing (1609) wrote in “Tea Interpretation,” “Songluo tea is produced on Songa Mountain in Huining County, created by the monk Dafang. His method involved picking the tea and removing the veins, stir-frying it with silver picks… I, Li Zhang, first visited Songa Mountain and personally witnessed Elder Dafang's meticulous tea-making process. I wrote a scroll and presented it to him.”
During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, the “Rangfu Temple” on Songa Mountain became famous in southern China and attracted many visitors. According to the “Annals of Huining County,” “Songa Mountain is located thirty miles north of the county, rising 160 zhang high, covering fifteen li. It is connected to Jinfoshan. Halfway up the mountain, cliffs soar towards the sky, peaks cluster together, pines and vines interweave, and there is a Zen monastery founded during the Tang Dynasty, moved during the Yuan Dynasty. The Great Compassion Hall and Jiluo Hermitage are also notable sites.” The “Annals of Huizhou Prefecture” mentions that “Songa Mountain rivals Lan Ting and Mount Qiyun.” Historical records show that temples and hermitages began to be built on Songa Mountain during the Tang Dynasty. Due to its majestic scenery and beautiful environment, it became a Buddhist holy site long ago. A large stone stele titled “The Stele of Songa Mountain,” weighing about 400 kilograms, was excavated from the ruins of an ancient temple on Songa Mountain. It was made by Ming Dynasty officials and social elites. The stele is made of high-quality bluestone from Wuyuan, Jiangxi, and four scholars who passed the imperial examinations jointly wrote the inscription. It describes the “charming scenery” of Songa Mountain, surrounded by mountains with its temple gates uniquely open, during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. It also recounts the history of “Elder Dafang, working hard every year, carefully roasting” Songluo tea and the bustling scene of “tea merchants gathering to compete for purchases of the fragrant tea” before the Qingming Festival and the rainy season.
In the book “Also Thus” from the Qing Dynasty, there is a magical legend: the master of essay writing, Huanlong, came to Songa Mountain and asked where the tea was grown. The monk led him to the back of the mountain, where he saw ancient pines twisted on stone walls, standing five to six zhang tall, without any tea trees visible. The monk said, “The tea grows on the pine branches. It sprouts after seeds fall into the pine branches, similar to how mistletoe grows. It's called ‘songluo,' taking the meaning of ‘female mistletoe growing on a pine.'” When asked about the method of picking, the monk tapped the roots of the pine tree with his staff and shouted, “Old friend, where are you?” Immediately, two or three giant apes leaped over and picked the tea leaves one by one. Songluo tea was thus named.
Awards and Honors for Huning Songluo Tea
In 2001, it won the International Excellent Tea Quality Award at the China International Tea Expo and Trade Fair,
In 2002, it received the Anhui Science and Technology Achievement Award and was recognized as a municipal-level famous tea by Huangshan City.
In 2008, it won the Green Tea Gold Medal, and in 2009 and 2010, it received the China Famous Tea Gold Medal at the Shanghai International Tea culture Festival.
Legend
In Huining County, Anhui Province, there is a mountain called Songa, which produces a renowned tea called Songluo. Not only is Songluo tea highly aromatic and flavorful, but it is also believed to have medicinal properties, and even today, many Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in Beijing, Tianjin, Jinan, and other areas still frequently prescribe it. Songluo tea is primarily used to treat high blood pressure and stubborn sores, and it can also aid digestion and relieve constipation. As for the origin of Songluo tea, legend has it that