The Chaoshan region, where Gongfu tea prevails, has long been the domain of Oolong Tea. There was a time when various teas like Longjing, Biluochun, Keemun Black Tea, Lapsang Souchong, Mengshan Yellow Buds, and Silver Needle White Hair found their way into local tea rooms. Even the dark Pu-erh Tea swept through like a gust of wind, having its moment on the fine red clay pots, broadening the horizons and delighting the palates of tea drinkers like us.

"One can trade tea until old age, yet never know all the famous teas." This old saying in the tea trade highlights the overwhelming variety. Since the Han and Tang dynasties, especially after tea drinking flourished in the Tang and peaked in the Song, production methods have undergone refinements and interventions. Techniques from steaming green tea to making compressed tea cakes and loose-leaf tea were popular in different eras, eventually sedimenting into traditional crafts. Adapted to different regions and cultivars, these methods produced an astounding and dazzling array of famous and exquisite teas. Consequently, the tea world today generally categorizes this family into six major types based on differences in processing methods and quality: Green Tea, Black Tea, Oolong Tea (Qingcha), White Tea, Yellow Tea, and Dark Tea. This is somewhat like how the world's human family is divided into races—both using color.

Green, red, black, and white—this classification should be intuitive and easy to remember. Green Tea, primarily the pan-fired type, is characterized by "clear soup and green leaves," represented by Longjing, Biluochun, Zhuyeqing, and Xinyang Maojian. Black Tea, famous for its red leaves and reddish soup formed after fermentation, is best represented by Keemun, Ninghong, and Dianhong; in the market, "Jin Jun Mei" is quite the craze. White Tea gets its name from being made from cultivars with abundant white downy hairs on the buds and leaves; representative examples include Silver Needle White Hair, Shou Mei, and White Peony. Dark Tea, named for its dark, oily, and solemn leaf color, is often pressed into compressed tea; the most familiar example is Pu-erh.

Here, we should say a bit more about Oolong Tea (Qingcha), as it is the primary material for Chaoshan Gongfu tea. Oolong Tea, a semi-fermented tea, is named for its bluish-brown color resembling iron. Its typical feature is leaves that are green in the center and red on the edges, elegantly described as "green belly with red镶边" (red rim). Semi-fermented Oolong Tea possesses the fresh fragrance of green tea and the mellow thickness of black tea, with a clear, golden-yellow liquor, natural floral aroma, and a rich, refreshing, and umami taste. Typical representatives used for Gongfu tea brewing include Wuyi Da Hong Pao from northern Fujian, Anxi Tieguanyin from southern Fujian, Dongding Oolong from Taiwan, and my hometown's Phoenix Dancong. We can also take pride—"Phoenix Dancong" is not only exquisitely crafted, a marvel of skill, but also profoundly and intriguingly named within China's vast tea family. It refers to centuries-old single-bush tea trees growing high in the mountains, possessing a sharp, natural floral fragrance and a unique mountain aura charm. While savoring it, one can perceive "the subtle fragrance gradually reveals itself" and "flavor contains charm, charm contains fragrance" (Qiu Ruitao's "Chaozhou Tea"). It is truly a gem among fine teas.

Haha, for tea drinkers, regardless of the category (green, red, black, or white), navigating this庞大的 tea family pursues the same thing: a cup of warm, fragrant good tea. Just as Mr. Lu Xun said, "To have good tea to drink and to know how to drink good tea is a kind of 'pure happiness'."