As an important main production area of Chinese white tea, Fuding White Tea has a very deep origin. The famous Chinese tea scholar Zhang Tangheng recorded in "Chinese Tea Processing Technology": "In the sixtieth year of Qianlong's reign (1796), tea farmers in Fuding picked bud tips from ordinary tea tree varieties to make Silver Needle." The tea community generally regards 1796 as the founding time of white tea.
According to CCTV reports, during the excavation of the Lü family tombs, which once established the Xi'an Forest of Steles Museum, archaeologists discovered tea leaves from the Song Dynasty over a thousand years ago. What surprised everyone even more was that these ancient tea leaves were the rare and premium white tea. The appearance of white tea among the nobility in Xi'an during the Northern Song Dynasty further proves that white tea already existed during the Tang and Song dynasties.
Fuding White Tea does not require any artificial processing, such as killing-green, rolling, baking, or other processes to alter its inherent nature. It is born as tea, maintaining its natural form from beginning to end. It only needs sunlight; it is a tea of sunlight. So, what are its characteristics?
White tea's basic processes include withering, baking (or shade-drying), sorting, and re-firing. Withering is the key process in forming the quality of white tea. It is named because its finished tea is mostly buds, covered with white pekoe, resembling silver and snow. These ten points stem from the characteristics of white tea, representing both its efficacy and what distinguishes it from other tea types.
(1) Free of Fire Energy — Ming Dynasty's Tian Yiheng wrote in "Boiling Spring Essays": "Tea made with fire is secondary; sun-dried tea is superior, as it is closer to nature and free of the fire's energy." White tea, neither stir-fried nor rolled, is closest to natural breath, containing no fire energy, and is cool and refreshing.
(2) Full of Charm — White tea is elegant, with a clear and bright liquor and a delicate aroma. It is smooth and sweet on the throat, pleasing in character.
(3) Lowers the Three Highs — White tea contains essential active enzymes for the human body, which can significantly increase lipase activity, promote fat breakdown and metabolism, effectively control insulin secretion, delay intestinal absorption of glucose, break down excess sugar in the blood, promote blood sugar balance, and has outstanding effects in lowering blood lipids and blood pressure. It is suitable for people with the three highs (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia).
(4) Rich in Components — Besides containing the inherent nutrients of other teas, white tea is rich in various amino acids. It is cool in nature and has the effect of reducing fever, dispelling summer heat, and detoxifying. Qing Dynasty celebrity Zhou Liangong recorded in "Notes on Fujian": White Peony Silver Needle is cool in nature, with efficacy similar to rhinoceros horn, and is a holy medicine for treating measles.
(5) Medicinal Value — Prevents heatstroke, dispels heat, detoxifies, and treats toothache. Especially aged white tea can be used as a fever reducer for children with measles, with better effects than antibiotics.
(6) Suitable for Appreciation and Enjoyment — White tea has a beautiful appearance. Silver Needle is fully covered with pekoe in water, which is adorable. White Peony unfolds with buds and leaves complementing each other, as if about to speak but hesitating. It fits the trend and is interesting,深受女性茶友的喜爱 (deeply loved by female tea friends).
(7) Brightens the Eyes — White tea also contains rich vitamin A原 (precursor), which is quickly converted into vitamin A after being absorbed by the body. Vitamin A can synthesize rhodopsin, enabling clearer vision in dim light, preventing night blindness and dry eye disease. Meanwhile, white tea contains anti-radiation substances that significantly protect the body's hematopoietic function and reduce harm from computer and TV radiation.
(8) Protects the Liver — Protects the liver, relieves hangovers. Dihydromyricetin and other flavonoids rich in white tea can protect the liver, accelerate the decomposition of acetaldehyde (a metabolite of alcohol), turning it into non-toxic substances, and reduce damage to liver cells.
(9) Prevents Summer Heat — "Spring corresponds to the liver for nurturing life, summer to the heart for nurturing growth, late summer to the spleen for transformation, autumn to the lungs for nurturing harvest, winter to the kidneys for nurturing storage." Summer, the heart belongs to fire, all things grow to their peak, and summer heat is strong. The focus is on nurturing the heart, avoiding irritability and anger. One should be gentle in heart, soft in intention, broad and harmonious in nature. Turbid energy is released, skin and pores are unblocked,顺应夏阳气在外的特点 (conforming to the characteristic of summer yang energy being external). Suitable teas include aged white tea, green tea, Tieguanyin, Taiwan high mountain tea, raw Pu'er, etc.
(10) Suitable for Storage — White tea is "tea for one year, medicine for three years, treasure for seven years," meaning it can be aged for a long time with many benefits. Precisely, white tea stored for five to six years can be considered aged. Over time, the internal components of white tea transform and become mellower, while the characteristic pekoe aroma coexists with the aged fragrance. The taste is rich and fragrant, the liquor color is amber, bright and transparent. White tea reaching this age has more pronounced effects in preventing cancer, fighting cancer, preventing heatstroke, detoxifying, and preventing allergies. At the initial stage of a cold, drinking a few cups of hot aged white tea will make you feel much better.