The Nanshan area of Yizheng City is hilly and very suitable for Tea cultivation. Around the Qingming Festival, in my hometown of Yizheng, the mountains are covered with green tea bushes that release a delightful fragrance.
I remember when I was young, my parents, like other tea farmers, would get up early every day to pick the first shoots or half-opened fresh leaves. Their faces would turn red from the sun, their hands stained dark by the sap, but despite the sweat on their brows, their faces were filled with the joy of harvest. When I brought lunch to them in the tea garden at noon, if I arrived at just the right time, I could hear the bright voices of the tea pickers singing, echoing through the mountains. It was a natural, primitive force that moved the soul.
Green Willow Spring Tea Leaves
Picking the tea is only the first step. The tea must then undergo multiple processes such as pan-firing and shaping before the Green Willow Spring tea is finally ready. My father loved drinking tea. In his spare time, he would sip the Green Willow Spring tea with half-closed eyes, often exclaiming, “What good tea!”
In recent years, as the tea-making skills of Yizheng's Green Willow Spring tea have been successfully listed as provincial intangible cultural heritage, there has been a surge in interest in tea appreciation, and people have started to learn about Tea culture. In my hometown, generation after generation has grown, processed, and savored tea, regardless of the passage of time. The people here have been deeply influenced by tea, maintaining a sense of tranquility, purity, and tradition.
Nowadays, during my free time, I open a packet of Green Willow Spring tea, place a small amount of leaves in a Cup, and pour in boiling water. The fragrance of the tea fills the air. As the leaves slowly sink to the bottom of the cup, I take a sip, savoring its Sweetness and lingering aroma on my tongue. I also send Green Willow Spring tea to my distant relatives so they can taste the flavors of home!
(The author works at the Maziji Central Primary School in Yizheng City.)
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