Mingling with Tea Farmers after the coronavirus epidemic

Some two years ago, Elena invited me to read The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, written by the
#1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa See, “one of those special writers capable of delivering both poetry and plot” (The New York Times Book Review), a moving novel about tradition, tea farming, and the bonds between mothers and daughters.  Elena had lived in that world for two years and wanted me to learn something of the mystery and the tragedies associated with that way of life.  It made a deep impression upon me.

Thus, it was no surprise that Elena wanted to take me to experience tea farming first-hand.  With the abatement of the new cases of Covid-19 from 2000 per day to 20, Elena suggested that (after been cooped up in the house for four months) we take a trip to tea country, Wuyuan.

So we paid $32 for our ticket to take the bullet train for 2 hours and to travel 409 km. — that’s an average speed of over 200 km/hr = 111 miles/hr.  Just a few months back, this trip would take 4.2 hours.  But that was before the welded tracks necessary for the bullet train were completed.  This is simply amazing!

In boarding the train, the Chinese made orderly lines.  Ten years ago, it would be a pushing and shoving free for all.  Today, however, everything is orderly and everyone knows that their seat is reserved.  Everyone is wearing a mask.  Elena draws my attention to the fact that we appear to be the only foreigners travelling.

Just as a comparison, one has to pay $101 to take Amtrack for 4.2 hours to travel the 306 km from Boston to NYC.  In brief, Amtrack costs 3 times more and travels at less than half the speed of the Chinese bullet trains that criss-cross the country.   China has 27.4 km of high-speed tracks per million inhabitants while the USA has 0.1 km per million inhabitants.  Need to know more?  Read this =

Why Doesn't The United States Have High-Speed Bullet Trains Like Europe And Asia?

The story of tea–from medicine used by monks to a popular drink worldwide

The ancient Chinese long ago discovered the healing properties of tea leaves and used them as herbal medicines over many generations. For example, people added tea leaves to their food to supply nutrients or as an antidote to poison. It was not till the Han dynasty (BC 206-AD 220), that methods of preparing tea became more standardized and tea became a drink to rival that of wine.

In the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), tea drinking was prevalent among noblemen and Buddhist monks. The monks accumulated extensive knowledge of how to make use of tea-drinking to boost one’s spiritual cultivation. Lu Yu, who had been an attendant to a Zen master, learnt how to brew tea and appreciate its qualities. He wrote the world’s first tea monograph, The Classic of Tea (Cha Jing) around AD 760. This book advocates the benefits of tea drinking and systematically describes the cultivation of tea plants, the processing of its leaves, the skills needed for its preparation and its enjoyment as a daily beverage.

An illustration of a tea competition

Since then, tea has evolved into a staple beverage in China. The general public drinks tea to cure a variety of ailments or simply enjoys it for its many unique flavors. Many intellectuals received inspiration from tea-drinking. They composed famous poems, wrote novels and essays, and created paintings under the influence of a good cup of tea. In time, a whole set of tea cultures developed as a result. People found out that tea-drinking not only enhanced their health, but also, their emotions were soothed, elevated, and perceptions sharpened.

Chinese tea arts spread to Japan in the sixth century, and it was introduced to Europe and America in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Together with silk and porcelain, tea has been another important Chinese export to the world.  The Italians drink expresso; the Americans prefer their Coke; just as the Chinese drink their tea.

The cultivation of tea by 80 million small family farmers

As our train sped toward Wuyuan, the land became more hilly (like KY), the elevation rose by 1000 meters, and plots of tea began to appear as well.  Here is a typical view (above).  To our eyes, tea plants look like trimmed hedges.  The bushes that produce tea, however, are quite special.  How so?  They require an elevation of 1000 to 2000 meters.  They require a mild climate–no harsh winters or very hot summers.  Finally, they require moderate and frequent rainfalls during the growing season.  Harvesting tea leaves is very labor-intensive and, not surprisingly, 60% of the harvesters are women.

All in all, China has 45% of the world’s tea-growing areas.  In the continental USA, there are only three areas that commercially grow tea. There is a single commercial tea plantation in South Carolina, now owned and managed by Bigelow Tea. There is also a very small small tea-producing operation in the Skagit Valley, in Washington State, run by Sakuma Brothers. Even less well-known than these two, there is a small tea plantation in Alabama, called Fairhope Tea Plantation, and run by Donnie Barrett.

True or false: the potency of virgin-lip tea

Elena had the great idea of renting a car.  We had planned to move around Wuyuan and to visit small farming villages as well.  The car was deposited at the railroad station in Wuyuan when we arrived.  You can see the car to the left.  It a MG5, compact 5-door sedan, with automatic transmission.  The MG is a British car that is manufactured in China.  Elena complained that the car performed well but that it had insufficient power for passing on the highways.  The rental cost was $50/day.

It took us about 25 minutes to discover how to start the car.  The key was used to open the doors but there was no place to insert the key into the dashboard.  All we had was a button with the word “Start” printed on it.  Unfortunately the rental agency did not put a users’ manual in the glove compartment.  I had driven a car like this made in the UK some twenty years ago and I knew that it was only necessary to have the key inside the car to start it.  As it turned out, we were not pressing on the “Start” button with sufficient force.

Wuyuan

Here is the town of Wuyuan (population 300k) duing the peak of the rapeseed flowering (in March).

The family farms here manage roughly one acre.  The Chinese use the metric system everywhere; hence, they would say that they have 0.4 hectares = 4000 square meters ~ half a football field.  Prior to the success of the Communist Revolution in the 1920s, nearly all the cultivated land was held by rich land-owners who hired serfs (farmers) to cultivate their rice fields–the staple of the Chinese diet in that period.  In this climate, one can plant and harvest three rice crops each year.  After the Revolution, the cultivation of the rice fields remained in the hands of the farmers but now they formed collectives that divided the harvests among the workers and eliminated the rich landowners.  Under China’s current Household Responsibility System (HRS) started in the early 1980s, all rural land is owned by rural collectives, which allocate management rights for parcels of farmland to eligible households. “The closer you are to the land, the more likely you are to take care of it.”

In the 1990s, organic farming was introduced into China.  This alternative was very attractive to family farmers (a) because the market value for organic tea was three times that of the conventional tea and (b) because organic tea was able to garnish a fixed sale price at harvest time.  Here is the breakdown of the budgets of both organic and conventional one-acre farms in Wuyuan:

You will notice that certified organic farmers do not show a “total crop value” of 300%.  This is because organic tea plants do not benefit from artificial fertilizers and that manure is in short supply in Wuyuan.  Nonetheless, organic farmers show an average net profit of $119/yr. whereas conventional farmers reap a profit of only $12.  When labor is factored in, however, the increased time spend in weeding, fertilization, and insect control methods required for organic farming brings the total costs to $525 as opposed to $500 for conventional farmers.  The overall monetary advantage, consequently, is minimal.  Chinese farmers thus embrace organic certification for reasons that go beyond profitibility.  The international buyers willing to pay the higher cost of organic tea thus also do so for reasons that go beyond choosing the best bargain.

Let me illustrate this.  In Kroger’s, you pay $1.98 for 20 Lipton Natural tea bags.  Meanwhile, you pay $4.49 for 20 Numa Organic tea bags.  Notice that Lipton inserts the word “Natural” which does not imply that it was grown by certified organic farms.  The organic tea sold by Numa costs 226% more.  If you’re willing to spend $5.19 for 20 TAZO Zen Green Tea Bags, then you will get “a delicious green tea blend infused with crisp notes of spearmint, lemongrass, and lemon verbena to help you experience a true moment of Zen during the day.”  In Asia, lemongrass is widely used in cooking.  Prior to taking a cooking class in Bali, I had no idea what lemongrass was.  As for the claim that this blended tea can “help you experience a true moment of Zen,” I take this to be a poetic claim that defies experiential verification.

Elena typed the address of our hotel into her iPhone, and she obtained precise directions in Mandarin for how to drive there at every turn.  Our hotel is a revamped farm house.  Once we register, we carry our luggage up to the third floor.  Looking out our window, we can see the river.  How nice!  Our clean and spacious room with bath costs $40/night, breakfast included.  We decide to join the fixed menu supper for $10 each.  This was a good move.  The food was superb and there were no restaurants within a five mile radius.

We freshen up in our hotel and head out to the river.  We pass through the farmers’ fields along the way.  What stands out is the enormous size of the cabbages and the brilliant greens of the Swiss chard.  The gardens are meticulously maintained.  The air temperature is 80 degrees.  Along the river, the temperature is slightly cooler.

The river has no noticeable current and it is quite shallow.  The river is navigated by rafts made from six or eight bamboo sections [4 m. long and 15 cm. in diameter] that are lashed together.  The rafts are pushed forward by a navigator with a 3 m. long pole that allows him/her to stick the end into the river’s muddy bottom.  Women and men seem equally capable of using these rafts.

The farmers here have hen and duck houses.  The ducks are released into the river during the day and, at nightfall, they come into their duck houses (much as do their chickens).  We saw no pigs being raised.  We saw two calves (lower-right pic above) that were grazing along the river and presumably being raised to pull a plow.

The country without any cows

The Chinese have no tradition of raising milk cows.  Accordingly there was not a single milk cow visible in the farms that we visited.  And, since there is no cow’s milk, it follows that there is no cheese, no yogurt, and no milk in the traditional Chinese diet.  A Chinese family drinks tea during their meals and between meals. At our Chinese inn, one is served tea at the reception desk.  In fact, tea is the drink available at all times.  We never once saw any guest drinking a soft drink or soda.

In order for 6000 KFC and 2400 McDonald’s restaurants to thrive in the cities of China, urban Chinese have had to overcome two major dietary taboos: (a) their resistance to drinking a sweet soda with ice instead of a hot tea (without milk or sugar) and (b) their resistance to touching the food that they eat and tearing off a piece with their teeth without any chop sticks in sight.

There are no “finger foods” in the Chinese diet.  Pieces of meat and vegetables are cut into bite-size bits during the process of preparation.  Hence, everything could be easily eaten with chop sticks.  A table knife was unnecessary.  Indeed, it was altogether unwelcome at a dining table.  Even in the case of a Peking Duck that has been slowly roasted in a clay oven for hours, the delicious morcels of meat are quickly cut off the duck and artfully presented on serving platters such that every piece can be picked up  with chop sticks.  Soups, meanwhile, are eaten with flat-bottomed ceramic spoons.  Thin soups are drunk by placing the lip of the bowl against one’s lips. Most Chinese have never had the experience of biting into a whole apple or eating a whole ear of corn being held by two hands either during or outside of a meal.  When corn is served during a Chinese meal, the cob is already removed or the cob and kernals are sliced into portions that can be easily handled with chop sticks.  Moreover what we know as “the American sandwich” does not exist in the Chinese cuisine.  Even Dim Sum (steamed muffins filled with bits of meat or sweet bean curd) are eaten with chop sticks and never cut up or picked up with bare fingers.  Click here if you wish to see how it is done.

Thus when Chinese go to the 6000 KFC or the 2400 McDonald’s restaurants, they are prepared to surrender their normal way of handing food during a meal.  Most do so “as a novelty.”  Some young people have taken to eating American food for lunch every day.  Good flavors and low cost are the principal reasons given.  The newly independent China arm of McDonald’s plans to squeeze more revenue out of its stores, even as it seeks to double its store count across China up to 2022. (source)

Breakfast in China

In Shanghai, we are situated on a landing pattern for an airport that is five miles away.  I plane passes overhead every five minutes.  Out in the courtryside, however, there are no planes and, as the sun sets, even the roosters fall asleep on their perches.  It gets very quiet.  With the first streaks of sunlight, a half-dozen  roosters are announcing the new day.  Elena wakes up at 6 am and makes coffee for herself and for me.  She can’t get a good start on a day without coffee.  Then a short sequence of Yoga follows.  We shower together and head off toward the dining hall.  Here is our Chinese breakfast that traditionally is included in the price when you rent a hotel room:

First we eat a thin rice porridge (with salted peanuts added because the porridge has no salt).  Then we have a fried egg (pic shows Elena “properly” eating hers with chop sticks).  Thirdly, we have fried noodles with a spicy sauce containing thin slices of pork and scallions.  Then the Baozi–steamed yeast-raised muffins [Here is the recipe = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6DD504lDac].  We end with hot green tea.

One can be sure that this is the typical breakfast for farmers.  They start working in their gardens at 5:30 when the air is cool.  After a couple hours of work, they return home to eat a good breakfast.

All foreigners are prone to be carriers of Covid-19