I placed and order with Jing Tea Shop, on Mike's recommendation. I got a
few young pu cakes which I intend to let sleep awhile, but I also got one or
two oolongs. This one in particular is very fine. There's a floral,
perfumed note, but it's not obtrusive. And a lovely peach-like note -
reminds me a bit of the peachy flavor that some Taiwanese oolongs deliver,
with a tough of vanilla. The leaves look like a Wuyi rock oolong - long and
thin. Wonderful stuff.

What part of China does Fenghuang Dancong come from?

Dean

What part of China does Fenghuang Dancong come from?

Dancong comes from an area of the Guangdong province called the
Chaoshan; more specifically, the city Chaozhou. It's located in the
Northeastern portion of Guangdong close to the Fujian and Jiangxi
borders. The tea does resemble Wuyi tea, so it's possible that each of
the two places influenced each other's tea making style.

Then again, Wuyi is on the other side of Fujian, not the South where it
borders Guangdong, but the north. Southern Fujian makes rolled oolong
instead.

It is indeed odd though that they look similar, although quite
different in taste. Dancong is one of the least appreciated oolongs
outside of China, and it is indeed mighty fine -- one of my favourites

MarshalN wrote:
Then again, Wuyi is on the other side of Fujian, not the South where it
borders Guangdong, but the north. Southern Fujian makes rolled oolong
instead.

It is indeed odd though that they look similar, although quite
different in taste. Dancong is one of the least appreciated oolongs
outside of China, and it is indeed mighty fine -- one of my favourites


Southern Fujian oolong was 'unfurled' until recently, I think. Does
anyone know when it switched?

Alex wrote:
Southern Fujian oolong was 'unfurled' until recently, I think. Does
anyone know when it switched?

Hi Alex,

You are right. Fujian Anxi only started to use the machine to roll the
leaves in early-mid 90's. Prior to that the Anxi oolong (tie guan yin,
se zhong, huang jin gui) looked very much like Wuyi Oolong and were
more heavely baked.

The machine was created in Taiwan and so rolled taiwanese oolongs were
available in the west prior to the early-mid 90's.

SEb

Hi Seb,

Long time no hear! How are you?

I think the rolling of leaves was a much earlier process in China. Wang
Caotang mentioned this in his essay "Shuo Cha" (Talking about Tea) in 1717.

Traditionally, the South Fujian Oolong is shaped into curl that is called
half-balled, it is only in the late 80s - 90s that it is shaped more like
Taiwan oolong, into a balld shape.

Feng Huang Dancong began life in Chaozhou and were later introduced into
Wuyi in the 1800s.

Danny


"SEb" wrote in message
oups.com...
Alex wrote:
Southern Fujian oolong was 'unfurled' until recently, I think. Does
anyone know when it switched?

Hi Alex,

You are right. Fujian Anxi only started to use the machine to roll the
leaves in early-mid 90's. Prior to that the Anxi oolong (tie guan yin,
se zhong, huang jin gui) looked very much like Wuyi Oolong and were
more heavely baked.

The machine was created in Taiwan and so rolled taiwanese oolongs were
available in the west prior to the early-mid 90's.

SEb

Sorry Seb, misread your post. I thought you meant rolling as in rolling
the leaves, I think you meant rolling as in shaping into balled
shapes...semi-balled shape is fairly traditional, tight balled shape is a
method borrowed from Taiwan style of shaping.


Danny


"samarkand" wrote in message
...
Hi Seb,

Long time no hear! How are you?

I think the rolling of leaves was a much earlier process in China. Wang
Caotang mentioned this in his essay "Shuo Cha" (Talking about Tea) in
1717.

Traditionally, the South Fujian Oolong is shaped into curl that is called
half-balled, it is only in the late 80s - 90s that it is shaped more like
Taiwan oolong, into a balld shape.

Feng Huang Dancong began life in Chaozhou and were later introduced into
Wuyi in the 1800s.

Danny


"SEb" wrote in message
oups.com...
Alex wrote:
Southern Fujian oolong was 'unfurled' until recently, I think. Does
anyone know when it switched?

Hi Alex,

You are right. Fujian Anxi only started to use the machine to roll the
leaves in early-mid 90's. Prior to that the Anxi oolong (tie guan yin,
se zhong, huang jin gui) looked very much like Wuyi Oolong and were
more heavely baked.

The machine was created in Taiwan and so rolled taiwanese oolongs were
available in the west prior to the early-mid 90's.

SEb

"SEb" wrote in message
oups.com...
Alex wrote:
Southern Fujian oolong was 'unfurled' until recently, I think. Does
anyone know when it switched?

Hi Alex,

You are right. Fujian Anxi only started to use the machine to roll the
leaves in early-mid 90's. Prior to that the Anxi oolong (tie guan yin,
se zhong, huang jin gui) looked very much like Wuyi Oolong and were
more heavely baked.

The machine was created in Taiwan and so rolled taiwanese oolongs were
available in the west prior to the early-mid 90's.

SEb

Thanks, everyone, for responding. The tea I have is 'unfurled', and in my
judgment is not heavily baked as it has a floral/fruity profile that I find
gets lost (if it ever existed) in heavily baked oolongs. To my taste baking
seems to make teas one-dimensional - this tea has a lot of nuance and
complexity.

Dean

Yes, but Wuyi is still nowhere near Chaozhou.

In fact, one of the more stable provincial borders is those of the
southern, coastal provinces. Fujian and Guangdong as we know it now go
pretty far back -- certainly predating any such varietal of teas.

I don't mean to say there's no possibility, just to point out that they
are not exactly right next to each other.

Hi DPM,
All dancongs to me are the wonder of china, the season of fall, the
dried fruit in the cake,but continuing the fresh peach which dominates
to the end.I am discovering as much about them as I can. They are
differnt as you say from other oolongs esp TKY's and Taiwaneses, But
what about other anxi's OOOH I just want them all. and WAnt to know as
much as I can about them too.
Jenn

Hello Danny,

Doing well thanks. Hope you are doing fine as well. Going to Guang Xi
tonight and start to think about a little trip to Vietnam

I did mean rolling as in using a big bag with the leaves in it and then
putting that bag into a machine that will shape the leaves into a huge
7kg ball of tea which once broke shows the tea leaves rolled into
balls.

Thanks for the reference, I will ask Jing to look for that essay but if
you know where to find a copy of it feel free to let me know about it


can you explain me a little bit more about your last comment:
"Feng Huang Dancong began life in Chaozhou and were later introduced
into
Wuyi in the 1800s."

By Feng Huang Dancong you mean Shui Xian, right? I think that by that
time (1800) the only plants in Chaozhou were Shui Xian. If the Shui
Xian was taken to Wuyi, what tea was made with it?

SEb


samarkand wrote:
Hi Seb,

Long time no hear! How are you?

I think the rolling of leaves was a much earlier process in China. Wang
Caotang mentioned this in his essay "Shuo Cha" (Talking about Tea) in 1717.

Traditionally, the South Fujian Oolong is shaped into curl that is called
half-balled, it is only in the late 80s - 90s that it is shaped more like
Taiwan oolong, into a balld shape.

Feng Huang Dancong began life in Chaozhou and were later introduced into
Wuyi in the 1800s.

Danny


"SEb" wrote in message
oups.com...
Alex wrote:
Southern Fujian oolong was 'unfurled' until recently, I think. Does
anyone know when it switched?

Hi Alex,

You are right. Fujian Anxi only started to use the machine to roll the
leaves in early-mid 90's. Prior to that the Anxi oolong (tie guan yin,
se zhong, huang jin gui) looked very much like Wuyi Oolong and were
more heavely baked.

The machine was created in Taiwan and so rolled taiwanese oolongs were
available in the west prior to the early-mid 90's.

SEb

SEb wrote:
can you explain me a little bit more about your last comment:
"Feng Huang Dancong began life in Chaozhou and were later introduced
into
Wuyi in the 1800s."

By Feng Huang Dancong you mean Shui Xian, right? I think that by that
time (1800) the only plants in Chaozhou were Shui Xian. If the Shui
Xian was taken to Wuyi, what tea was made with it?


Hey Seb, I hear from friends who vworked in Vietnam there's still a
lot of lingering french culure there! Cross over to Laos if you have
the time, where you can get a french baguette and pate for almost a
song...

Regarding "说茶" by 王è�‰å*‚ (Wang Cao Tang's Talking About Tea), it
can be found usually in collections of old texts on tea. It can be
found in this book "ç»*茶ç»�" under the chapter "茶之é€*", towards
the end of the chapter. This book is currently repoduce beyond control
in China, so it is not difficult for Jing to get hold of it. Let me
know if you cant locate it...

I think it is a little melodramatic to say that Feng Huang Dancong
began life in Chaozhou, but you are right that it is possibly the
oldest cultivated tea from that region. I always thought Shuixian
varietal, which is the backbone of the Feng Huang cultivars, came from
Wuyi, since we were taught that Oolong as a tea was a process that
began in Wuyi. I met up with a Chaozhou vendor friend recently and was
told that it was the reverse. Oolong did began in Wuyi, but Shuixian
came from Chaozhou.

The 2 better known tea from Northern Fujian Shuixian are the Wuyi
Shuixian & Minbei Shuixian. Did I send you some samples of the former?
Thought I did...can't remember what I sent you the last time...

Danny

SEb wrote:
can you explain me a little bit more about your last comment:
"Feng Huang Dancong began life in Chaozhou and were later introduced
into
Wuyi in the 1800s."

By Feng Huang Dancong you mean Shui Xian, right? I think that by that
time (1800) the only plants in Chaozhou were Shui Xian. If the Shui
Xian was taken to Wuyi, what tea was made with it?


Hey Seb, I hear from friends who vworked in Vietnam there's still a
lot of lingering french culure there! Cross over to Laos if you have
the time, where you can get a french baguette and pate for almost a
song...

Regarding "说茶" by 王è�‰å*‚ (Wang Cao Tang's Talking About Tea), it
can be found usually in collections of old texts on tea. It can be
found in this book "ç»*茶ç»�" under the chapter "茶之é€*", towards
the end of the chapter. This book is currently repoduce beyond control
in China, so it is not difficult for Jing to get hold of it. Let me
know if you cant locate it...

I think it is a little melodramatic to say that Feng Huang Dancong
began life in Chaozhou, but you are right that it is possibly the
oldest cultivated tea from that region. I always thought Shuixian
varietal, which is the backbone of the Feng Huang cultivars, came from
Wuyi, since we were taught that Oolong as a tea was a process that
began in Wuyi. I met up with a Chaozhou vendor friend recently and was
told that it was the reverse. Oolong did began in Wuyi, but Shuixian
came from Chaozhou.

The 2 better known tea from Northern Fujian Shuixian are the Wuyi
Shuixian & Minbei Shuixian. Did I send you some samples of the former?
Thought I did...can't remember what I sent you the last time...

Danny