The foreign press corps take a group photo at the Yanzike Ecological Tea Garden in Wuyi Mountain, Nanping. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

After feeling the pulse of Xiamen, a developed international city, the foreign press corps headed towards Nanping in northwestern Fujian on Nov 18, to learn about the city's development, as well as experience the city's distinctive tea culture and tea art.

 

Ecological tea garden

 

Yanzike Ecological Tea Garden in Wuyi Mountain, Nanping. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

 

Nanping is a perfect place for tea planting, for it is endowed with a sound ecological environment and abundant natural resources. Its forest coverage rate is 78.89 percent and its major river water quality ranks at the top in the country. Nanping has also boasted the best air quality in Fujian province for six consecutive years.

 

Above all, it is home to Wuyi Mountain, the starting point of the historic 10,000-mile Tea Road which spans from Fujian province to Russia and first sprang up at the beginning of the 18th century when Europeans developed a taste for Chinese tea. Wuyi Mountain is also the place where black tea and oolong tea originated.

 

A foreign journalist takes a photo of the tea garden. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

 

The foreign press corps visited Yanzike Ecological Tea Garden in Wuyi Mountain where rock tea, a kind of oolong tea, is widely planted, to take a closer look at how the city has achieved integrated sustainable development of the environment and tea industry.

 

Many foreign journalists expressed their likes towards this green, ecological tea garden and said they were amazed that tea can grow so well without any chemical pesticides.

 

Traditional tea-making techniques

 

Foreign press corps observe tea processing at Ruiquan Rock Tea Company. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

 

After learning about tea planting, the foreign press corps visited Ruiquan Rock Tea Company, a time-honored company that is committed to making tea with traditional techniques.

 

Huang Shengliang, the technical director of Ruiquan Rock Tea Company and national inheritor of the Wuyi rock tea making technique, showed the expats the process, including rotating, stir-frying, rolling, and roasting.

 

Though tea processing is time-consuming, it gives the tea leaves a unique fragrance, which lingers on the hands.

 

"I love Chinese tea, but I didn't know that making tea can be so complicated with so many steps, and it really takes skills and patience," said Michael Olugbode from Nigeria.

 

Foreign press corps enjoy rock tea at the Ruiquan Rock Tea Company. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

 

Huang also invited the foreign press corps to sit down and enjoy rock tea produced by the company while he was introducing the story of Ruiquan rock tea to them.

 

Velia Govaere from Costa Rica said she enjoys the elegance of making tea. "It's an honor and a pleasure to be able to drink tea in China," she said, "I even taped it in order to try to replicate it at home."

 

Landscape live tea show

 

The large-scale landscape live tea show Impression Da Hong Pao is on stage in Wuyi Mountain, Nanping. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

 

The foreign press corps later watched Impression Da Hong Pao, the only large-scale landscape live performance of Chinese tea culture in the world, with Wuyi Mountain as its background.

 

The stage for the landscape performance is a 360-degree rotating auditorium with 1,988 seats, which is the largest natural rotation theater in the world.

 

A foreign journalist broadcasts live the tea show on social media. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

 

When asked if he understood the show since the performers all spoke Chinese, Abdoulaye Diedhiou from Senegal answered with a saying: "sometimes communication with expressions is clearer than communication with the mouth". This can't be more true.

 

Language barriers cannot block people's cultural exchanges. Everyone in the foreign press group was completely absorbed in the show. "It was raining when we were seated, but we don't remember when it stopped!" said Mohamed Abdi from Somalia.

 

Performers present tea to the audience. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

 

Randolph Borges from Venezuela also highly appreciated the show. He said on his social media account that the lighting and stage were impeccable and no description was enough for this unforgettable experience.

 

"The show helps me understand the philosophy of tea better. Now I know that in China, tea is more than a drink, but also a lifestyle and a symbol of peace," said Abdoulaye.