This is where Tzu Chi tea was grown and cultivated. It’s about 40 minutes walk away from SanYee train station, with the last 20 minutes hiking up the hills. As this place quite high up, the tea plantation field can be quite cooling in the morning.
As this is the summer harvest, the tea leaves would be made into red tea or known as 紅茶. The harvest must be during the sunny days and before noon. The harvest can be in either mechanical harvesting or handpicked harvesting.
During the handpick harvesting, hundreds of Tzu Chi volunteers from around ZhangHua (彰化) county would come here to pick the tea leaves. It would yield nearly a tonne of fresh picks in one morning of harvesting.
As the harvest is seasonal, it doesn’t mean that you’ll get the tea you want all year round. Since the harvest is limited to this small field, stock is very much limited. Plus, no insecticides were used for this plantation.
So the next time you drink JingSi tea, remember to appreciate your cup of tea as your last.
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