At this time, the dream is far away, and I don’t realize that I am on the mountainside: When traveling to Hanzhong in summer, don’t miss this high mountain tea garden in Mian County

"Green locust trees and tall willows swallow new cicadas. The scented wind has just begun to blow. Smoke sinks from the water under the blue screen window. The sound of chess frightens the day sleep..." In early summer, the sky is blue and the wind is bright again, when all things are growing. Isn’t it wonderful to make a cup of tea, take a walk, take in the colorful scenery, listen to the chirping of cicadas and the falling rain, and enjoy a spiritual release?

In Hanzhong, there is such a high mountain tea garden deep in Bashan, which has the geographical environment advantages of "high altitude, low latitude, cloudy and fog-free, and no pollution" and a long history of tea production. With its increasing popularity, it is becoming a new local "check-in" destination.

This "Alpine Tea Garden" is located in Qishuba Town, Mian County, Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province, China. It is located in the mountainous area in the southwest of Mian County, connected to Fuchuan Town in the east and Hujiaba Town in Ningqiang County in the west. It borders Tiesuoguan Town, Liping Town, Nanzheng District, to the south, and Yuandun Town to the north.

The maximum distance between east and west of the town's jurisdiction is 13 kilometers, and the maximum distance between north and south is 12.1 kilometers, with a total area of ??87.04 square kilometers. The town got its name from the many lacquer trees that grew there in the early years. In December 1995, during the reform of township institutions, the original Tangjiaba Township was merged into Qishuba Township. In May 2011, it was changed to Qishuba Town. Qishuba Town is located in a hilly mountainous area with rugged terrain, with an altitude of 950-1982.4 meters. The climate is subtropical humid monsoon climate. The multi-year average temperature is 13.8℃, the average temperature in January, the coldest month, is 1.9℃, and the average temperature in July, the hottest month, is 25.1℃. The average annual frost-free period is 233 days. The average annual precipitation is 900 mm, with rainfall mainly concentrated from May to October each year. With a good climate and environment, coupled with the geographical advantage of being far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, the local ecology has been in the news frequently in recent years and is becoming a famous specialty of Mian County and even Hanzhong.

It is understood that as of 2021, tea cultivation in Qishuba Town has a history of more than 40 years, with a total tea garden area of ??45,000 acres, and 2 provincial-level leading enterprises and 2 municipal-level leading enterprises, with a production capacity of more than 300 tons. There are 4 standardized processing plants, 15 tea production and processing cooperatives, and 9 tea companies have passed organic, green, pollution-free and other certifications. It has also been recognized by China Green Huaxia Organic Food Certification Center and China Green Food Development Center. Organic tea production bases and AA-level green food production bases have been successfully established at the provincial level, 1 tea park at the provincial level, 2 at the municipal level, and 1 at the county level. Among them, Qishuba Village was recognized by the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Agriculture as a designated tea village with one grade of tea in 2007. Shaanxi Meiling Tea Co., Ltd. won the "Houji Special Award" at the 24th China Yangling Agricultural High-Tech Fair in 2017. In 2019, Hanzhong Xianhao and Hanzhong Maojian produced by another local tea enterprise were designated as tea by the Secretariat of the 2019 Eurasian Economic Forum. It can be seen that Qishuba Maojian from Mian County, Hanzhong has begun to gain an international reputation due to its unique flavor, exquisite taste, and remarkable effects of refreshing, refreshing and relieving fatigue.

In people’s minds, China’s tea-producing areas are all in Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian and other places in the south. This is in line with the fact that after the 16th century, with the reopening of the “Maritime Silk Road”, European business travelers were all in The trading methods of tea, handicrafts and silver from Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and other places in the south are related: local tea merchants can reduce the cost and risk of bumpy roads by using local materials. Over time, it has formed the saying that "China's tea production areas are mainly in the south." "stereotype.

In fact, there are many good teas in the north, and Shaanxi is the earliest place to plant tea trees in China. No later than the Western Zhou Dynasty 3,000 years ago, the Ba people in southern Shaanxi began to cultivate tea trees. Tea is cultivated artificially in the garden. The famous story of "Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs" and discovered tea also happened in today's Sichuan-Shaanxi area.

Gu Yanwu, a famous scholar in the Qing Dynasty, inferred that "after the Qin people took Shu, tea drinking began." The first time the Qin people conquered Shu was in 316 BC, the ninth year of the Gengyuan year of King Hui of Qin. "Sima mistakenly attacked Shu and destroyed it." After the destruction of Shu, 10,000 Qin people moved to Shu. In 316 BC, the Shu people began to grow and drink tea, and taught this skill to the Qin people who moved to Shu. Historical records show that during the Tang and Song Dynasties, tea was not only an important source of food and clothing for farmers in southern Shaanxi, but also relied on it for the imperial court to develop financial resources and expand armaments. Hanzhong in the Ming Dynasty was the distribution center and trade center for southern Shaanxi tea and Shu tea. At that time, the output of Hanzhong tea reached a maximum of 5 million jin (1557), or 2,500 tons. Therefore, the history of tea cultivation and development in Hanzhong and its great reputation in ancient times can be seen from this.

On the other hand, Maojian, as a sub-variety of green tea or yellow tea, is famous for its thin, straight, round and smooth shape, the whole body of the tea leaves is covered with pekoe, and the taste of the tea soup is very fresh, rich, sweet and unique. When boiling water is poured into the cup, you can see that the Maojian tea leaves stretch vertically and then slowly sink to the bottom of the cup. The tea leaves are even, soft, bright green and smooth. The tea soup brewed from this is fresh, clean, free of impurities, elegant and fresh in aroma, fresh in taste, mellow in smell, and has a long and sweet aftertaste. After brewing for many times, you can taste different flavors, just like "The young man listens to the rain song upstairs, the red candles dim the tent; the mature man listens to the rain in the boat, the river is broad and the clouds are low, and the wild geese call in the west wind; now listening to the rain below the monk's house, The realization of the various flavors of life.

What’s more worth mentioning is that Qishuba Town in Mian County, as the core producing area of ??Hanzhong Maojian, not only has a long history of growing tea and rich experience in tea processing, but also has a beautiful scenery of “fog-washed green mountains”. With the popularization of drones, it has become known to more and more people——

Nowadays, when traveling to Hanzhong in early summer, you can come to Qishuba to admire the green mountains, and you can also buy newly processed Maojian at a discount For spring tea, you can also enjoy the homemade pork sausages and cured pork from Qishuba Farm, which is famous on various e-commerce platforms.

Suggested transportation route (self-driving):

Taking a taxi from Hanzhong to Qishuba in Mian County costs about 330 yuan (subject to the actual price quoted by the platform or driver).