"Biluochun" (Green Spring Snail Tea) The special tea from
Tai Lake in Suzhou
Biluochun has the natural quality of flower and fruit fragrance,
its fragrance strong, its taste heavy, and its color bright.
So it is labeled as "precious tea".
Suzhou 's Biluochun Tea is one of the ten most famous teas in China
It is locally known as "Fearful Incense" due to the strong
aroma of the brew.
During the Qing dynasty, Emperor Kangxi visited Suzhou and praised
the flavor of this aromatic tea. The tea leaves are picked
from the Biluo Mountain near Tai Lake , and are collected
traditionally in early spring between what is known as
"Tomb-sweeping Day" and "Grain Rain Day"! The technique for
collecting tea leaves is very complex. Only the tender tip
of the leaf is used for the tea making process. This part of
the leaf should be no longer than one inch long and shaped
like the tip of a spear. One tin of tea uses 60 thousand
spears! It's no surprise then, that some of the finest
Chinese teas are very expensive. The next step in the
process is to repeatedly knead, rub and roll the leaves by
hand. The Biluochun tea involves a particularly labor
intensive process but the end result are leaves that are
compact, tender and wonderfully fresh and aromatic.
STORIES ABOUT BILUO CHUN
It is said that there was a peak called Biluo on the East
Hill of the Dongting Mountain. on the side of which grew
several tea trees, and every year people came here and pick
tea leaves to process them and then drink. One year, in the
tea picking season, the local people tea leaves grow
luxuriantly. They picked and picked, and there was too much
to be held in their crates. So they put the rest in their
clothes. As the fresh leaves were heated by the bodies, they
spread out strong fragrance which made all the pickers
shout, "It is surprisingly fragrant!" After that, nobody
used crates to hold tea leaves; instead they all carry them
on their chests and named these tealeaves "frightening
fragrance"(meaning strong fragrance). Among the pickers was
one called Zhu Zhengyuan who was proficient in processing
"frightening fragrance". One year, Emperor Kangxi of the
Qing Dynasty came sightseeing in the Tai Lake, and the
official Song Luo presented "frightening fragrance" to the
Emperor. The Emperor was very pleased with its taste, but
disliked its name. So he renamed it as "Biluochun".