Kuang Xin: dream of making tea into a family tradition

                                  [Photo: Getty Images]

The city of Qingdao in eastern China is not known for its exquisite and quality tea products compared to the city of Hangzhou; 800 kilometers to its south.

However, a man named Kuang Xin has been devoted to changing the traditional image of the city by developing a new quality brand of tea grown in the hills of Qingdao.

The Laoshan Mountain in the east of Qingdao is home to its eponymous tea - one that is far less well-known than many other types of major Chinese teas.

In 2001, Kuan Xin, a native of Qingdao, attempted to change this.

The then 35-year-old man spotted an investment opportunity in the local tea business, though there was some trepidation from other investors.

At the time, a large hilly field in the eastern section of the Laoshao Mountain range was planted with Chinese chestnut trees.

Unfortunately the trees began to wither and the field was about to be abandoned.

Kuang rented the field and tried to turn it into a tea plantation.

"At that time, there were still spaces in the tea field at the foot of the hill. People wondered why I abandoned the already developed field in favor of the decayed Chinese chestnut field. 

“I made a huge investment, opening roads and building a reservoir. I employed manual laborers to carry bags of sand and cement up the hill," said Kuang.

With the necessary preparation done, Kuang started fervently experimenting with his tea business.

"I planted a new type of tea seedlings right after I prepared the field. The genes of that type of tea are supposed not to degrade within a hundred years. But all of the seedlings died due to my lack of tea planting knowledge. 

“In 2002, I re-planted the same type of seedlings. After seven years of effort, the Erlong Hill Tea Plantation finally took shape."

Kuang's 6.7 hectares tea field is on the Erlong Hill, or Two-Dragon Hill, which is at the eastern foot of the massive Laoshan Mountain range.

However, things were not as good as Kuang had imagined right after his tea trees produced its first batch of tea leaves.

"Our tea didn't sell well on the market at the beginning. Why? Because many people said tea leaves from the Laoshao Mountain range were usually like rotten grasses, how could your tea look so good? It must be fake tea," recalled Kuang.

As a matter of fact, tea grown in the Laoshao Mountain range was traditionally of a lower quality compared to that in southern China.

But this initial setback didn't make Kuang lose heart.

He then began to learn, in earnest, how to plant, process and make tea with tea experts in Zhejiang, Anhui, and Fujian provinces; all places that are centers of tea culture in China.

With years of patient learning and diligent practice, Kuang has now developed and registered his own tea brand—'Xiaoyangchun Tea'.

The tea brand is of a higher quality than the traditional Laoshan Mountain tea grown in Qingdao. And it has begun to appeal to buyers.

Kuang has also developed a unique tea ceremony based on the features of the Laoshao Tea and Taoist tradition dating back some seven hundred years.

Kuang explains: "Our set of tea ceremonies is based on classic tea books from the Southern Song Dynasty. It's also integrated with Laoshan Mountain Taoism ceremonial etiquette. 

“The performer of our tea ceremony puts on costumes of a typical Taoist nun living in late Southern Song Dynasty. Each gesture symbolizes a particular Taoist etiquette. With these features, our tea ceremony is unique to our own region."

In addition, Kuang has opened a school to train his own tea experts to facilitate his tea business and promote his version of tea culture.

"Xiaoyangchun Tea Culture and Ceremony School is the earliest of its kind in Qingdao. First we train people how to conduct a tea ceremony; how to set tea tables and tea cups. 

“Moreover, people here learn how to appreciate tea, identifying their types, source region and rating their qualities. In addition, we train them in tea plantation management and teach farmers how to grow and maintain tea trees. You know, dozens of our trainees have already started their own tea businesses," Kuang explains. 

Thanks to his achievements, Kuang Xin has been awarded the title of inheritor of the Laoshao Mountain Tea Ceremony – a city-level intangible cultural heritage.

But at the height of his success in 2010, Kuang was diagnosed with a serious illness.

The illness threatened to crush his tea business as his treatment was quite costly and left him with no time and energy to care for his work.

He tried to sell his tea field but in the end he couldn't do it because of his immense love for tea.

Now having gradually recovered from his illness, Kuang is grateful and determined to develop his tea business into a lasting family tradition.

"I got involved in the tea industry by chance and stuck with it. The thousands of years old tea culture is worthy of having my life devoted to it. I am trying to make the best tea. 

“Two years ago, I visited an old restaurant in a small town in Italy. The less than 200-square meter restaurant has lasted for over 100 years and has been owned and managed by three generations of the same family. Why haven't they expanded the business? 

“I think the philosophy behind it is that it's a fitting happiness for generations of a family to run a business which they love and meanwhile can support their lives financially."

Kuang, now 51-years-old, has handed most of the management of his tea business to his only daughter in the hope of building a lasting family business just like the Italian restaurant he visited.

[The audio clip is from Horizons, a revamped daily features program produced by CRI that gets to the heart of Chinese society, life and economy. To know more about this program, you can download the China Plus App on your mobile phone.]