CALENDAR DATE | PRONUNCIATION | CHARACTER | ENGLISH | February 3~5, 4 | Lichun | 立春 | Spring Begins | February 18~20, 19 | YuShui | 雨水 | Rain Season | March 5~7, 5 | Jingzhe | 驚蜇 | Insects Awaken | March 20~22, 20 | Chunfen | 春分 | Spring Equinox | April 4~6, 4 | Qingming | 清明 | Clear and Bright | April 19~21, 19 | Guyu | 穀雨 | Havest Rain | May 5~7, 5 | Lixia | 立夏 | Summer Begins | May 20~22, 20 | Xiaoman | 小滿 | Grain Fills Out | June 5~7, 5 | Mangzhong | 芒種 | Grain in Ear | June 21~22, 21 | Xiazhi | 夏至 | Summer Solstice | July 6~8, 6 | Xiaoshu | 小暑 | Moderate Heat | July 22~24, 22 | Dashu | 大暑 | Hot Heat | August 7~9, 7 | Liqiu | 立秋 | Autumn Begins | August 22~24, 22 | Chushu | 處屬 | Limit of Heat | September 7~9, 7 | Bailu | 白鷺 | White Dew | September 22~24, 22 | Qiufen | 秋分 | Autumn Equinox | October 8~9, 8 | Hanlu | 寒露 | Cold Dew | October 23~24, 23 | Shuangjiang | 霜降 | Frost Descends | November 7~8, 7 | Lidong | 立冬 | Winter Begins | November 22~23, 22 | Xiaoxue | 小雪 | Light Snow | December 6~8, 6 | Daxue | 大雪 | Heavy Snow | December 21~23, 21 | Dongzhi | 冬至 | Winter Solstice | January 5~7, 6 | Xiaohan | 小寒 | Quite Cold | January 20~21, 20 | Dahan | 大寒 | Frozen Cold |
HOW TEA GROWS : Traditionally , tea plants were grown from seeds the size of hazelnuts, gathered in October and kept over the winter in a mixture of sand and earth. With this method, in spring they are sown either in a nursery area or directly into the field, about four feet apart. After two years the plants, now five to six feet tall, are cut back to about one foot. They are allowed to grow a bit, but after that are pruned weekly to keep them waist high. Plucking can begin at three years, or at five in in high altitudes. A bush can produce for thirty or forty years.
Plants can also be started from cuttings or through layering, that is, transplanting of rooted branches. The years since the 1960s have seen cloning, which involves a leaf cutting rather than a branch cutting. The layering and cutting methods are the only ones that yield a true reproduction of a strain, as a plant that grows from seed may be the result of cross-fertilization and unlike either of its parents.
Most tea plants have a flush, or growth , period and a dormant phase. The leaves are plucked when they young shoots, or flush, are coming out. In the hotter climates the plants have several flushes and leaves can be plucked all year round. At higher elevations, there is a distinct plucking season. In most parts of China, harvesting takes place from April to October. Plucking in northern India and Japan is also seasonal.
Leaves from the earlier flushes, usually in spring, are considered the most desirable, with the second flush the best of all. The reason for this is that the sunlight is milder in the spring than in summer or fall. The choice parts to be plucked are the "two leaves and a bud" (the first two leaves and the bud at the tip), a poetic phrase which was used as the title of a fine novel by the Indian writer Muldk Raj Anand. They are nipped off by the thumbnail with a downward movement of the thumb. The leaf bud is considered the finest quality, partly of the fine hair, or tip, on the end and underside of the leaf. This , the pekoe (in Chinese bai bao or white hair), is what imparts the finest flavour to the tea. The whiter down the better. Plucking and pruning take a great deal of labour, and labour is listed with acid soil and adequate rainfall as one of three things necessary for growing tea.
Authorities have cited tea variety interring between 350 and 500. The prominent nineteenth century British botanist Sir George Watt defined four varieties of the tea plant, but most tea growers acknowledge only three, named for location: China, Assam, and Cambodia. Scientists currently believe that all of the different types of tea descended from one centre, probably located near the source of the Irrawaddy River in Burma, and gradually spread throughout Southeast Asian in a fanlike movement.
The is grown commercially in a belt that circles the earth on either side of the equator. "Superior tea comes from high mountains”, is an old Chinese saying. But the best places lie in mountains below 6,000 feet. The altitude and mountain mists help protect against excessive sunlight and create the right temperature and humidity to enable the leaves and buds to develop slowly and remain tender. Thus they produce a higher content of caffeine, amino acids, and essential oils. The frost, heat , and dampness of the lowlands are not conducive to good growth. At a daily main temperature above 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees centigrade) the buds are rough and age rapidly. Many of China's most famous teas come from well-known mountains: Wuyi (Fujian) , Lushan (Jiangxi). Emei (Sichuan) , and Huangshan (Anhui).
Tea plants grow best in an acid soil of pH 4.5 to 605 with a moisture content of 70 to 80 percent , and air humidity above 70 percent.
Update:
1:53 20/12/2010, 15:14 13th Dec. 2014 w7p, 17:04 .hk 16th Dec. 2014 w7p ,21:33 .hk Jan. 05th 2015 w7p , 22:13 .hk Jan. 21th 2015 w7p, Feb.27th 2016 10:38.hk w7pw10p, Dec. 08 2016 15:20.hk w7pw10p mdm ov , Dec. 10 2016 16:44.hk, Aug. 16 2017 13:14.hk m93p GLF- IPsec 042g , Aug. 17 2017 18:07.hk w8.1pro 042g IPsec m93p GLF-, 10:43 PM 12/21/2017 GLF-m93p IPsec,1:06 PM 8/16/2017 :: 5:46 PM 8/17/2017, 12:39 PM 2/26/2018:1:06 PM 8/16/2017:5:46 PM 8/17/2017:12:55 PM 2/26/201815:46.hk Dec.10 2018 m800 glf5 rv345 em :: 11:34AM ~ 11:58 .hk Nov 16 2019 m800 , 11:19~17:31 PM.hk 10/14/2020, 10:41AM.hk 10/30/2021 m920t, 7:55 PM 12/16/2022 19:55.hk w11p.22H2 m920t.FO76QM5 m.sg(pri).rv(v6cf, ssl); Nov. 07 2023 22:43~2314.hk m920t.FO76QM5 m.mx- (w3);DEC.11 2023 2033.hk m920t.FO76QM5 m.RV &mx- (w3)