white tea

A long time ago, legend has it that the people who lived at the Fujian area were experiencing a dry spell which was threatening the lives of the villagers. It was believed that a celestial plant was growing at a mountain in the Fujian region which was guarded by a black dragon. This plant is believed to cure many kinds of illnesses and it will bring up the water when the juice of this plant is dropped into the river which had run dry. Many villages went looking for this special plant but failed and subsequently were turned into rocks at the mountain. A young lady, whose two brothers also went there but were sacrificed, decided to try her luck too. When she reached the mountain, the black dragon attacked her viciously but she cunningly managed to kill the dragon. The young lady then was able to pluck the celestial plant and dropped its juice onto the people who has turned into rocks, and all the villagers were transformed back into human beings. Thanks to her courage and good effort, the villagers were very grateful to be alive. They transferred the plant from the mountain and planted it widely in their villages. Due to its silvery white color and needle shape, it was named "Silver Needle".

During the Song Dynasty (year 1107), white tea was developed using the tea leaves plucked from the specific tea cultivars, and processed according to the way of making green tea. Its unique process is also documented in the Ming Dynasty tea books. During the Qing Dynasty (1772-1782), the commercial production of white tea emerged. During early 19th century, Zheng-He district started its mass production of Silver Needles and mostly sold it to European countries; the production was interrupted during World War I (1918), and resumed after 1926. In year 1855, Fu-Ding district started the cultivation of Fuding Da-bai cultivar ( Da-bai cha-shu). It then gave rise to the massive production of Silver Needle at Fuding district thanks to its fleshy bud which was highly appreciated.