Dong Ding Oolong Tea Has Its Descent in Wu Yi Mountain

Today, the rare, delicious Dong Ding oolong tea from Taiwan is prized throughout the world. Nicknamed the ‘Fair Lady’, the tea is loved for its exceptionally strong fragrance and sweet aftertaste that few teas have.

However, few know that the tea is actually a specimen of a Wu Yi oolong tea strain that has been carefully selected from Wu Yi Mountain in Fujian province and re-planted in Taiwan.

No surprise, that piece of Dong Ding oolong tea history goes all the way back to 400 years ago!

Lin Fang Chi, a young Taiwanese scholar, came to the Fujian province for the provincial exam that could offer him a post in the government. As had wished, Lin passed the exam.

As Lin was about to return, he hoped to bring some gifts to his friends back home. Since Lin was poor and couldn’t afford the travelling expenses, his fellow villagers donated the money to make his trip possible.

Almost immediately, he decided to bring some tea trees of the finest oolong tea, which the province was most famous for. He himself had tried the tea and was immediately amazed by the superb fragrance and delicate flavor. The Wu Yi Mountain oolong tea he brought was highly prized in the market, and could also earn his fellow villagers big money, Lin believed.

So going this time with Lin was some 30 oolong tea trees that he was about to offer to his fellow villagers. Day by day, and month by month, Lin and his fellow villagers carefully nurtured the precious oolong tea plants. In a few years time, the tea plants were big enough for harvesting oolong tea leaves that was to be highly sought after in the market.

Without long, Lin offered his tea to his emperor, who was amazed by the exquisite fragrance and crisp flavor. Since the tea was grown in high peaks of Dong Ding Mountain in Taiwan, the emperor renamed it ‘Dong Ding’, or ‘Frozen Summit’.

Over the centuries, the making of the tea was refined, and now it becomes a class all of its own. However, big time tea lovers say that if you linger over the taste, you can still find hints of similarity in between the two teas.

After all, Wu Yi Mountain is the home of Dong Ding, and those 36 Wuyi oolong tea trees the mother of the ‘Fair Lady’.