White Tea（白茶）

What's White Tea

White tea is characterised by heavy withering and slight oxidation in processing. When making green tea,high heat is applied to kill the enzymes and stop the oxidation process. In contrast,when making white tea,fresh tea leaves are left to wither for up to 3 days.

It is "white" because of its downy hairs. These tiny hairs give the young tender shoots a silvery-gray appearance,which is often regarded as a sign of quality.

Tea enzymes cause the leaves to mature,but factory conditions have to be precisely controlled to minimise oxidation. The tea is then sun or oven dried to reduce moisture to 5% or lower. It uses a special process in which relatively low heat and no rolling is applied.

White tea is often regarded in Asia as a "cooling" tea,as it contains the least "fire" of all Chinese teas.

Lengend and History of White Tea

According to legend,white tea tree was discovered by a girl named Lan Gu from Fuding county of Fujian Province in China,where the beautiful Taimu Mountain is located in. While taking refuge in a cave in the mountain,Lan Gu found a special tea tree whose young buds were covered with silvery hair during spring.

When widespread epidemic outbroke in the village,Lan Gu healed them using the leaves from this special tree. In honor of her kindness and important role,people called her after the name of Goddess Taimu and named the mountain as Taimu Mountain.

This legend coincided with historical records that the tea was first produced in Fuding County in 1796 and later spread to two other counties (Zhenhe and Jianyang) in Fujian province.

White Tea Producing Area

White tea was first made in China and is commonly seen as a speciality of Chinese Fujian province. The main white tea producing area includes Fuding,Zhenghe,Songxi and Jianyang Counties. Now white tea was also produced in some other countries such as India and Sri Lanka.

Varieties of White Tea

White tea comes in many varieties and types and sometimes it is hard to tell them apart. Their old poetic names with an air of mystery and exclusivity are interesting but fail to tell us much about the tea itself.

The following are main varieties of white tea:

	White Tea- Shou Mei

Longevity Eyebrow (Shou Mei) - A fruity,furry white tea that is achaotic mix of tips and upper leaf,it has a stronger flavor than other white teas,similar to Oolong. It is the fourth grade of white tea and is plucked later than Bai Mu Dan hence the tea may be darker in color. It is produced in Fujian Province and Guangxi Province in China.

Tribute Eyebrow (Gong Mei) - This type of white tea is made of leaves plucked after Silver Needle and White Peony was harvested. It contains a few amount of buds,mainly young leaves.

Snow bud (Xue Ya) - This type of white tea is a great and affordable introduction to the world of white tea. It really lets you enjoy the subtlety and delicacy of white tea.

Song Yang- This is another type of handcrafted white tea produced in the Song Yang region of the Zhejiang province. Three thousand tea leaves are meticulously harvested and processed by hand to make one pound of this exclusive white tea.

White Peony (Bai Mu Dan)- The bud is harvested with two leaves. This is the second highest quality of white tea and it comes from the same kind of tea plant as the Silver Needle. The buds and leaves are covered with the same white down as Silver Needle.

	White Tea- Yin Zhen

Silver Needle (Yin Zhen)- The highest quality white tea is made entirely of buds. It is hand picked during a short period in early spring before the buds develop into leaves. Only undamaged, unopened buds are chosen. It was first produced in the Fuding and Zhenghe counties of Fujian province in the Southern China. Yin Zhen is seen by some chinese tea experts as one of the 10 Great Chinese Teas.

Other Varieties- Apart from these Chinese teas, white tea produced in India is known as Darjeeling White. Like Silver Needle,it commonly only consists of buds. Sri Lanka also has its own reputable Ceylon White variety in addition to the fine Silver Tips. Japanese tea growers usually focus on green tea, the famous "cha", but small quantities of white tea are also made.

Health Benefits of White Tea

In 2002,Oregon State University scholar Roderick H. Dashwood published “White Tea – A New Cancer Inhibitor” in Foods and Food Ingredients Journal of Japan that provided insights into the anti-cancer and anti-mutagenic properties of white tea.

At the 2004 meeting of the American Society for Microbiology,Pace University researchers presented findings that linked white tea extract to prophylactic applications that retard the growth of bacteria that cause staphylococcus infections,streptococcus infections,pneumonia and dental cavities.

They also found the anti-viral and anti-bacterial effect might be greater than that of green tea.

The rareness of the tea trees and short harvest time (e.g. high grade Silver Needle is only made from the youngest buds plucked during two days in Spring) cause the price of white tea to be higher than other varieties.