The mountain region of Tamsui District was formerly a major tea growing area; from the hill tops it was possible to see tea plantations stretching in every direction. Tea production in the region reached its heyday in the 1970s. Later on, when Taiwan transitioned to an industrial-based society, labor costs rose, the processing plants one after the other moved away and the labor-intensive task of tea picking gradually withered away. Within the hills of Tamsui, it is no longer possible to see tea pickers, their backs hunched over, busily going about their work. Now in his 65th year, Wang Shou-hsi belongs to the third generation of a family tea business. Ten years ago, Wang began to replant a tea garden.
During the 1970s, a manufacturing plant within Tamsui could produce 10,000 catties (5,000 kg) of tea leaves per day. Tea traders would rush to the area throughout the day to place orders for export overseas.
“Back then one catty of tea could be traded for a chicken,” says Wang, who at the age of nine started to learn from adults how to produce tea. In his twenties, witnessing the Tamsui tea industry at its height, Wang went to the the Council of Agriculture to study how to grow, produce and infuse tea. Wang says he was then ready to continue the family tea business, however due to the extensive social changes of the 1980s, the Tamsui tea industry gradually fell into decline.
Photo: Lee Ya-wen, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者李雅雯
A decade ago, spurred on by interest, Wang replanted tea bushes within the mountainous region of Tamsui’s Fanshu village, an area of 4,000 square meters, mainly planting Taiwan tea varieties 19 and 20, oolong tea and wuyi tea. According to Wang, the tea leaves from Tamsui tea bushes are classified as low-altitude tea. They are robust leaves that still retain their fragrance even after being brewed several times. Tea leaves from Vietnam and other places lose their flavor after only two infusions because the climatic conditions in these countries are less favorable than in Taiwan. “I can’t drink tea from outside Taiwan” says Wang, whose tea leaves, once plucked and produced, are mostly shared with friends or bought by regular customers.
Belonging to a third generation family tea business, Wang says he always felt a pang of regret in his heart. Therefore, his decision to replant a tea garden ten years ago was not just to pursue an interest, but also to fill a void that existed in his life at that time. Wang says he has planted not just a tea garden, but also the spirit of a tea growing family.
(Liberty Times, Translated By Edward Jones)
淡水山區曾是茶葉大宗生產地,山頭可望及處都能夠見到茶園,民國六十年代更是產製茶葉最繁盛的時期。後來隨著社會轉型為工商型態,人力成本上漲,加工廠產業線紛紛外移,勞力密集的採茶事業漸漸凋零,如今淡水山區不再見茶農繁忙來去的背影。現年六十五歲的王壽喜,是家族茶葉事業第三代,十年前復種茶園。
民國六十年代的淡水山區茶園,一個工廠一天就可以產製一萬台斤的茶葉,茶商整天往這兒跑要簽訂單,外銷到國外去。
「那時一斤茶葉可換一隻雞喔」,王壽喜九歲就跟在大人身邊學習製茶,廿多歲時見證了淡水茶葉最風光的時候,也到農委會去學種茶、製茶、泡茶,王壽喜說,那時做足了準備要好好地繼續家族茶葉事業,不過在民國七十年代大環境變遷下,淡水的茶葉產業逐漸沒落。
王壽喜因為興趣,十年前復種茶樹,位置就在淡水區蕃薯里的山區,面積約四分地,主要種植台茶十九號、台茶廿號、烏龍茶和武夷茶。王壽喜表示,淡水山區的茶樹屬於平地茶,耐泡,回沖幾次仍有茶香,越南等地的茶葉因為氣候環境和台灣有差,茶葉可能沖兩泡就沒有味道。「外面的茶我喝不習慣」,王壽喜的茶園採收製成茶葉後,大多是和朋友分享,或是熟客來購買。
做為家族茶葉事業第三代,王壽喜說,心底總是有個遺憾,所以這十年的復種除了興趣驅使,還要填補當年的空白。對王壽喜而言,他種的不僅是茶園,還有茶農家族的精神。
(自由時報記者李雅雯)
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