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.

Legend 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 has also produced in some other countries such as India and Sri Lanka.

	White Tea- Yin Zhen

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.