Yuanming

There are a four key places in Fuding famous for white tea: Taimushan (the legendary birthplace), Diantou (the wholesale hub), Guanyang Village (producing the greatest yield), and Panxi Village (a modern favorite for location and quality).  

We met Qiu, who started the Yuanming Tea house in Diantou, but he sources all his tea from a couple hundred Mu he has leased out in Panxi.  While Qiu does not come from a tea farming family, his passion for white tea is undeniable.  We have rarely met someone so passionate about making and curating the highest quality of tea possible.  There are times when we have overheard Qiu refusing to sell tea to someone because he didn’t think they would appreciate it!  

Qiu has done some amazing work creating new facilities to process his teas, he and his good friend Master Zhang have implemented a few new processing techniques to help ensure the quality of Fuding  White tea for aging purposes.  Indeed, it was Qiu who shone a light on the differences between intentionally Browned Shoumei and Green Shoumei!

Qiu feels more like an old tea friend than a producer, and we always enjoy visiting him in Fuding.  You can read up about the knowledge we learned on our first visit, our check out a detailed description of his farm, and even watch our sourcing video from 2019!