Next up is our key tea-producing region: Cifeng. The quality of the tea leaves in Cifeng this year is truly impressive. Harvesting kicked off in early October and is now in full swing, expected to run through late October or early November. Yields are looking above average, and as long as harvesting conditions stay favorable, the chances of producing exceptional tea later on are very high! 👍👍
Much like Tunyuan on Qilai Mountain, the Cifeng tea region is currently facing some transportation hurdles. The Cifeng Branch Road is under construction and will be closed for repairs until December. Therefore, travelers heading to the Cifeng tea region must detour via the Lixing Industrial Road and then switch to the Cifeng Branch Road (Note 1). Visibility and road conditions in the mountains aren’t ideal, and the industrial roads are narrow with frequent need to yield to oncoming traffic, so fellow tea merchants should drive extra carefully.
By October 10th, plenty of tea leaves had already been harvested at plantations above 1,900 meters altitude, though unfortunately, we hadn’t found any standout lots yet. Over the past couple of days, tea plantations sitting between 1,600 and 1,800 meters have entered their peak harvest period, and the tea leaves from several of these gardens are performing supremely well. Combined with even better harvesting conditions after the 10th, it feels like the plantations below 1,900 meters have a real shot at a comeback.
The weather forecast for the coming week looks stable, giving Cifeng a great shot at a succession of sunny days that both tea farmers and merchants love. When that happens, it’ll be prime time to grab the best stock.
Big news from Cifeng these past few days—it hailed on the night of the 11th! Thankfully, the hailstones weren’t too big, so the damage was minimal. Some other tea regions got hit really badly by hailstorms in past years, so we were actually pretty lucky this time around. High-mountain tea farmers really are at the mercy of the elements with sky-high climate risks, so please stop complaining that high-mountain tea is expensive! 😂😂😂
Note 1: The road repairs are located next to the Yongyu Factory, but the tea plantations further up the road remain accessible.
#FoggyPeakBrightSunBelow