Spring harvest is officially underway in the Lishan tea region, the main battleground for high mountain tea! When the store manager visited on May 11th, tea leaves were already arriving at major tea factories. Volumes are still on the lower side, but we expect the peak harvest season to kick off around the 15th. After taking a look around, conditions vary quite a bit across the different mountain peaks!
Xinjiayang: As the main battleground and largest production area for Lishan tea, the store manager rates this season’s spring tea as “average.” There’s a lot of uneven growth, which suggests the drought had a major impact. Good batches are out there, but there are far fewer compared to last year. Peak harvest is expected to start around the 15th, and since many tender buds need another ten days or so before they can be picked, the spring harvest will likely run into June.
Fushoushan Farm area / Central Cross-Island Highway 83K to 89K: After checking in with the tea farmers, harvesting is generally expected to begin between the 20th and 25th. Yields in this area are already naturally low, and this year is down by about 30% compared to previous years.
Fushoushan Farm: Super tender! The earlier batches won’t be ready to harvest until late May or June. The Tianchi tea plantation at the very top is the most extreme case—the buds have only just sprouted, and the earliest it can be harvested is mid-June, or perhaps even early July. By the time they grow out, they’ll practically be summer tea. On top of that, yields are very low; better tea gardens are seeing about half their usual output, and the Tianchi plantation might not even hit 30%. Fans of Fushoushan Farm tea will need to act fast this year.
HuaGung: HuaGung Summit… well, it’s pretty rough. Yields are low and the growth isn’t great either. Being this close to the water source, they should have plenty of irrigation, but they’re still struggling to grow well. Just like the Tianchi tea plantation at Fushoushan Farm, a lot of the tea won’t be ready to harvest until June. The lower-elevation Area 5 of HuaGung is doing much better than the summit, and harvesting can start in late May.
I didn’t visit Huanhshan and Songmao settlements this time. Aside from those two areas, the sections near Xinjiayang settlement and the farm performed a bit better, while the overall performance elsewhere is mediocre to below average. Note: There are also exceptionally well-managed tea plantations that stand out; the store manager’s review does not apply to every single tea garden.