Ziyang Tea: Work on a Southern Shaanxi Hillside

Ziyang lies in the Daba Mountains around the upper and middle Han River. County production records note that spring picking begins at different times on lower and higher slopes. Picking standards also vary, from tender buds to more mature leaves. On steep ground, those decisions shape both the work of harvesting and what reaches the workshop.

Fresh leaves are carried in ventilated baskets, spread in a cool place and moved promptly for processing. The county record describes sorting leaves by variety and condition. Tea here begins as a sequence of practical choices: when to pick, how to carry the leaves, and how to keep one batch distinct from another.

A provincial heritage account describes a traditional hand process. Leaves are spread and sorted, then heated in a pan for fixing. The maker turns and lifts them; when they darken and release a fresh aroma, they are taken out to cool. The leaves are rolled, first gently and then with more pressure, until they begin to form slender strands.

After an initial drying, partly dried leaves are piled and covered for a short rest. The maker then rolls them between both palms in opposite directions, tightening the strands and revealing pale tips. The leaves are spread to dry and finally sifted. Heat, cooling, rolling and resting work together to give Maojian its shape.

Hand work now shares space with machinery and production standards. A 2026 report on Ziyang tea describes producers keeping hand skills in selected stages while using modern equipment and controlled processes elsewhere. The methods meet in the same industry rather than existing as separate eras.

A county production record names further stages in hand processing, including a second rolling, baking, shaping the strands and lifting out their pale tips, followed by more drying and finishing. The list makes clear that shaping is built through several rounds of heat and touch.

A 2026 profile also follows Zeng Chaohe, a 71-year-old representative inheritor of Shaanxi Maojian making. He considers how traditional techniques can continue in a modern production setting and keeps handwork in selected core stages.

A 2025 report by the Ankang agriculture department locates the hand-tea workshop in Qingzhong Village, Chengguan Town, and describes it as a provincial heritage workshop for the Ziyang Maojian tribute-tea process. It names the visitor from Xi’an as Chen Chao and records him trying the craft there, alongside the workshop’s early activities for visitors.

In a workshop, making becomes visible: fresh leaves enter a sequence of heat and hand movements, and the finished shape reflects those repeated actions. The account connects a village craft space with visitors who want to see how the tea is made, extending the story from hillside production to public learning.

The same report describes visitors entering the stone-paved courtyard of the North Five Provinces Guild Hall, where a guide explains the history of tea sales. The hall provides a setting for thinking about how mountain production connected with buyers beyond the region.

Ziyang tea can be followed through three places: the slope where leaves are picked, the workshop where heat and hand pressure shape them, and the courtyard where guides recall trade. Together they show how a single leaf links landscape, craft and exchange.