Memory of picking tea during spring outing in Mengding Mountain

Tea picking originated from a friend’s circle of friends. A few fresh photos of tea brewing made me think about tea - how is tea made? I got to know and drink tea at Wenshu Monastery, but I have never experienced the wonderful process of picking green tea leaves, frying, rolling, and frying again.

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Spring is a time when everything is full of vitality, and outing has become an important activity for people’s weekend short trips. So I contacted some friends and invited them to pick tea. Sichuan's most famous teas are Mengding yellow tooth and green tea. If you can experience tea picking in Mengding Mountain, you will be so lucky.

Finally, *** finally made an appointment with two friends (W and Y). W is a junior high school classmate who has known each other for 8 years, and Y is a college classmate. One is enthusiastic and easy-going, the other loves new things and is eager to make friends with others. Two good friends can definitely become friends, and a threesome is the best team (two people are lonely, and more than three people can easily have too many differences). Agree on the travel time and let's set off!

After a night of excitement, it was finally Saturday. Brother Gan from Xiangyuan contacted the farmhouse for us on the Internet and also provided a lot of practical information. W arrived early from Jianyang to Chengdu, and the three of them gathered at Xinnanmen Station. The two-hour drive made us a little bored, but after getting off the bus, we were revived with full energy. Mingshan Station staff registered passengers and took their temperatures. There was something unexpected because Y was from Wuhan, so we were asked a lot of questions, and later we were "forced" to stay at the Haoyi Hotel (arranged by the government) that night. Taking a tricycle, we quickly arrived at the hotel (which looked much more upscale than the farmhouses near the scenic area). After some complicated procedures, we successfully booked a single room at a price of 60 per person for three people. The room is relatively clean, has good lighting, faces the river, and is away from the noise of cars.

Take a short rest.

After putting down our bags and dressing up for a while (it actually lasted an hour or two), we packed lightly, had lunch first, and then went to pick some refreshments. There are still many food choices on the street, so we later chose a Chinese restaurant near the hotel. One meat, one vegetable and one soup, delicious and reasonably priced, which really impressed us. After eating, we set off. We arrived at the archway as the tricycle master said, and the local taxi (van) happened to be waiting for customers. After asking and confirming, we got on the bus and arrived at the Peng Family Courtyard (terminal station) in about 30 minutes.

The four words "Pengjia Dayuan" are very conspicuous (for some reason everyone calls it "Pengjia Dayuan"). When we arrived at the farmhouse, a local tea maker about 25 years old received us. After negotiating the price and grabbing the small basket, we followed his footsteps to the backyard. After he briefly explained the tea picking methods and precautions to us, we started to experience tea picking for the first time.

Blue sky Blue sky

Get ready to pick tea~ Get ready to pick tea~ City landscape City landscape

The tea mountain is not big, and the sunshine is not The tea tree in front of me was not illuminated. There are rows of tea trees, and the soil that has just been rained is not very friendly, so we did not develop every piece of land well.

The initial excitement made us curious about the tea tree, and we all took photos to commemorate it. After "shooting" several rows of tea trees, we walked up the steep slope to open up new horizons. After passing through the dense bushes, the field in front of us became flatter, and the sun penetrated the clouds and slanted on the leaves, making the tips of the teeth even more attractive in the sun. Taking photos, chatting and singing at the same time also added a bit of joy to our tea picking process.

After more than two hours of collecting, the three of us collected half a basket. According to the tea master, we need to collect enough tea before we can stir-fry it. We were a little panicked, but it was already dinner time and it was getting cold in the woods. Back at the Peng Family Courtyard, we asked the tea master to make an exception for us and fry it for us. The frying process takes nearly 40 minutes, including: stir-frying at high temperature, stirring, kneading, stir-frying again, cooling and packaging. After cleansing our hands, we also experience kneading, where semi-dry tea leaves are pressed and kneaded between our palms. Twisting can make the aroma, color and taste of tea better. When kneading, the cell wall of the tea leaves is damaged, and the tea leaves will feel sticky when kneaded to a certain extent. At the same time, the strength of the hands is also very important. If the tea leaves are kneaded too hard, the color of the tea leaves will become darker. The whole room is filled with the smell of spring and the fragrance of tea.

The tea master was very puzzled that we young people also came to pick tea, "Why do you like tea?" I said: I came into contact with tea at Wenshu Monastery and gradually became attracted to different teas. "There are very few college students like you who come to pick tea. Most of them are middle-aged. I started making tea at an earlier age than you. There are really not many young people who love tea."

After the frying was completed, the tea in front of us shrank to one third of the green tea. Since it was our first time to pick tea, and it took some time to take pictures, our harvest was not big, but this experience alone made us satisfied. Three bags were packed, and we each took our own works. I thought maybe we could have a little tea party and share it with a few friends. What we share is not just a few cups of tea, but also the joy of making tea and the memories of traveling with friends.

Stir-fry, stir-fry

Stir-fry quickly, stir-fry quickly

Prepare to knead, prepare to knead

Knead, knead, and knead

It was getting late, so we contacted a local master and took a taxi back to Mingshan Town. Hungry, we went straight to look for food, and finally chose a hotpot restaurant online. Y especially likes hot pot, and we had a great time eating it. The environment is average, the taste is good, and the price per person is 70. It's almost 10 o'clock and the streets are quieter. Buy three sodas and take a slow walk back to the hotel.

Archive Archway

Night view Night view?

The tired body finally relaxed on the soft bed at 12:30. Y said: I'm so sleepy, I'm going to sleep. Later, I don’t know who said what, and then... the three of them seemed not to be sleepy anymore, talking about one topic after another, becoming more and more energetic as they talked. Before I knew it, it was 6 o'clock. Well, if I don't go to bed anymore, it's time to get up. As soon as we closed our eyes, we woke up at 10:30!

We packed up our things quickly, checked out, and had lunch. Around 12 o'clock, we came to the archway again to wait for the van. After a few minutes, the bus did not appear. After asking the two locals next to us, we realized that there were not many buses. One of the local men was chatting with another uncle who had just walked over. During the conversation, the uncle said that he wanted to go up the mountain. After waiting for several minutes, the van still didn't show up. After the uncle finished chatting, he was ready to set off to go up the mountain. W had an idea and asked his uncle: Uncle, can you take us up the mountain along the way? He walked on, his friendly facial expression showing no rejection. After getting on his tricycle, he said: Let's go, I'll give you a ride on the way, and you can just pay me whatever you want.

We were so excited that we climbed onto the carriage and squatted inside carefully. The act of taking a local's private transport without a bus reminded me of the scene of riding a local's tractor on the plateau (a common scene in movies). Along the way, we were all excited to record such special moments on video. After arriving at the Peng Family Courtyard (the entrance to the scenic spot), we jumped out of the car, paid 20 yuan for the bus and gave the master an orange (W’s idea), and thanked this kind uncle.

After walking a few meters into the mountain, we signed a self-responsibility commitment at the window and entered the scenic spot. We took the sightseeing ropeway up the mountain, passed a temple, and then took some photos of tourists on the rope bridge. Some sections of the mountain road were very steep, so the three of them slowly continued to walk upward until they reached a Red Army ruins. Finally there was a stool to sit down and rest on. Due to time constraints, we chose to return the way we came and took the ropeway back. I happened to walk to the memorial archway of Mengding Mountain, and I happened to be chatting with Y about volunteering at Wenshu Monastery. I happened to look around and saw a familiar face—Senior Brother Tingting from Xiangyuan. ah! "I didn't expect to meet acquaintances on this big mountain" (one of the comments about Mengding Mountain on Meituan). After chatting with the senior brother for a few minutes and sharing our respective itineraries, the three of us continued our return journey.

A forest of tea trees A forest of tea trees

"Mengding" "Mengding"

The road back to Chengdu was a bit bumpy. When we arrived at Mingshan Bus Station, we found that we had to wait for an hour and a half for the next bus. Considering that everyone wanted to go home early, we decided to take the high-speed train to Mingshan Railway Station. After several twists and turns, we got on the train and relaxed. The comfortable seats also gave me the idea of ????writing a travel note immediately, so this travel note, which has a word count comparable to a large essay, was completed on the journey back to the city.

The total cost of this trip is about 400 yuan, compare the itineraries