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The rarity of Lung Phin tea
The ancient Shan Tuyet Lung Phin tea (Dong Van, Ha Giang) has long been known as the “best tea” because of the unique and distinctive flavor of the tea trees here...
Lung Phin tea “lies entirely” in the two families Sung and Giang, and is grown the most in Can Pay Ho A and Can Pay Ho B villages. According to local people, to drink Lung Phin tea, you have to find ancient tea trees, and ancient tea is nowhere to be found except in the Sung and Giang families. According to Mr. Sung Su Sa, Can Pay Ho A village, Lung Phin commune, the tea trees grown here are several hundred years old. In the past, the Sung family’s tea was only made to give to kings and landlords, and the people in the surrounding area did not have a turn to buy it.
Shan Tuyet ancient tea grows in Can Pay Ho A + B, located at an altitude of 1,700 m above sea level, surrounded by rocky mountains on three sides. The front side faces the rising sun, covered by clouds all year round. The time the tea trees receive sunlight each day is very short because of the fog, only around noon, and in the afternoon, the early morning sun is blocked by the mountains. The tea trees here grow very slowly because they absorb nutrients from the red soil and rocks.
The red soil and rocks of Can Pay Ho A + B on the Dong Van Stone Plateau are nowhere to be found. Perhaps it is the uniqueness and specialness of the soil and climate in Can Pay Ho A + B that makes the tea here have a very unique flavor, very distinct, not to be confused with any other tea. The easy way to distinguish Lung Phin tea from other types of tea is: Tea has only two picking seasons, Spring tea must be after Thanh Minh festival, Summer - Autumn tea in May - July. From August onwards, the weather in this area has become cold, the tea plants grow less so people do not pick. Because if you pick beyond the growth and development capacity of the plant, it will make the tea plant exhausted, making it difficult to withstand the cold of the Stone Plateau.
Another way to identify is that Lung Phin tea has very small, very light petals, small tea buds, the water when brewed has a yellow-green color, a very pleasant sweet taste. Brew Lung Phin tea, pour it into a cup and leave it overnight, even after a few days there is still no phenomenon of sticking to the cup, or the tea resin condensing. According to research, tea plants, especially ancient tea in Lung Phin, contain a lot of polyphenols and its derivatives. The above substances and derivatives have antioxidant properties, are effective in protecting the liver, have good antibacterial properties against many strains of gram (-) and gram (+) bacteria, and have anti-ulcer effects. Research on cultured cancer cells showed that Lung Phin tea contains substances that inhibit cancer growth and metastasis to the liver and lungs. Thus, Lung Phin tea is also a valuable asset for human life, and at the same time has great cultural value associated with the identity and quintessence of the community and clan; it is a treasure and specialty on the Dong Van Stone Plateau.
Lung Phin tea needs to be preserved
Currently, according to statistics, the whole Lung Phin commune has about 100 hectares of tea, of which only 14 hectares are Shan Tuyet ancient tea trees, the rest are new tea varieties planted from 1999 to present. Ancient Shan Tuyet tea is most abundant in Can Pay Ho A + B village and is concentrated in two lines of Sung and Giang. Due to the customs and farming practices of the people for many generations, the ancient tea trees here live and grow completely naturally, without care by fertilizers or pruning every year, so the tea yield is very low; many ancient tea trees also show signs of aging. Mr. Sung Su Sa's family is one of the households with the largest number of ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees in Can Pay Ho A village and Lung Phin commune with nearly 100 trees.
On average, the tea is harvested twice a year, with the above area, each year his family can only harvest about 1.5 tons of fresh tea, equivalent to over 300 kg of finished dry tea. The technique and method of drying Lung Phin ancient Shan Tuyet tea are quite demanding and sophisticated from the picking, drying to processing of tea. In Lung Phin commune, there are currently very few people who roast tea with high sophistication because many artisans are old or have passed away. Another difficulty and obstacle in preserving the brand of Lung Phin tea is that currently, in the commune, there are a number of establishments and households that purchase tea from neighboring areas or other places to process, package and sell at many different prices. This has reduced the brand and value of original Lung Phin tea.
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