► The operation of the tea factory
Sheng-Jin tea manufacturing factory has operated for more than 30 years in Linkou. Mr Chen, Kuan-Liang is the principal. His family has been farming for 3 generations, and he started learning to make tea from his grandfather since he was little. He said: “Linkou was the representative of the word “tea” in early age.” The tableland landform with foggy property makes Linkou tea easy to harvest and possess first-class quality.
The full cultivation area once reached 1700 hectares in the Japanese-ruled period. It is a pity that the prosperity didn’t last long. Since 1952, as the demand of market dropped at the cost of production rose, the 40 te manufacturing factories in the heday gradually withered. Sheng-Jin tea manufacturing factory has witnessed the rise and decline of the local tea industry.
Grow great tea with enthusiasm
Mr. Chen, kuan-Liang talked about the 1970s. Although his father grew 2 hectares of tea garden, but since he didn’t own a tea factory, he could only sell fresh tea leaves to others at low price. With low income, it was hard to provide a family. He had to do a part-time job as cement laborer to keep the ends meet and pay for the tuition of 4 kids. To provide for the family, his father suspended planting tea. Instead, he went to work as a construction contractor at Wugu, Xinzuang, Kuan-lLiang and his brother has to help with the construction at holidays.
Kuan-Liang, who followed his grandmother and father to plant tea, started to help his father grow tea again after being discharged from the army in 1986. In 1988 he found “Sheng-Jin tea manufacturing factory”, which produces, manufactures and sells tea at the same time. “Growing tea requires interest and enthusiasm.” Kuan-Liang, who has a thin figure and dark skin told us that in the early years, to cultivate tea in a friendly way, it was required to weed by hand. At the hot summer in June, he had to wake up early to weed until 10 o’clock, and went back to pull up weeds at 3-4 o’clock. He used to weed one plot a time and divide the work into days and times, and often missed meal for this. After 2 years he gradually knew more and tried to use peanuts shell covering method. Today, it is no longer for weeds to grow in the plots.
As the youngest kid in the family, Mr. Chen followed his father to learn the arts of tea since he was little. “My father is a senior citizen who keep pace with the times and with wisdom, he is also my enlighten teacher.” After many years, the father and son has become famous tea manufacturers in Linkou, winning more prizes than one can count in tea manufacturing competitions. In 2017, they also won the “special prize” in the tea manufacturing competition in Taipei city and New Taipei City respectively. Both father and son won the champion, which becomes a much-told tale.
Create new value for the tea garden
Although the Chen father and son grow tea and manufacture tea successfully, they also have to confront the financial pressure in reality. Sheng-Jin tea manufacturing factory transformed to an experiential educational farm since 1995, and also established leisure tea house. From quality agriculture to providing a more well-rounded service, they cooperate with educational institutions to promote the ecological tutorial of the tea garden and pass down the arts of tea.
Sheng-Jin tea manufacturing factory preserve 0.7 hectares tea garden as their self-owned, self-plant, nontoxic and safe tea garden. They also own a 100 level gorund tea manufacturing factory and a tea museum of 70 level ground with a tea-tasting area. The factory provides tea garden enological tour and the “one day tea maker” activity than involves rolling tea, fermenting, roasting, drying, tea evaluation, prizing ceremony, packaging, sharing tea snacks. Through the experience of making tea, drinking tea and tasting tea, they inform the tourists and visitors of the friendly ecological environment, local history and knowledge of tea, in order to share and pass down the tea culture in Linkou.
The common transformation form of traditional tea factories:
- Develop into tourist tea factory to enhance visitors and income.
- Produce souvenirs such as tea jelly, tea leaves and tea sachet etc.
- To let tourist experience making and picking tea, offering them a taste of the trouble of making tea.
- Establishing a museum about the history of local tea factories, making more tourist know the factory.
- Building up a place to stay overnight.
- Open a restaurant: Developing creative cuisine with tea leaves.
the representation of Linkou’s tea culture
Back to Linkou 10 years ago, one can look at Guan-Yin Mountain through the window at home, the tableland was covered with green blankets such as plots of tea gardens, reeds and acacia trees. Today, Linkou is covered by cement buildings such as outlets, the players village of Universiade, and airport MRT. Many migrants also moved into the transforming Linkou tableland.
When Mr. Chen manages the tea garden with care and keep innovates the value of tea industry, he also hopes to help migrants to learn about the local tea culture of Linkou. As the chairman of the community culture development association, he further collaborated with Linkou community college, Linkou farmer’s association and Xing-wu university of technology to hold a “Linkou tea culture representation lecture and tea sharing event” at March in 2018. He invited a local tea making master to share his family story about producing tea for 3 generations. He also led the participants to learn to taste tea and differentiate the different features and taste among the “old tea” in the 50s, the “middle age tea’ in the 80s and the “modern tea” developed according to the market demand. The performance of students of Xing-wu university of technology is rather interesting, through their bartending techniques, they created a variety of tea beverage that was different from the tradition, attracting many local people to join the event, and made the tea culture of Linkou live endlessly.
