Farmers spread tea leaves on griddles in sunlight. The next process is sunlight. Methods include natural, indoor or warm aging processes, according to different types of tea leaves, weather conditions and places. In most cases, silver-needle tea is made by the first method. Sunlight before 10 am and after 4 pm is the best. [Photo / China Daily]

 

There are three steps in making white tea - harvesting the leaves, putting them under natural sunlight and drying at low temperature.

It usually takes around three to four days until the leaves are lightly fermented without being touched by human hands in production. "The procedure seems easy, but in fact it is very stringent in techniques to choose the best weather and time to pick tea leaves at the appropriate humidity and temperature to keep much of the nutrition," Chen said.

Natural medicine

A study from the Nutrition and Food Safety Branch of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that white tea contains polyphenols, flavonoids and anti-oxidants known to improve the immune system and blood circulation.

Luo Shaojun, a researcher and former director of the National Tea Quality Supervision and Inspection Center, said white tea is a natural medicine for relieving heat and diminishing inflammation, just like ginseng.

"The longer it keeps, the higher nutrition it contains," Luo said, adding that white tea preserved over 7 years is regarded as "valuable treasure".

Zhang Tianfu, a tea expert born in 1910 in China, said he has an emotional bond with white tea. "I drink 10 cups of tea every day, and the best is the white tea from Fuding," said the 103-year-old.

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