Gan Duoping, the fourth generation inheritor of "Zhaoliqiao brick tea production techniques", introduces brick tea production techniques at Zhaoliqiao Tea Factory in Chibi, Central China's Hubei province, on November 29, 2016. [Photo by Zhu Lingqing/chinadaily.com.cn]

Back to the beginning, it was more like the tea chose him, not the other way around.

"Initially, I even did not like drinking tea," said Gan Duoping, the 58-year-old brick tea master who has worked his way up to become the fourth generation inheritor of "Zhaoliqiao brick tea production techniques", adding that he had no special passion for tea making in the early days.

Born into a family of tea people who worked at Zhaoliqiao Tea Factory in Chibi, Central China's Hubei province, Gan began learning brick tea manufacturing when he was 12 and became a formal employee of the factory just like others around him.