Quality: Suzhi and the Tea Entrepreneurs’ New Standards of Production for Ancient Tree Tea in Mangjing

Abstract

As mentioned in the previous chapter on property, Lincai,1 the Taiwanese tea entrepreneur, brought me to Jingmai Mountain in July 2009, the rainy season of Yunnan as well as the off-peak time for the production of Pu’er tea. According to Lincai, Jingmai Mountain, where the village of Mangjing is located, was now famous for its abundance of exciting ancient tea trees. Lincai confidently claimed that because of him, the name “Jingmai” now referred to not only a place but also a renowned brand for one of the best ancient tree teas. However, at the same time, he also complained that he still struggled with how to “level up” (tisheng) villagers’ “general quality” (zhengti suzhi) of tea production. Lincai believed that if local villagers’ suzhi for tea production could not be leveled up, the current reputation of the ancient tree tea of Jiangmai Mountain would be at risk, despite his years of cultivating and maintaining the fame. Lincai divided suzhi into two categories: “software suzhi” (ruanti suzhi) and “hardware suzhi” (yingti suzhi).” Lincai said that many villagers have now improved their hardware suzhi, for example, by using machines to process their tea leaves. However, for Lincai, villagers’ software suzhi, which refers their knowledge, skills, and “cultural awareness” (wenhua suyang) for tea production, was still the biggest concern for the development of the tea industry in Jingmai Mountain.