和刘恺威的“茶艺师父”品一回岩谷花香：人就跟茶叶一样，要经过不断的揉造才能散发甘香 | Tea Craft

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Situated in northern Fujian Province, the rugged and precipitous Wuyi Mountains is home of the Wuyi rock tea. 

福建省北部武夷山，地势险要，多悬崖绝壁。

It can be processed to make several valuable varieties which share the similar "rocky charm." The unique aroma can only be born from the mountains' rocky terrain and through the special processing techniques. 

茶树倚山岩而植，是为岩茶。岩茶经过加工，可细分为许多名贵的茶种，它们共同的特征是具有“岩韵”，即“岩骨花香”。这种独特的香气，只能由武夷山的土地味和制茶工艺带来。

Liu Zheng is a tea craftsman that runs the Yongle Tea Factory in the region of the Wuyi Mountains. His father Liu Feng is the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Wuyi tea, and the winner of many awards in tea making. Liu Zheng began to make tea 13 years ago. At first, both he and his father thought that the young boy was nowhere close to inheriting the family business. 

刘铮是在武夷山经营永乐茶厂的茶农。他的父亲刘峰是武夷山岩茶非物质文化遗产传承人，从年轻时期就得奖无数。刘铮从17岁开始制茶，至今也有13年了。但小时候，父亲担心他游手好闲，不喜欢茶。刘铮也从未想过会子承父业。

"After leaving school at 17, I lost myself in idleness for a while, before I saw that my mother was working really hard in tea sales. I wanted to help her. So I started learning about tea," says Liu. "Father let me try anything, making and tasting, etc. And I kept improving my skills."

“17岁刚出社会的时候，也是耗了一段时间。我是觉得做茶叶销售的母亲特别辛苦，想帮她分担一些，才开始学习喝茶。”刘铮说，“父亲也放手让我去做，自己做茶、品茶，改进失误的地方。”

Tea became indispensable for Liu at the age of 18. All other workers went home for the Spring Festival when Liu was left guarding the factory. "I had tea every day, except on the very day that I was alone in the factory. I couldn't sleep, feeling that I missed something. Then I realized that it was a cup of tea."

真正发现离不开茶，是在18岁的冬天。当时茶工纷纷回家过春节，留下刘铮一个人看着茶厂。“因为我学习喝茶，几乎每天都在喝，偏偏到了看厂那天没有喝。结果晚上翻来覆去就是睡不着，总觉得自己少了一样东西，后来发现是少了一杯茶没有进肚子里。”

So he drew water from the well in the freezing midnight and made himself some tea. He fell asleep minutes after drinking it.

于是，18岁的刘铮冒着严寒去水井里提了一桶水，煮了一杯茶，喝完马上就睡着了。

"A tea worker is unqualified if he/she wouldn't pick up a fallen tea leaf." Hand-making tea requires ultimate control of the process. Even an insignificant error can result in the major change of flavor of the final product. "Making tea is like cultivating talents," says Liu.

“一片茶叶掉在地上不捡起的人绝对不能做茶”。茶叶是手工制作，对精细度的要求丝毫不减，失之毫厘，成品茶的气味就会差之千里。“制茶的过程，就跟把人打磨成材的过程是一样的。”刘铮说。

The best Wuyi tea leaves can only be picked precisely from "Guyu (around Apr 20)" to "Lixia (around May 6)" in Chinese solar terms. The workers don't even have time to sleep during that period.

最好的武夷岩茶，开采的时间十分严格。从谷雨到立夏，是茶叶状态最好的时候。茶工往往不眠不休。

The tea-processing depends significantly on the weather and the leaves' conditions. Rainfalls and sunlight can affect the water content of the leaves, thus affect their withering and later chemical reactions which determine the flavor. Different leaves require different ways of processing.

制茶的诀窍是“看天做青”、“看青做青”，天气的雨和晴，和叶片上含水量有关，从而影响叶片萎凋需要的时间和之后的化学反应，决定了茶的味道。不同种类的叶片，也需要不同的工序处理。

The most important part of making Wuyi tea is charcoal roasting, which has to be done at night. For the outsiders, shaking and roasting the leaves manually all night long is very tedious. Yet, for Liu, tea has become an essential part of his life.

而且，武夷岩茶最重要的工序，碳焙，都是在夜间进行。手工不断地摇青、炒青，在不懂茶、不爱茶的人眼中，就是漫长而枯燥的过程。但刘铮已经把做茶当成了生活中不可或缺的一部分。

"You have to do it yourself if you want to do it right," he says. Although the tea-process usually takes only 20-30 days a year, the factory is always busy planting and breeding tea trees. They keep in touch with their customers while improving the flavors. The calluses on Liu's hands speak for themselves.

“你想要把这个茶做好，就必须亲力亲为。”虽然每年做茶的时间不过二三十天，但茶厂一年到头都在忙着给茶树栽培、育种，同时联络老客户，不断地改进口味。刘铮手上厚厚的茧，都是做茶做出来的。

Inhering father’s job makes Liu feel "pretty stressed," "We inherited such solid foundations and valuable resources from the older generation. If we didn't work hard to improve ourselves, we'd become laughing stocks who lost everything their families had built."

从父亲手中接过衣钵，刘铮觉得“压力还是挺大的”。因为“父辈的基础很好，这么好的地域资源交给我们了，作为茶二代来说，如果我们不更努力的去做的话，自己不多锤炼的话，以后会成为笑柄：这么多资源，到了你这里你居然把控不住。”

Although a businessman, Liu spends most of his time in the tea field. He even learned to use a smartphone and social apps in recent years. His future plan is all about tea. He wants to become a great tea craftsman like his father. For him, "People are like tea leaves. Only when you underwent the toughest process, can you gain the unparalleled charm.”

虽然也算个生意人，但他几乎把所有的时间都花在茶园里，甚至最近才学会用智能手机和微信。未来，刘铮的全部打算也只有茶。他要成为和父亲一样优秀的茶农。在他眼中， “人就跟茶叶一样，要经过不断的揉造才能散发出甘香。”

Cameraman: Ye Fei

Film editor: Zhang Wentao, An Yang, Ma Mingyuan

Story written by: Zhu Siqi

English editor: Keely Stanly

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