Oolong (wulong) tea defies a fixed definition. It is typically described as “partially oxidized tea”, which is not wrong, but it’s not a complete picture. Their similarly shared process of elaborate transformation (withering, shaking, pan-firing, rolling, drying, baking) put these otherwise disparate group of teas under the same category. There are four separate regions that produce commonly recognized oolong tea: Wuyi (Rock Tea), Anxi (Tieguanyin), Guangdong (Dan Cong), and Taiwan.
Mr. Lin Rui Fu comes from six generations of tea makers and started by helping his father and grandfather at age eleven. He says he grew to love it early on and so he stuck with it. The man he attributes to being his tea teacher is 80 years old and still lives in the village. He says he still talks to him regularly about tea making. Mr. Lin’s own children have decided not to go into the tea business, so he will be the last generation of his family to take this path.
