Pingxiang people drink tea not only historically, but also as a matter of course. Pingxiang belonged to the Chu State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, to Jingzhou during the Jin and Jin Dynasties, and to Yuanzhou on Jiangnan West Road during the Tang Dynasty. Lu Yu, the tea sage of the Tang Dynasty, said in the Book of Tea: Tea is the best wood in the south. Pingxiang belongs to the south, so it is naturally a place where tea is produced. It would be strange to not drink tea in a place where tea is grown.
Lu Yu divided tea leaves into three grades: upper, middle and lower in the "Tea Classic": "The upper ones grow on rotten stone, the middle ones grow on gravel soil, and the lower ones grow on loess"; "The wild ones grow on top, the garden ones grow on "Purple is on top of the cliff, green is on the top, bamboo shoots are on the top, and teeth are on the bottom, leaves are curling on the top, and leaves are on the top." According to the geological structure and mountain morphology, the Wugong mountainous area, which is dominated by granite and has high and steep mountains, should be a place to produce high-quality tea; the Guanghan mountainous area, which is dominated by red stone and yellow mud and has winding mountains, can only produce the best tea at best. To produce inferior tea; other places may only be able to produce inferior tea. However, Pingxiang people are not so particular about the high and low. They all think that the tea produced in front of their own house is the best and the most fragrant to drink, and they have to give a reason. For example, my hometown of Guanghan Mountain has never stopped producing tea. There is still a huge market for locally produced tea. If you ask "why", the old people will tell you: the soil and water nourish the people. Some young people who have read books even explain themselves scientifically, why red stone and yellow mud contain iron, and so on. From the time I was sensible, I knew that my family had been paper makers and tea farmers for generations. Shiwanchongli, which is my family's ancestral home, is filled with tea trees all over the mountains and plains. Other families are similar to mine. Every spring in February and March, almost every family gathers men, women, old and young to pick tea, and then the housewives fry the tea in a warm iron pot and then make it into tea cakes. An elegant fragrance permeates the whole village, making people feel that life is originally so sweet and fragrant. In the following days, the elderly and adults can brew a new cup of tea to drink after meals. According to the custom of the tea village, children are not allowed to drink tea brewed in cups. They can only drink old wooden leaves brewed in large tea vats with large buckets of boiling water. In fact, this reason is also very simple. The theophylline in tea is a kind of plant alkaloid. Children's brains are not fully developed yet and cannot withstand the strong stimulation of the theophylline in the young tea leaves. However, children will not be less interested in drinking tea because of this. They still have a cup of tea after a meal, a cup of tea when they come in, and another cup of tea when they are thirsty, and drink it with gusto.
In addition to the authentic tea, Pingxiang people also ingeniously invented scented tea and medicinal tea with Pingxiang’s local characteristics. Pingxiang has flowers blooming all year round, and each flower has its own unique nutritional and medicinal value, thus forming the unique scented tea spectrum of Pingxiang people. Peony tea in spring, peony tea and rose tea in summer, chrysanthemum tea and osmanthus tea in autumn, and wintersweet tea in winter are all fragrant and carefully made by the owner. They have the effect of beauty and fitness. If you can drink a cup, it is the best. enjoy. Of course, there is no age limit for drinking these floral teas that do not contain theophylline. The medicinal teas made by Pingxiang people are mild and delicious. The most typical ones include ginger tea for treating colds and Ophiopogon japonicus and ginseng tea for treating internal heat. If a child catches a cold in winter or autumn, there is generally no need to go to the hospital. As long as he drinks a bowl of home-made hot ginger tea with brown sugar and then sleeps under the quilt, the cold will be cured naturally. In addition to the scented tea and medicinal tea in Pingxiang, the people of Luxi also invented some unique tea. They dried the carrots, radish, toon leaves and ginger produced in their own garden, then carefully pickled them and stored them in earthen jars. In the first month of the year or when guests from far away come to visit, take out these raw materials, put them in a cup and pour them with boiling water, and you will have a full-flavored tea. It is said that in the past, only when particularly noble guests came, the host would serve them some tea. With the improvement of living standards, people's enthusiasm for entertaining guests has also greatly increased. As long as the ingredients for making tea are prepared at home, whenever guests come, they will make some tea to entertain them.
2. Herbal Tea
When I first arrived in Zhaoqing, Guangdong, my younger brother Junlin was very happy to see me, so he invited me to a tea shop to drink Cantonese herbal tea. After I walked into the tea shop, I saw the stainless steel teapots with different labels neatly placed on the desk. I marveled at the rich variety of Guangdong herbal teas, but I didn't know how to choose.
After watching it for a long time, I ordered a cup of "liver-protecting tea" with a very utilitarian idea. When the tea was served, I saw that it was completely black and I was so scared that I didn't dare to drink it. When my brother saw my embarrassed look, he didn't say anything. He tore off the small bag of orange peels, soaked them in the same dark tea in front of him, put them in his mouth, chewed them, and then chewed them with his mouth. After one sip, a grimace appeared on his face. I understood that this was what happened, so I pretended to be a hero and drank more than half of my cup of "liver-protecting tea" in one sip. After I drank it into my mouth, I realized that this man was not easy to be a hero. what to do? If you can't take back the arrow you shot, how can you spit out the herbal tea you drank in your mouth? I had no choice but to close my eyes and swallow it in one breath. Bitter! Bitter! It’s really more bitter than eating Huanglian! More bitter than any medicine I have ever taken!
I opened my eyes and the first thing I said was: "This is obviously medicine! How can it be called herbal tea?"
My brother looked at the people around him, but he still didn't know. Make a sound. Among the silent crowd around me, I seemed to be an outlier. yes! Aren’t you here to drink Cantonese herbal tea? Herbal tea is herbal tea, how can I say it is medicine? Can I say based on my own feelings that these people are taking medicine? Am I not afraid of public outrage? I fell silent.
In the following days, I found a job in Kecun, Haizhu District, Guangzhou. Because of the hot local climate, within a few days, I started to feel abnormal. The biggest problem is that the body's anger is too strong. When I got off work, I followed my usual thinking and planned to go to a nearby clinic to buy some intoxicants such as Andrographis paniculata or Huanglian Shangqing Pills. I walked to an intersection and saw a large picture advertisement: a red can of Wong Lo Kat floating in the crystal clear water. Next to it is the slogan I am familiar with from TV: "If you are afraid of getting angry, drink Wanglaoji!"
Unlike the mainland, Guangdong at that time was full of Wanglaoji herbal tea shops. I thought, people often say that when you are in town, do as the Romans do. Since I am in Guangzhou, why can't I solve the problem of getting angry due to the hot climate in the local way? Of course, it is much more affordable to visit a Wong Lao Kat herbal tea shop than to buy canned Wong Lao Kat herbal tea. I naturally chose the latter based on local conditions. As a result, I gave up my plan to buy gunpowder and went directly to a nearby Wanglaoji herbal tea shop. Later I learned that Guangdong herbal tea, in addition to the famous "Guangdong time-honored brand" Wanglaoji, there are also Xu Qixiu, Huang Zhenglong, Deng Lao, etc. who have always been called the "King of Herbal Tea". Because of their different formulas and flavors, they each have a large customer base.
In recent years, due to global warming, summers in Pingxiang have also been extremely hot. I don’t know when the "Guangdong time-honored" Wanglaoji Herbal Tea Shop has entered Pingxiang and has four chain stores. Although it has been renamed "Ping'an Tang" due to commercial reasons, business is still booming. "Herbal Tea King Xu Qixiu", which was named a "Chinese Time-honored Brand" in 2006, also opened two chain stores in Beiqiao and south of Siping Home Appliances. As a health drink that clears away heat and detoxifies, it is increasingly recognized and accepted by Pingxiang people. And its rich variety also provides many choices for different consumers. Xu Qixiu's herbal tea is also divided into bitter herbal tea and sweet herbal tea. Due to different curative effects, bitter herbal tea is subdivided into the herbal tea King, which is bitter, sweet and cool, and specializes in treating fever, and the herbal tea king, which treats swollen throat and dry throat, dry cough, yellow mucus, thirst and fever. Hot tea for bloating and anorexia, exogenous tea for treating general discomfort, itchy throat, cough, stuffy nose, headache and clearing nasal discharge, etc. Sweet herbal tea can be divided into Mulberry and Houttuynia cordata tea, lung-moistening orange black tea, and sweet herbal tea due to different formulas and curative effects. Luo Han Guo Five Flower Tea, Mao Gen Bamboo Heart Tea and so on. Whether it is bitter or sweet, it has different health effects due to the configuration of the medicine. As a lifestyle in coastal areas, Guangdong herbal tea shops also have their own flavored cold drinks. The most attractive ones for Pingxiang people are of course sour plum soup and coconut juice. Nowadays, Pingcheng people are accustomed to spending two yuan to go to these herbal tea shops for a cup of Lingnan-style cold drink coconut juice or sour plum soup during evening walks or other leisure time, or for antipyretic and tonic purposes. For the purpose of fitness, drink a cup of sweet herbal tea or bitter herbal tea, and eat a bowl of Guiling paste or Tremella lotus seed soup. As a way of life, Guangdong herbal tea shops have gradually integrated into the lives of Pingxiang people and added new highlights to the lives of Pingxiang people.
3. Pearl milk tea
A large straw and a thin plastic cup covered with film contain some coffee-colored or milky white liquid, with black grape-like particles rolling inside. A seven- or eight-year-old or twelve- or three-year-old student was carrying a schoolbag and sucking it with relish as he walked. This is the favorite drink among teenagers in Pingcheng - pearl milk tea from Taiwan.
Today, this fragrant drink from the motherland’s treasure island has blossomed all over Pingcheng, and there are one or two near every school. Because most of its consumers are students on their way to or from school, most of them only rent a store with an area of ??less than 5 square meters, with a counter facing the street and no need to set up seats in the store. There was no advertisement for that bubble milk tea shop when it opened. The rich milky aroma exuding from their stores is the best advertisement. This kind of milk-flavored advertisement is often distributed by primary and secondary school students who drink while walking, attracting new consumers who cannot withstand its temptation. Whether it's summer or winter, these teenage consumers exude a rich milky aroma. This is an atmosphere full of the sense of the times, which means that the dietary structure and habits of the younger generation have formed obvious differences with the traditional food culture. However, it's also very simple. A little warm or cool, a little coffee flavor, a little milk fragrance, plus a few black pearls that keep jumping during the sucking process, that's all it has. However, this is not only a combination of Chinese and Western culture, but also cross-strait consciousness. It is a benchmark for the lives of the young generation on both sides of the strait under the background of economic globalization. It looks simple but is very rich in content. Although it is said to come from the treasure island of Taiwan, "Taiwan" is definitely not a registered trademark, but a cultural symbol. Obviously, what is conveyed by Taiwanese bubble milk tea is not just a commercial fashion, but a new way of life, a popular code with deep historical and cultural significance. Vienna water purifier