Hsinchu Travel: A Journey Through Tea Heritage ~ Guanxi Tea Factory and Guanxi Old Street

Lately, we visited a tea factory in Emei, and this time we are traveling to Guanxi to visit the Jintai tea factory. In the shop, you can see many different kinds of tea. However, the tea is not currently made there, but you can still see the old factory with plenty of machines. You can also observe people packing tea leaves and find some Hakka fruit tea. Inside the factory, there is a movie that can be watched (although it wasn't playing when we visited) and some old pictures. Unfortunately, the information provided there is only in Chinese, unlike the Fuxing Tea Factory in Emei. Not far from this location, there is also the Museum of Tea established.

Jintai Tea Factory (錦泰茶業股份有限公司) 

Jintai Tea Factory is a long-established tea factory in Guanxi, known for producing Oriental Beauty Tea, Lei Cha, and fruit tea, which are three of the most famous Hakka teas. Guanxi is a town in Hsinchu County. In 1793, during the Qing Dynasty, immigrants first came here attracted by the mountains and rivers, and they named it "Mili Zhuang." In 1823, a new street was built. In the 1920s, the Japanese government changed its name to "Kansaizhuang." Tea cultivation began in the Hsinchu area in 1876. The environment and climate in Kansai were suitable for tea growth, and it became a significant tea production area, becoming a symbolic industry for the Hakka community.

Jintai Tea Industry Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Jintai Tea Factory) was established in 1936 by the family's first grandfather, Luo Jinxi. The equipment used in Jintai Tea Factory is over 70 years old. During the Japanese occupation, more than 50 employees worked here 24 hours a day, producing around 50,000 kg of raw tea. The finished tea was exported to numerous port cities abroad. To support the hard-working employees, the factory even set up a rice mill to produce a large amount of rice, which won a grand prize. It is one of the representative tea factories, known for its large output and high-quality products. In 1937, the factory was awarded the second prize in the Hsinchu County Black Tea Competition. In the early 1940s, it received the "Dragon Bird Taste" award from the renowned Concord Bank of Taipei. Additionally, it won the special prize in the tea sanitation facilities competition among the 12 provinces.

In 1938, the new Guanxi Factory was founded. The original location of Jintai Tea Factory was situated next to the restaurant of Guanyulou. As business boomed, there was a need for more production space. Many cultural relics and literary materials dating back 70 years have been carefully preserved and are displayed in an orderly manner. After the completion of the new plant, the old-fashioned machines purchased 70 years ago were not sufficient, so a large number of additional machines were added. The scale of the entire factory was increased by at least three times to improve production efficiency. The longstanding Jintai factory covers an area of approximately 5,000 pings.

As the tea industry in the Kansai region gradually declined due to the reduction of tea gardens, Mr. Luo Jinxi began to plan for the future. On November 13, 1991, the company transformed into a tourism-oriented establishment and established a domestic R&D department to promote the development of black tea, green tea, and health fruit teas. These include sour citrus tea, lemon tea, mountain bitter gourd tea, and other innovative and uniquely researched tea series. Combining traditional technology from the Tang and Song dynasties with modern science and technology, the company strives to bring out the characteristics and essence of various teas. For instance, they use longan charcoal to roast alpine oolong tea, reducing bitterness and astringency, and developing various charcoal-roasted teas with special aromas. Such roasting techniques are rare in the tea industry.

The company's factory building preserves many precious and complete tea-making equipment from earlier years. It also preserves numerous historical materials and has been adapted to meet public requirements. In November 2002, it was transformed into the Kansai Jintai Sightseeing Tea Factory, and the Jintai Tea Cultural Relics Museum was established. The factory has been listed as a cultural monument for the history of tea.

See also: Fuxing Tea Factory

Hakka-style tea

One of the Hakka fruit teas is Bitter Orange Tea, made from Huton Gan, a large-sized bitter citrus fruit. This fruit is often used as decoration during Chinese New Year, but its bitter flavor prevents it from being used for consumption. The fruit is cleaned from the inside, and tea is placed in the cavity. The fruit tea has a sweet, slightly sour, and bitter taste. It undergoes a process of nine steaming and nine drying, which takes about half a year to complete. This tea has a unique flavor due to long-term air drying, contains no added preservatives, and is less prone to foaming compared to regular tea.

Another famous tea is Lei Cha (Pounded Tea). According to legend, during the Three Kingdoms period, soldiers were infected by a plague. An old herbal doctor used raw tea, rice, and ginger mixed with boiling water to make tea, which helped the soldiers regain their health. Nowadays, Lei Cha can be served as a beverage or as a dessert. Various ingredients can be added, such as sesame, red beans, soybeans, barley, lotus seeds, or pumpkin.

Roasted oolong tea is made using charcoal roasting. The tea's color changes to brown oolong tea during the baking process. The resulting tea has an amber-colored infusion, a strong taste, and a unique aroma. It has the effect of removing greasiness, aiding digestion, relieving drunkenness, and is particularly suitable for consumption after an oily meal.

See also: History of tea

See also: How to order tea in Chinese

Guanxi Old Street (關西老街)

Guanxi Street was originally called Guanxi Zhuang and was established in 1920. The houses on Guanxi Old Street are mostly two-story buildings with Baroque-style facades. Normally, Old Streets are bustling with visitors during weekends, but we didn't see many when we visited. Here, you can find shops like a century-old bookstore, which is said to have a collection of 3,000 books. There is also a clothing store that uses natural dyes and a teahouse.

You can also explore the historical alley, which is full of memories. This narrow alley, which has existed for more than 100 years, used to be a shortcut to the Dongtai Theatre, where many young people watched movies and shared their love stories. It holds indelible memories of past generations. The aim was to recreate the atmosphere of this narrow alley in today's life, allowing young people to experience its history and enjoy a unique and comfortable walking experience. While walking along this alley, you can see paintings on the ground and stories written on the walls. The theatre building appears quite dilapidated now, but you can find a QR code on the building that links to a video about Guanxi.

Address:

1. Jintai tea Factory:  306新竹縣關西鎮中豐路一段336號錦泰茶業股份有限公司
2. Guanxi Old Street: 306新竹縣關西鎮中正路關西老街

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Hsinchu Travel: Stepping into History ~ Exploring the Historical Fuxing Tea Factory

This time, we traveled to Emei Township, located in the southern part of Hsinchu County. We had only been here once before to visit Nature Loving Wonderland, a Maitreya Buddha Temple. Anyway, before moving to Tainan, I wanted to visit some historical places in Hsinchu and found an old tea factory in Fuxing, Emei.

When we arrived there, we found an old man in the factory, but he didn't introduce anything. He was just sitting there, looking unhappy and drinking tea. There was a room where a video should have been played, but it was turned off. The building wasn't well-maintained. Part of the roof was leaking, and the water had damaged a few machines. Additionally, the upper floor was blocked off and inaccessible.

Tseng Family History 

The Tseng Family's ancestors came from China and settled down as farmers in Miaoli. In 1853, they moved to Fuxing, bringing uncultivated land under cultivation and acquiring more lands. They became the most prestigious family in Fuxing and also played a leading role in local affairs. They initiated the construction of Longsheng Temple in 1890, which became the center of belief in Fuxing. They provided funds and efforts for the subsequent repairs and reconstructions of the temple.

Mr. Tseng Sin-gu is the founder of the Fuxing Tea Factory. He devoted himself to local public affairs. As part of the Emei Township Farmers Association in 1951, he requested a large number of subsidies for warehouses, offices, rice mills, and a duty room. He also funded the construction of a waterworks system and supported engineering projects in Fuxing. As a result, in the 1950s and 1960s, the people in Fuxing had access to clean tap water and stable power supply.

See also: Guanxi Tea Factory

Fuxing Tea Factory (富興茶葉文化館(老茶廠) ) 

The production of tea in the Fuxing Tea Factory (富興茶葉文化館(老茶廠)) is closely related to the tea industry in Taiwan. Taiwan Black Tea began to gain prominence in 1928 and reached its peak in 1937. Initially, black tea, green tea, and oolong tea were produced here and exported to Europe and North Africa. During that time, Hsinchu was the largest production area for black tea. The Fuxing Tea Factory was founded in 1944 and started its tea production business by producing crude black tea. Before the construction of its new factory, the major place for producing crude tea was the "Chaliao" (tea dorm).

At that time, there were only three tea factories in Emei Township. According to the data from 1951, the Fuxing Tea Factory was roughly 430 square meters in size, with 3 employees, 11 workers, and the largest amount of tea produced reaching 133,800 kilograms. The Fuxing Tea Factory was the number one tea factory among the large tea manufacturers in Hsinchu County.

The development of the tea industry shifted from the production of black tea to the exportation of roasted green and steamed tea. In the 1980s, a large number of workers migrated outside the area, and workers' wages increased, causing the production costs to rise. Meanwhile, the tea industry in central and southern Taiwan flourished. All these factors had an impact on the Fuxing Tea Factory. Tea production decreased and eventually ceased in 1991. However, the tea-making equipment was preserved and carefully cleaned. In 1995, the Cultural Bureau registered this factory as a historical building. Inside, you can find a tea museum where you can learn about the tea-making process.

Inside the Fuxing Tea Factory 

The withering room on the second floor of the factory was an important space. In the production of black tea, the leaves must be rolled immediately after withering. For the convenience of moving withered tea leaves to the first floor, there were holes on the floor with rolling machines located below. The tea was sent into the machines through pipes.

Humidity in the air plays a significant role in the production process, especially during withering and fermentation. To fully adjust the temperature and humidity, the tea factory had many windows. The factory had undergone several reconstructions in different periods.

During the earthquake in 1935, the factory was destroyed. The walls in the front section still remain as they were built 100 years ago, although other departments were reconstructed. The building materials are mainly eucalyptus, which is durable and resistant to insects, allowing it to maintain its original appearance.

When the new factory was under construction in 1935, the entire structure was made of brick, with only the upper edges and eaves of the doors and windows built with reinforced concrete. The tea factory was also expanded and transformed several times. In 1950, additional space was added to meet the growing demand for black tea. The roof was used for withering under sunlight, while the indoor area was used for producing crude black tea. From 1951 to 1961, the production of tea shifted to green tea. The right space of the factory was expanded to accommodate blanching machines and the family's main entrance.

The Tea Factory consisted of both production and living spaces. It was the only two-story building in Fuxing. The second floor contained the withering space with its equipment, while the main production space equipped with a variety of machines was located on the first floor. The floor and roof trusses on the second floor were made of wood and covered with traditional red flat tiles. The office and living spaces surrounded the factory.

See also: History of tea

Tea Production process 

Fresh tea leaves:

Tea leaves are picked from tea trees. Usually, the young stems of tea leaves are carefully pinched using the thumb and forefinger. Different parts of tea leaves are picked according to different varieties of tea. For example, some pick the terminal bud and the first leaf next to it (one-bud-one-leaf), some pick two leaves (one-bud-two-leaves), and some pick one bud and three leaves.

Withering:

Withering can be done through "sunlight/hot air withering" or "indoor withering".

In the first process, sunlight or hot air is used to evaporate the water from fresh tea leaves and lower the cell activity. This allows the chemical components, especially catechin, to undergo fermentation. After this process, the tea leaves must be stirred and placed indoors for further withering.

Workers use both hands to stir the fresh tea leaves, causing them to rub against each other. When the leaf margin is damaged and exposed to the air, it facilitates fermentation and evaporation of water content. Later, the tea leaves must be spread out separately for a while before being gathered.

Blanching:

This process can be divided into two types: "parching" and "steaming". In Taiwan, the process of parching is mostly used.

In parching, high temperatures are used to destroy the enzyme activity and prevent continuous fermentation of tea leaves. This helps maintain the special fragrance and soft texture of the tea leaves, making them easier to roll into a bar shape and then dry.

Rolling:

There are two methods of rolling. The first method involves putting tea leaves into a rolling machine for pressing and rolling. The other method involves wrapping tea leaves in cloth and manually pressing and rolling them into a ball shape. Under pressure, the tea leaves take on roll, spherical, and hemispherical shapes. During this process, parts of the tea leaf tissues are destroyed, making them easier to brew.

Separation:

After rolling, tea leaves become twisted together due to the tea juice, making them difficult to dry. Before the drying process, the tea leaves need to be separated.

Drying:

Tea leaves are dried in a dryer machine. High temperatures are used to suppress the remaining enzyme activity in the tea leaves. Once dried, the tea is called "crude tea" or "raw tea." It requires further refinement to become a high-quality tea product.

Address:

315新竹縣峨眉鄉大同街8號富興茶葉文化館

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Hsinchu Travel: Tea Farms and Hukou Old Street

It's nice weather today, so after finishing baking my cakes, we went outside. Initially, we wanted to see the Yellow Trumpet Flowers blossom in Xinpu. Yesterday, we saw a pink trumpet tree in bloom, so I thought it was already the season. After driving there, we discovered that there were no flowers yet and we needed to wait for one more month. Since there wasn't much to see in Xinpu, we decided to visit Hukou Old Street.

We drove along a mountain road, where we saw many bald cypresses, cherry blossoms, and tea farms. Those hills were covered with plenty of tea trees, which made the view really beautiful. It's a pity we didn't come here earlier. Now, the bald cypresses have lost almost all their leaves and don't look very attractive. Some of the Taiwanese cherries growing there have already blossomed, and the tea was also in bloom. 

In the past, Hukou was a military base. On the nearby roads, you can also see a few old tanks.

      

Hukou Old Street (湖口老街)

Hukou Old Street was built during the Japanese era, around the 1890s, with Japanese and Baroque styles. The rise and fall of this old street is related to the railway. The railway in Hukou was built in 1892, which promoted local development. After entering the Japanese period, the railway route from Taipei to Taoyuan was drastically changed, but the section from Dahukou to Hsinchu didn't change much. In 1908, the entire line was finished, making Dahukou a commercial town in Hsinchu. In 1916, Hukou Old Street was built in the southeast of the station.

The Japanese thought that the slope of the road between Hukou and Yangmei was too steep, which made the railroad unstable. The Hukou station moved closer to the coast due to the newly completed Ocean Line. The construction of the new railroad led to the decline of commercial activity on the street.

The railway is what divided Hukou between Old Hukou and New Hukou. In Old Hukou, you can see an old street, temple, church, and old theater. New Hukou is a newer area with modern houses built around the station. In Hukou, all the old buildings were preserved, and you can see a similar style to Daxi Old Street. The nearby temple has some pig decorations for Chinese New Year.

At the end of the street, you will also find San Yuan Temple. In 1904, two people donated land and raised funds to build the temple. The project was completed in 1919, despite funding difficulties. This Temple is dedicated to the Three Officials: water, earth, and heaven. The Sanyuan Palace also houses other gods like Guanyin Bodhisattva, Mazu, Yinsheng Nangniang, Wenchang Emperor, Wucai When, and Bogong. In May 2001, this Temple was announced as a county monument.

When we visited the old street, it was quite empty. Only a part of it had a few shops, and not many people were walking around. Nearby, you can also see an old church that was built where the original train station was. In recent years, the Old Street has undergone renovations and a greening project. The stone road, building archways, and shop pavilion were all renovated, but it didn't help much, and the street remains quite empty.

See also: Guanxi Old Street 

 

 

 

 

Address:

303新竹縣湖口鄉湖口老街

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