A Leisurely Perfection

Mr. Chen's father pioneered the growing of oolongs on Li Shan some 40 years ago. At such high elevations at 2700 meters, in such a remote, treacherous mountain region, no one on the island thought it possible. Mr. Chen the elder had studied agriculture in Japan, and brought back some of the environmental management skills he learned. Growing up in 5 generations of mountain living with indigenous peoples also gave him tremendous local knowledge and experience. All conditions are perfect, he said, except for the frost. If that doesn't kill the bushes each year, we will have phenonmenal tea. His farm faces East and sits on the West side of the Da Yu Ling mountain of Li Shan range. The early rising sun ensures early growth and the hot afternoon sun never hits the plants. The fog rolls in the evening until the next morning, nourishing the plants. The leaves never grow large as it is so cold, but they get thick and fleshy and sweet. The harvests are the latest in Taiwan; we were there one week too early for the Spring harvest, and the early Winter harvest happens in October.
Mr. Chen loves his life on the farm. He is alone there when there is no harvesting, merely managing the hills, making sure no pests, monkeys, wild boars, and prying friends come visit. Otherwise his life is simple enough. Before the harvest, he would sit after breakfast with his tea until lunch, in his immaculate outdoor courtyard. Then, he would take a nap after lunch, and a bath afterwards. Then it's dinner time, and after that is a stroll around his garden to make sure there were no intruders. The only possible theft is people stealing his tea plants because Da Yu Ling tea is so valuable. Otherwise his friends come visit to try to pry some private stash teas off his hands, even looking under his bed sometimes, he confides.
In the evening, he sits with his tea until the moon comes out with the stars, and he admires the stars until it's time to sleep. It makes me stupid, he grins, but I wouldn't live down the mountain for anything in the world!
Max, Darius, and I agree: it sure is nice to sit on top of the world, breathing in the pristine air, with a pot of tea, and nothing else to do.

Taken from http://teapersonality.blogspot.com/