Master tea makers rhythmically shake bamboo trays filled with leaves. The technique, dating back to the 16th century, creates the tea's signature "green leaf with red edge". It was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2006, and was part of the "traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China" inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2022.
"The craftsmanship of Wuyi rock tea is the most complicated among all tea," You Yuqiong, an inheritor of Wuyi rock tea craftsmanship, says.
Since joining a tea factory in 1985, You has been engaged in the tea-making industry for 40 years. Throughout these years, she has remained committed to traditional techniques, striving for excellence because "traditional techniques are the soul".
