Yellow Tea
Statue of Lu Yu, the poet of the Song Dynasty
Yellow Tea is light and lately oxidized. Harvested leaves are quickly heated to denature their enzymes, then placed in a humidified controlled room, which leads to gradual, late oxidation. It is cultivated in the province of Fujian in the Wuyi Shan mountains.
The term "yellow tea" has two meanings in China. It can refer to thismethod of processing, or to label a a carefully selected tea that a province used to send as a tribute to the Emperor. Yellow was the Emperor's color.
In the past every Chinese province had to pay taxes to the Emperor. The tax was gathered in the form of the best goods that local people could offer. In some places it was mineral resources, in others handmade articles, and in others cattle or sheep. In the tea producing areas, this obligation was sometimes extended to tea.
