Yang Ai Fang

How long have you been growing tea and what got your started?
I was born into a tea family. When I was a little girl, I copied my parents and grandparents and drank tea everyday. I love tea more and more as time goes by. As a result, I decided to work in tea after high school at 19.

Can you describe a typical day out in the field?
I get up at 8 and go out after finishing my breakfast and lots of tea. I need to climb the mountain to pick up tea leaves. Then I need to deliver the leaves to our primary factory the same day. Normally I will finish my work at 4 in the afternoon.

What is your favorite part of growing tea?
I have been a tea lover even since I was a little girl. I got used to drinking tea everyday. When I deliver the tea leaves to my factory, our director will prepare some high end teas for the farmers, we could not otherwise afford. So this is a benefit I do enjoy.

Conversely, what is the hardest part of your job?
I need to climb the mountains. Sometimes if it is raining, the road is very difficult to walk. I need to be very careful. I hate bad weather.

Are there any tips you can give on how to best brew your tea?
Please use small gongfu tea set including yixing teapot and cups. Porcelain gai wan is also doable. Do not brew the tea in the teapot too long, otherwise it will be too strong. It will be better to brew around 30 seconds and pour it into a service cup, then pour into small cups if necessary. The service cup can be either porcelain or glass.