In Longhuangtang Village, Shiliang Town, Tiantai County, there is a tea museum called "Tiantai Mountain Yunwu Tea Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition Hall", which displays the cultural history of Tiantai Mountain tea, tea technology and inheritance skills, tea-making utensils, the current situation of Tiantai Mountain Yunwu Tea and tea products. The curator, Lu Wangjun, is a young entrepreneur who returned to his hometown after the 90s, and he studied under Master Xu Shixi, the provincial representative intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Tiantai Mountain's Yunwu tea making skills (the fourth batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage inheritors of production skills), and is the youngest intangible inheritor of Tiantai Mountain's Yunwu tea making skills.
Returning to his hometown to make tea, inheriting and promoting intangible cultural heritage skills
In 2013, Lu Wangjun resolutely returned to his hometown and plunged headlong into the tea mountains of Shiliang to become a new farmer. He successively apprenticed to Wang Zuchao, a local roasted tea master in Shiliang, and Xu Shixi, a provincial representative intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Tiantai Mountain's Yunwu tea making skills, to learn traditional handmade tea.
The bitterness of roasting tea with two slaps, Lu Wangjun knows best, the high temperature of 200 degrees Celsius is hot on the handle. But as the old saying goes, inheritance is not separated from the past, and Lu Wangjun insists on learning the traditional tea-making craft, which he believes is part of the cultural inheritance.
In the past few years, Lu Wangjun has followed his master to come to the mountains and go to the pot, endure hardships and be willing to learn, make up for knowledge, and have a clear understanding of the growth state, process and habits of tea trees, and have also mastered the basic skills of hand-frying tea.
Help farmers and lead villagers to develop industries
In order to better inherit and develop the traditional culture of Tiantai Yunwu tea, in 2019, under the guidance of the people of Shiliang Town, relying on relevant resources such as government, enterprises, agriculture, and media, Lu Wangjun and his uncle Lu Wenshun successfully established the Tiantai Mountain Yunwu Tea Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition Hall to help the development of the tea industry in Tiantai County.
Behind the prosperity of the villagers, it is inseparable from the improvement of skills. In order to allow villagers to improve their tea planting and tea picking skills, Lu Wangjun used his own resources to invite experts and teachers from Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University to carry out technical training for farmers, strengthen the follow-up management and protection of farmers, and help the revitalization of his hometown and countryside.
In addition to providing technical services to farmers, Lu Wangjun also actively purchases local tea, yellow essence and other local products. According to statistics, in 2023, 15,000 catties of green tea will be purchased from local tea farmers, and about 5,000 catties of local specialties such as yellow essence and black medicine, with an output value of more than 100 yuan.
Passing on the torch from generation to generation, spreading and popularizing Tiantai camellia culture
After the Tiantai Mountain Yunwu Tea Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition Hall was put into use, not only the villagers from the surrounding villages came to visit, but also attracted students from various schools and tourists from all over the world to study and play, with a total of nearly 100,000 visitors and more than 100 intangible cultural heritage skills activities held so far. The "Tianshi Bud" series of tea products developed by the exhibition hall have also been rated as the second batch of outstanding intangible cultural heritage tourism commodities in Zhejiang Province by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism. In 2022, the exhibition hall was also rated as the second batch of rural museums in Zhejiang Province.
As a young man, Lu Wangjun has always had an idea in his heart, that is, to promote tea culture at the same time, so that more people can contact and love tea culture. To this end, he took the initiative to participate in various public welfare activities, demonstrated and demonstrated tea-making skills on the spot, and disseminated and popularized tea culture knowledge. He adheres to the mission of "inheriting the production skills of Tiantai Mountain Yunwu Tea and spreading the history and culture of Tiantai Mountain Yunwu Tea", relying on the resources of tea gardens and tea cultural endowments, and docking and cooperating with various departments to launch the popularization of tea culture and history, tea culture research, and Tiantai Mountain Yunwu Tea Tourism Route ......
Because of his love for the fragrance of matcha tea in his hometown and his dedication to the tea industry, Lu Wangjun continues to move forward and treat tea as a lifelong career, which is the best way for him to return to his hometown.
*: Chao News client.