Sanxia Tea: From the Spiral Turn of Qingxin Ganzai to the Honey-Scented Upgrade of Summer Tea

30-Second Overview:
Sanxia is Taiwan's most representative specialized pan-fired green tea production area, and its industrial path is a long-term experiment in adaptation. In earlier years, because Longjing tea required additional investment in shaping machinery, tea farmers chose the Biluochun process, which was compatible with their existing pouchong tea equipment. After 2007, the farmers' association and the Tea Research and Extension Station promoted a summer tea value-enhancement program, using the bites of the tea green leafhopper to transform originally bitter summer tea into black tea with a natural honey aroma. This is a history of continual transformation in century-old tea gardens, shaped through collaboration among artisans, farmers' associations, and nature.

In the 1860s, the British merchant John Dodd discovered hilly terrain suitable for tea cultivation in the mountains of Sanxia, then known as Sankakuyū. At the time, Sanxia tea leaves were transported via the Tamsui River to Dadaocheng for processing, becoming part of the export legend of Formosa oolong tea¹. This history of tea cultivation, spanning more than 250 years, included attempts to export green tea during the Japanese colonial period, beginning in 1919. Yet because Japanese rulers feared that Taiwanese green tea would threaten Japan's domestic industry, they imposed many restrictions, and export volumes remained extremely low².

After 1945, as mainland Chinese military personnel and civilians relocated to Taiwan, nostalgia for green tea drove domestic demand for Longjing and Biluochun. However, Longjing's distinctive flat, sword-like appearance had to be pressed with specialized shaping machinery. For Sanxia tea farmers, who at the time generally owned kneading equipment for pouchong tea, Biluochun's retained twisted, spiral-shaped appearance clearly fit better with existing production logic. This technical decision to move with existing conditions was formally named "Sanxia Biluochun" by the Sanxia District Farmers' Association in 1998, thereby establishing a local standard for Taiwanese green tea³.

The Sole Survivor: Qingxin Ganzai and Its Microclimate

The key reason Sanxia could become the home of Taiwanese green tea lies in a distinctive tea cultivar commonly known as "Ganzai Zhong." The leaves of this cultivar resemble citrus leaves, with deep serrations along the edges and an upward curl. It is mainly cultivated in Sanxia and is one of Taiwan's representative local specialty cultivars⁴.

The Sanxia tea area is distributed mainly around Hengxi, Chengfu, Ankeng, and Zhulun. Although the elevation here is only about 200 meters, the region benefits from a fertile delta formed by the alluvial convergence of the Dahan River, Sanxia River, and Hengxi, as well as mountain mist and moderate humidity, creating an excellent microclimate. In particular, the boundary between red and yellow soils around Chengfu and Ankeng is fertile and well drained, giving Qingxin Ganzai a strong early-sprouting character; harvesting can begin as early as the end of February each year. Yet Qingxin Ganzai also has biological weaknesses, including poor resistance to pests and disease and weak drought tolerance, making organic cultivation and precision irrigation important issues for modern tea farmers⁵.

Historical Toil: From the Dabao Community to Nitto Black Tea

The distribution of Sanxia's tea gardens is in fact a heavy history of land reclamation. During the Japanese colonial period, the Governor-General's Office implemented its "Aborigine management policy." To seize mountain and forest resources, it entered into intense conflict with the local Atayal Dabao Community.

After the Dabao Community surrendered in 1907, Mitsui Gomei Kaisha immediately entered the Chajiao and Zhulun areas to develop large-scale tea plantations, establishing the "Dabao Tea Factory," now The Great Roots Forestry Spa Resort, and the "Daliao Tea Factory"⁶. At the time, "Nitto Black Tea," produced with newly introduced modern black tea techniques, was exported to Europe and the United States, laying the foundation for Sanxia's role as an important tea-producing area in Taiwan. Yet this history of development also came with ecological catastrophe caused by large-scale logging and camphor production.

📝 Curator's Note: In the current pursuit of transitional justice, the Dabao people have consistently upheld the demand to "return to the Sanxia homeland," giving every sip of tea the weight of history.

Artisans and Young Farmers: A Century-Old Family's Professional Turn

In the Hengxi area of Sanxia, the five-generation Tianfang Tea House is a living witness to this history. It is currently run jointly by fifth-generation Huang Cheng-chung and sixth-generation Huang Yao-kuan. Huang Yao-kuan once briefly lost his tactile sense for tea making due to a brain injury, but relying on notes left by his father and his memory of the land, he reclaimed a grand slam in tea-making competitions⁷. His wife, Lin Meng-yu, not only has a background in business administration but is also a professional tea maker who has repeatedly won the top "Special Prize" in Biluochun evaluations⁸.

Beyond Tianfang Tea House, Sanxia also has many families committed to environment-friendly cultivation. Zhou Zi-yao of Risheng Tea House, for example, has repeatedly won the Special Prize for honey-scented black tea and emphasizes organic and environmentally friendly farming methods. In Ankeng Village, some tea farmers have shifted toward organic cultivation, allowing long-disappeared fireflies to return and producing "Huojingu Tea," a white tea with ecological indicator significance.

Value Upgrade: A Honey-Scented Transformation Bitten Out by Insects

If Biluochun is the spring of Sanxia, then honey-scented black tea is Sanxia's high summer. This was a planned value transformation.

Beginning in 2007, the Sanxia District Farmers' Association and the Tea Research and Extension Station systematically promoted the use of the plant defense mechanisms triggered by bites from the tea green leafhopper, Jacobiasca formosana, to bring a natural honeyed sweetness to tea leaves⁹. This shift in thinking doubled the value of summer tea, which had originally been bitter and low-priced. The honey-scented black tea competition, launched in 2010, further established this tea's high-end position in the market¹⁰.

Full-Schooling "Sanxia Studies": From Ecological Initiation to Academic Transformation

The transmission of Sanxia tea culture has formed a complete "educational chain" from elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school to university, allowing the aroma of tea to take root across generations.

• Ecological and sensory initiation at the elementary school level:
  • Chengfu Elementary School: Through its "Slow Tea-Fragrance Journey" course, the school uses photography and VR technology to document tea-garden ecology¹¹.
  • Chajiao Forest Experimental Elementary School: Students plant tea seedlings by hand and experience the life cycle¹².
  • Longpu Elementary School and National Taipei University Elementary School: Through food and agricultural education, the children of "new Sanxia residents" build links with local industry.
• Cultural and historical exploration at the junior high school level:
  • Sanxia Junior High School and Anxi Junior High School actively integrate local industry into career development education. Sanxia Junior High School leads students in learning handmade Longjing production¹³, while Anxi Junior High School connects the immigrant history behind the school's name, helping students understand links between homeland beliefs and the tea industry¹⁴.
  • Taozijiao Elementary and Junior High School: The school won the Gold Award for Teaching Excellence with its "Tea Fragrance, Dyeing Rhythm, Joyful Pottery Tao" program. The curriculum integrates the three elements of dyeing, pottery, and tea; students connect with Yingge ceramic culture and learn the interaction between tea and ceramics¹⁵.
• Deeper cultural and historical work at the senior high school level:
  • National Taipei University Senior High School and Mingder High School list "Sanxia Studies" as a school-based signature curriculum. Mingder High School developed teaching materials across disciplines through geography and Chinese-language teachers¹⁶. National Taipei University Senior High School, through its "Learning Life Beneath Yuanshan" project, established the "Juxing Teahouse," enabling students to move from cultural understanding toward hands-on experience¹⁷.
• Academic transformation at the university level:
  • National Taipei University: Through the Haishan Studies Research Center and USR projects, faculty and students systematically organize literature on the tea industry and hold the "Sanxia Green Tea Festival." At the 2026 Green Tea Festival, university students collaborated with young farmers to transform traditional tea culture into digital marketing materials¹⁸.

Faith and Tea: Tea Farmers' Prayers Beneath Zushi Temple

The development of Sanxia's tea industry is closely tied to local belief. Sanxia Zushi Temple, dedicated to Qingshui Zushi, is not only a "palace of Eastern art" but also the spiritual pillar of tea farmers. Qingshui Zushi is famous for "praying for rain," and for a tea industry extremely dependent on rainfall, the deity's protection is crucial¹⁹. Early immigrants from Anxi brought both their homeland tea-growing techniques and their belief in Qingshui Zushi into Sanxia. Before the start of each tea season, tea farmers would often go to Zushi Temple to pray for favorable winds and timely rain.

Scientific Analysis: The Secret of Catechins and Mung Bean Aroma

From a scientific perspective, Sanxia Biluochun's distinctive "fresh mung bean aroma" comes from the extremely high catechin content of the Qingxin Ganzai cultivar. In the "unfermented" production process, the tea leaves undergo appropriate "indoor resting," or withering, during which moisture slowly dissipates and induces the transformation of specific aromatic compounds. This gives Sanxia green tea richer layers and greater nutritional value.

2026: When the Aroma of Tea Enters the Glass and Technology

The vitality of Sanxia tea is extending into different fields. The 2026 Sanxia Green Tea Festival not only collaborated with Shulin Distillery to launch the Biluochun cocktail "Star Swirl Wine," but also showcased results from using technology to manage tea gardens¹⁸. Modern young farmers have introduced solar-powered physical pest-control lamps to reduce insect damage, or use digital sensors to monitor the microclimate of tea gardens and precisely identify harvest timing.

Challenge: A Culture Racing Against Disappearance

The future of Sanxia tea faces real tests. With the development of the National Taipei University special district and construction of the Taipei Metro Sanying Line, expected to open in mid-2026, land values in Sanxia have soared²⁰. For the younger generation, the labor and income involved in inheriting tea gardens often struggle to compete with the profit from selling the land.

"What we are preserving is not just tea, but the scent of this land." These were the words of a young farmer at a market. The value of Sanxia tea is shifting from "agricultural product" to "cultural asset."

📝 Curator's Note: When an industry begins to be called "culture," it usually means it is racing against disappearance.