The wind and rain in the mountains are unknown.

Up to now, "Kuding Tea" has a drinking history of at least 2000 years. Scholars finally found such a record in Lu Tongjun in the Eastern Han Dynasty-"There are melons and reeds in the south, which are as bitter as tea, and they can't sleep all night ...".

It is said that after liberation, some scholars confirmed that the evergreen tree called "Kuding" by local villagers was the "Trichosanthes kirilowii" recorded in ancient books after field research in Daxin, Guangxi and Dapu, Guangdong. However, from the analysis of natural conditions such as climate, soil and humidity, Hainan, which is farther south than Guangxi and Guangdong, is actually more suitable for the growth of Ilex kudingcha, only suffering from the fact that people have been unable to find "physical evidence" and can only find it from books.

Thanks to a scholar who has a special liking for the study of Kuding tea. In June, 1995, Dr. Liu, director of the Kuding Tea Research Institute of Hainan University, unveiled the mysterious veil for Hainan wild Kuding tea. Based on the insistence of an academic school, the doctor went deep into the mountains and rainforests over and over again, never letting go of any details. Finally, in the virgin forest of Qixianling, he found the Hainan wild Kuding tea tree that stood alone for several spring and autumn periods and scattered all over the place. Each one is 20 meters high and DBH is 50-60 cm thick. At that moment, Liu was as excited as seeing a long-lost relative. ...

Then, at an altitude of 500 m-1000 m in the south-central part of Bao Dao, more wild Ilex latifolia trees were discovered in succession. A wild Ilex kudingcha tree was discovered in Baisha, which is the largest tree on the island so far and the largest tree in China. The trunk of this wild tea tree is straight and slender, with a height of 42 meters, which is comparable to a 14-story building. At the thickest part of the trunk, the circumference of the tree is 2.35 meters, so two people can hold hands and get together.

People suddenly found that wild kudingcha had been waiting silently in many casual places: in Sanya Caili Farm, more than 40 wild kudingcha were discovered at one time; In Qixianling, Diaoluoshan, Bawangling, Ying Ge, Shimeiwan, Wuzhishan, Lingshui and other cities and counties, Hainan wild Ilex kudingcha trees have been discovered one after another. According to Dr. Liu's statistics, there are about 500 wild Ilex kudingcha trees found in the whole island, which is the area with the largest number of wild Ilex kudingcha trees found in China at present, and these found wild Ilex kudingcha trees often grow in pieces, while it is difficult to see them grow in pieces in other producing areas such as Guangxi and Guangdong.

The discovery of high-quality wild Ilex kudingcha trees in Hainan Island has attracted domestic attention. In dapu county, Guangdong Province, people go to Baoting and other places to invite local people to look for them in the mountains, and the purchase price of fresh leaves per kilogram is as high as that of 30 yuan. But unfortunately, some farmers only plant but not plant, and adopt the practice of "killing the chicken to get the egg". Every time they find a Ilex kudingcha tree, they sweep away the old leaves and buds. What's more, they simply cut down the big tree and harvested it, which caused great damage to the wild kudingcha. This often makes Liu feel heartache. ...

It should be noted that at the beginning of the last century, it was precisely because of excessive logging and difficulties in self-reproduction that Kuding tea almost disappeared, and people could only learn about its efficacy and legends from historical books. Liu, who rediscovered Kuding tea from the primitive jungle after hardships, naturally did not want to see history repeat itself. Dr. Liu hopes that on the one hand, he will continue to breed a large number of Kuding tea seedlings by cutting and tissue culture, so as to promote planting on the island on a large scale; On the other hand, a number of bases have been established in the whole island to protect wild Kuding tea ex situ and propagate asexually, so that this precious plant resource can be effectively protected and rationally developed and utilized.

The Li family knew about the treasure long ago.

Let's go back to the misty and rainy mountainous area in central Liu Faxian, because history has not covered up the most real fact of the local wild Ilex kudingcha tree in-the reason for this is that scholars later discovered it in the way of "mending after the sheep is dead"-

In fact, in Lizhai at the foot of Wuzhishan and Qixianling, Kuding tea has long been a very common "thing" in local life. ...

Up to now, there are still people in the local area who tie the old leaves of wild Ilex kudingcha picked in the deep mountains into a bundle and smoke them on the stove. A few decades ago, the Li family took these kudingcha leaves outside the mountain and replaced them with rice. Often dozens of old leaves can be exchanged for a bucket of rice, which shows the preciousness of Kuding tea leaves. If you have a cold, sore throat and high blood pressure, the Li family will pull some dried leaves of Kuding tea from the stove and boil them in the pot for a while, which will become a bitter medicine for treating diseases. After drinking a big bowl, most of the pain will be relieved.

Li people know that when using Kuding tea to treat diseases, there is no way to test it. An 80-year-old Li herbalist said that he knew how to treat diseases with Kuding tea (called "Maidan" in Li language) from his ancestors, and it has been passed down for hundreds of years. Old doctors of Li nationality often go to the deep mountains to pick the leaves of Kuding tea, dry them, tie them into bundles and hang them on the stove to keep them dry and not deteriorate. Whoever asks for a doctor, no matter what disease he has, uses Kuding tea belt. If they can't be cured, they will think that they are terminally ill, which can't be solved by soup and medicine.

Kuding tea cake is an auspicious thing in Li nationality's wedding in the village of Qixianling in Baoting. Li Kuding tea cake is generally two or three centimeters thick and the size of two palms. Some are square, others are round. Or mash the leaves of Kuding tea, stir with glutinous rice flour, make cakes, and then put them on the stove to dry; Or make the kudingcha leaves fished out of hot water into cakes, put rice flour on them, press them dry, spread a layer of kudingcha leaves, put rice flour on them, and press them again. After repeated several times, the solid Kuding cake is ready.

What's more interesting is that when the Li family is engaged, they will definitely pick eight such kudingcha cakes, four at a time, and send them to the woman's home together with betel nuts and other gifts. On the wedding day, the bride's family will also pick eight pieces of Kuding tea cakes, four at a time, and send them to the man's house. The difference is that the Kuding tea cake sent by her family can't be opened casually. These four tea cakes are tied with a thin red thread. The most prestigious elder in the man's village untied the red knot, and of course it was a cheer when it was untied. Everyone raised their glasses to bless the bride and groom. Then take out a piece of kudingcha cake and cook it in a pot for a while. Anyone who wishes his friends and relatives will drink a big bowl. If the solution is slow, there will be a roar of booing, and the elders have to work harder and untie the knot quickly, so as not to affect the festive wedding reception.

The original intention of the Li family is probably that after the woman gets married, the husband and wife can live together happily. Even if something goes wrong, the elders in the village will immediately help the young couple solve it. In some Li villages, such traditional customs still remain.

Medicine and tea, green gold

Like the Li family, in many areas of China, the old leaves and buds of Kuding tea are both tea and medicine, and they have been drunk for more than two thousand years. In Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica that ... boiling and drinking, quenching thirst, improving eyesight, relieving restlessness, making people awake, resolving phlegm and promoting diuresis, dredging small intestine (treating colitis), treating stranguria, stopping headache and restlessness, relieving sore throat (except prickly heat, relieving sore throat) and clearing upper diaphragm (clearing lung). Modern scientific research has further confirmed that Ilex kudingcha has obvious effects of lowering blood pressure, lowering blood lipid, clearing away heat and toxic materials, and promoting diuresis and improving eyesight. As early as ancient times, Ilex kudingcha leaves, as a tea enhancer or substitute, were regarded as the best tribute of the emperor.

After being rediscovered in the early 1980s, Kuding tea began to be planted intensively in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan. At present, the planting area of Ilex kudingcha in Hainan has reached several thousand mu, all of which are Ilex kudingcha, mainly distributed in Chengmai, Qiongzhong, Wanning, Wuzhishan, Baoting and Baisha. Seedlings mainly come from Baoting, Baisha and Daxin in Guangxi on the island, and a small amount comes from. Hainan Kuding Tea has an annual output value of 50-60 million yuan, which is the most popular Hainan local product in the tourism market.

The buds of Kuding tea are purplish red. If they are not picked in time, they will gradually change from purplish red to leathery. Compared with Guangxi and Guangdong, Hainan Kuding tea belongs to a kind of Kuding tea, but its leaves are thicker and more shiny. The largest leaf can reach 30 cm long and 1 1 cm wide, which is larger than the palm of an adult. Hainan Kuding tea can be picked all the year round, but it can't be picked outside the island from 65438+February to March the following year.

The picking and processing of high-quality Kuding tea are very demanding. Fresh and tender Kuding tea buds should be selected, with bright and shiny leaves, thick and soft leaves, and purple or light green. They should be picked immediately after the dew dries in the morning. Super Kuding tea has to go through sixteen processes, such as fixing, rolling and drying. The requirements of each process are very strict, and the materials used, such as charcoal, are litchi and longan charcoal. Workers carefully knead the fresh tender leaves of Kuding tea into small tea strips and lay them neatly in a bamboo screen for further processing. Such a worker can only process 1 kg of extra-grade kudingcha at most a day.

Kuding tea can be brewed separately or mixed with other tea leaves and medicinal materials. Brewing alone, just take one or two kudingcha and pour it into boiling water. Fine kudingcha will slowly spread out in the water until it is completely stretched, and it will revert to green kudingcha buds, floating in the water like a green leaf fairy. At this time, the soup color has turned yellow, clear and bright, and there is also a faint tea fragrance. After drinking the first sip, there is still some astringency in the bitterness, but after a while, the sweetness will swing between the lips and teeth.

If mixed with oolong tea, green tea, Longjing tea, Maojian tea and scented tea, you can not only taste the original fragrance of these teas, but also have the sweet and throat-moistening advantages of Kuding tea. Therefore, Kuding tea has the reputation of "tea gall" in tea, that is, no matter what kind of tea, Kuding tea can be comparable in taste, and it has a unique flavor after mixing with Kuding tea. Of course, the ratio of Kuding tea to other tea leaves is generally 1: 9, and the maximum ratio cannot exceed 2: 8, otherwise Kuding tea will cover up the taste of other tea leaves.