Suoi Giang tea receives many honors. If the government of Yen Bai and Department of Agriculture and Development for Countryside knew about Muong Lo rice, they would also treasure Suoi Giang tea. When Muong Lo rice is developed into a famous brand “Muong Lo Girl,” people started recognizing the reputation of Suoi Giang.
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Suoi Giang tea receives many honors. If the government of Yen Bai and Department of Agriculture and Development for Countryside knew about Muong Lo rice, they would also treasure Suoi Giang tea. When Muong Lo rice is developed into a famous brand “Muong Lo Girl,” people started recognizing the reputation of Suoi Giang.
People began discussing about the remorseful reality “The brand of Suoi Giang tea: lost before being built” (an article published by Vietnam Audio). Suoi Giang tea is definitely worth all the appraisals.
Suoi Giang tea has fresh and big buds covered by a layer of soft fur; After being processed, tea buds are still large and lively, and even coated in an opaque, glittery, and fragrant snowy layer. Not many people can savor such a great taste.
For a long time, the transportation of Suoi Giang tea to the plain area was difficult due to dangerous roads. Moreover, the lowered price of tea discouraged the farmers and they gave up their plantation.
The greener and fertile the tea trees are, the more slowly tea buds open. Many Suoi Giang tea specialists were sad when walking along the tea plantation. Cows and goats can not eat any tea.
Because of the difficulty involving growing tea, H’Mong people (who reled heavily on growing tea to earn a living) changed to gold digging. However, they did not earn enough money to support themselves
Moreover, their nomadic lifestyle destroyed the green Suoi Giang. A Russian tea specialist said: “Suoi Giang tea contains all flavors of good brands of tea from all over the world.” The specialist was also amazed at Suoi Giang people’s simple method of growing and processing tea.
When the monkeys climb up those tea trees, they throw the fresh tea leaves on one another. Those leaves are then prepared with mountain fog. During the tea season, Suoi Giang is covered in the pleasant scent of tea leaves and tea buds.
Tea sap brings bitter scent, so attractive that tea drinkers can feel the bitter and sweet taste. This is such a flavorful tea with longlasting taste.
Real Suoi Giang tea costs about millions for 1 kilogram. Sitting in a room with A/C to avoid the dusty streets, the tea devourers still can feel the smoke coming from the kitchen of the pomu houses, can sense the cloudy fog coming from mount Chong Pao Mua.
Feeling all the wonderful flavors, my friend inhales all the scentful smell of Suoi Giang tea, whose bitter sweet taste reminds of the Suoi Giang mountain.
Although young, he loves the ancient tea of the North of Vietnam.
He told me: “Drinking Suoi Giang tea is number one. The lazy guys who use tap water full of chloride in Hanoi kills all the flavors of tea.
He told me: “Drinking Suoi Giang tea is number one. The lazy guys who use tap water full of chloride in Hanoi kills all the flavors of tea.
Users should take either the water coming from the midland or the water from Tap Lang, Giang Cao of Suoi Giang.”
However, nowadays, more and more people enjoy the art of drinking tea, which is the opportunity for Suoi Giang tea to develop. Similarly, in 2003, the female director of Nghia Lo hotel brought 10 bags of Tu Le rice (best national rice grown in Ban Pha farm, Tu Le and Van Chan province, 60 km from Suoi Giang) to Hanoi to participate in the food festival held in Hanoi.
They even brought leaves, rice, and Ban Pha water to cook the rice into 5-color sticky rice. This dish made by Thai ethnic people won the gold medal. I think, if Suoi Giang tea had participated in the competition/festival, it would have won gold medal for drinks.
I will remember forever Vang A proudly pointing at high Mount Chong Pao Mua, which means “the pearl of Mua generation.” The valuable pearl possesses ancient tea trees, covered in green, with Tap Lang forest and pomu woods.
Many H’Mong families earn millions of money a year just from harvesting tea buds and selling them to the factories. Some days, they harvest 10 tons of fresh buds.
People use gas cooking stove to dry tea. A Senh also rides a scooter to go to the market very early in the morning.
“This is definitely modern times.” – Said A Senh. In the past, people counted the number of tea trees by walking by foot.
In the early 1960s, Suoi Giang, only 10 km from the city, was very remote. Only H’Mong residents of Mount Chong Pao Mua live up in the high mountain. Not until 1968 did the government open a road to travel to Suoi Giang.
The French empirer already recognized the potential of Suoi Giang tea. Mr. Giang Nha Lu, father of Giang A Dang – president of Suoi Giang province, witnessed his own mother selling Suoi Giang tea to the French people.
Tea was smoked by traditional pans. Giang Nha Lu’s mother felt the heat of the pan by touching the tea inside the pan. She could also tell the price of tea.
The archaic period was gradually over. Perhaps, Mr. Vu Suu, former president of Yen Bai province, was the most enthusiastic person in exploiting the cultural and natural aspects of Suoi Giang. His daring project which suggested planting pomu wood in Suoi Giang cost 150 billion.
Yen Bai’s cultural department has been attempting to organize the horse race of Suoi Giang ethnic people. Many professionals and officers have researched on Suoi Giang tea to increase the productivity and quality of this valuable tea.
They also thought about the options of either letting the tea trees so tall (for the monkeys to harvest tea) or cutting the trees to harvest more large tea leaves like Northern tea. Many H’Mong women have hurt themselves harvesting tea. Some even broke their bones.
President of Suoi Giang province, Giang A Dang, born in 1964, remembered President Pham Van Dong, the president of Vietnam, who visited Suoi Giang and took the historical picture beside the ancient tea in Pang Cang village. The picture became the symbol of Suoi Giang ancient tea. The tea tree was huge with many people circling around. Regretfully, the tea tree died because of insects living inside its trunks
The Tradition Room of Suoi Giang province is still storing the picture. President Giang A Dang gave me a document which states: “The area where the H’Mong people reside has been having good tea for almost two, three hundred years. On July 15, 1961, Nguyen Tuan Anh and other officers in Commerce department, discovered this tea and instructed the residents how to process the tea. It has wonderful characteristics.”
Another picture, taken in September 9 1062, featured Vice President Pham Hung with another officer beside a tea tree’s trunk.
There are many stories involving Suoi Giang area.
When I stand on top of the mountain looking down to the tea factory beside Suoi Giang departmental building with old chimneys, I feel happy because the Suoi Giang people finally recognize the exceptional value of Suoi Giang tea.