The unique terroir of a region gives rise to its unique tea; all good and famous teas have their origins. A crucial reason why Anhua dark tea maintains its unique position in the tea world is that it grows in a glacial till environment. What is glacial till? What impact does it have on Anhua dark tea?
A Tea Garden In Anhua
1. What is glacial till?
Glacial till, also known as glacial tillite, is one of the world's rarest types of rock. It is grayish-brown or dark brown in color, heavy, hard yet brittle, and contains sand, gravel, or other small fossilized organisms.
2. How is glacial till formed?
According to research, glacial till was formed approximately 600-700 million years ago. At that time, the Earth experienced a global "ice age" event with a "snowball Earth" climate, followed by a "hothouse climate" event. This extreme heat and cold resulted in the formation of the rare glacial till.
3. Anhua Glacial Till: A World Wonder, the "Stone of Longevity"
Anhua is the most concentrated area of glacial till in the world, accounting for over 85% of the world's glacial till, and is known as a "world wonder" by the scientific community.
In August 2001, a team of professors from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and foreign experts conducted a geological survey in Anhua, Hunan, and accidentally discovered a 700-million-year-old glacial till layer in Xiaomu Village, Zhexi Town. It not only perfectly preserved the rock record from 700 million years ago but also preserved the rock record of the "hothouse" climate event after the ice age. This significant discovery provided valuable physical evidence for scientists to study the climate, geology, and evolution of the Earth at that time.
In August 2010, tea enthusiasts discovered an even larger area of glacial till. After discovering glacial till in the contracted forest area of Furong Mountain, they conducted extensive investigations of the Furong Mountain range for more than two months. Experts confirmed that many areas of the Furong Mountain range are composed of glacial till, including layers dating back 600 million years and others dating back over 700 million years. The townships involved include Dongshan Township, Fuwangshan Forest Farm, Furongshan Forest Farm, Liaojiaping Reservoir, Xinqiao Township, Mukong Township, Gaoming Township, Jiulong Township, Qingtangpu Town, and Dafu Town, all of which contain glacial till.
Due to its ancient origins, glacial till is also known as "longevity stone" or "auspicious stone," and has become a unique type of stone in Anhua, considered a treasure with immeasurable value.
4. What impact does glacial till have on Anhua dark tea?
Lu Yu, the Sage of Tea, said in his "Classic of Tea": "The best tea grows on weathered rocks, the medium quality tea grows on gravelly soil, and the inferior tea grows on yellow soil." Su Shi, in his poem "Reading Dr. Zhu's Poems at Night While Ill," wrote: "On rugged, weathered rocks, I obtained this one-inch sprout." This shows that only tea plants that have endured the harsh environment of weathered rocks can produce high-quality tea. The "weathered rocks" mentioned in these two lines of poetry include glacial till.
Areas with glacial till form a relatively unique geographical environment and climate conditions, which are very suitable for the growth of tea plants. Glacial till is tough yet porous, containing dozens of trace elements such as zinc, selenium, magnesium, iron, and calcium. Therefore, tea trees grown on these weathered rocks have tea leaves rich in minerals and nutrients, with thick leaves, a unique aroma, and a taste and physical effects far superior to other teas. Scientific experiments have shown that the trace element content is more than twice as high as that of tea not grown on glacial till. The saying "good tea comes from areas with glacial till" stems from this.
Therefore, in Anhua, glacial till is a valuable resource for tea tree cultivation. On mountain cliffs and wild slopes, tea trees grow naturally without being planted.
The weathered rock, "glacial till," is the foundation of high-quality Anhua dark tea – now you know why.
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