China Trip 2026: Hand Made Tea

On Saturday we visited Wang Zong's Hand Made Tea Factory. Wang Zong was kind enough to take us on a tour, where we saw that the name is not just a name. Every aspect of his tea production is done by hand. The leaves are hand-picked and brought to his factory. The fermentation is done by hand, using the traditional wo dui ("wet piling") method, closely monitored and turned by hand. The finished leaves are pressed into cakes, bricks, pearls and coins according to customer request, and you can see the hands at work doing just that in this photo:

The pressed tea cakes are wrapped in paper, and packed into tongs using bamboo leaves and ties made from bamboo, all done by hand.

We tasted a number of Wang Zong's teas, and every tea we tried brought something new, a range of flavors and body feels from the robust to the sublime. We had a pretty good idea of what teas we wanted to purchase, for both Bana and Callisto. But we took some guidance from Linda: take samples of the tea back to LA, and try the tea at home, before making a purchasing decision.

In this case it was especially good advice. After the tasting, Wang Zong took us outside and showed us the "White Sand Well". When Wang Zong dug the well at his tea factory, he found layers of white sand acted as a natural filtration system. The water from the well is sweet to the taste, and he uses it to brew the tea. We needed to taste the tea at home, with our own water. When we did, we found all the teas were just as magical as we remembered.

One tea in particular uses the well water during the fermentation process. The tea itself is called White Sand Well, and it is very smooth, without the earthy flavor, but still rich and thick in the mouth and throat. A hint of sweetness remains, rare for ripe Pu-erh.

The level of hospitality we experienced in Yunnan is unmatched. Wang Zong, the president of the factory, not only personally gave us a tour and tasting, he had a meal prepared and served for us, and he made special accommodations for a vegetarian diet. He even loaned us his car while we were in the area!