6.2 特色茶点云南味在线视频

Hello, everyone.

Nice to see you again.

Welcome back.

Last time,

we focused on two representative delicacies in Yunnan.

Today, we are going to focus on

a representative local drink and dessert.

They are believed to be the necessities for the tea time of local people in Yunnan.

What are they?

Let’s watch a short video.

From the video, you must have known the answer.

We will explain Pu’er tea and flower cakes in Yunnan.

Let’s begin with Pu’er tea.

I hope you still remember

the significant Tea-Horse Caravan Road

we have mentioned in the previous chapters.

It was this commercial road

that brought Puer Tea from southern Yunnan to Tibet.

Tea is native to Yunnan.

Yunnan is also one of the oldest tea planting areas in China.

Pu’er is the tea production base in Yunnnan.

According to “Annals of Pu’er County,

the planting and production of tea can date back to

as early as East Han Dynasty.

Pu’er Tea is the most famous in Yunnan.

It is well-known for its excellent quality and special aroma.

It was even included in some famous literatures home and abroad.

For instance,

Cao Xueqin wrote a poem called “Pu’ er Tea”

in his famous novel “A Dream of Red Mansions” in Qing dynasty.

The famous Russian novelist

Tolstoy also had descriptions on Pu’er tea

in his novel “War and Peace”.

Why is the tea named by Pu’er?

Actually, Pu’er is the name for a county during Qing dynasty.

Tea in Yunnan mainly produced

in the lower reaches of Langchang River in southern Yunnan，

which all belonged to the Pu’er County at that time.

There was large scale of old tea trees in these regions.

It was not only a tea production region,

but also a tea trade center.

Tea produced here was distributed to other regions by caravans,

such as to Tibet, Burma, Thailand and many other Asian countries

and finally even to some European countires.

Therefore, the local tea was entitled by the name of the county Pu’er.

Today, Pu’er is still remained as the official name for Pu’er City.

Generally speaking,

Pue’r tea can be classified into unfermented tea

and fermented tea based on different ways to process them.

Unfermented tea is also known as green tea

which undergoes the process of rolling and drying in pans.

Green Pu’er tea is often loose tea.

The color of the tea infusion is yellowish,

and the flavor is bitter.

The fermented tea is always pressed into different shapes,

such as brick-shaped tea, pancake-shaped tea and compressed tea.

Loose tea leaves are tightly pressed

for convenience of transportation and fermentation.

In ancient times,

Pu’er tea was transported from southern Yunnan all the way down

to Tibet in northwest.

The long journey of caravans was over four months.

Caravans transported Pu’er tea from tropical regions

to temperate regions and finally to the alpine regions.

Tea experienced high temperature, humid air, low temperature and dry air.

The changes of sunshine and air humidity made the tea gradually fermented.

The color of the tea turns to be black.

After being put into hot water,

black tea leaves makes the tea infusion reddish.

It is exactly the color of grape wine!

The flavor and the aroma are impressive.

Besides, the medicinal value of Pu’er tea has been approved.

It contains rich tea polyphenols

that is conducive to the treatment of the following diseases,

such as, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and indigestion.

It is proven to be healthy drink.

People even keep pressed Puer tea as antique

because the compressed Puer tea can be preserved for decades

and the tea doesn’t go decayed.

The aroma can be preserved for a long time too.

Next one is the most popular dessert in Yunnan.

It is flower cake.

Since Yunnan is rich in flowers,

local people have the tradition

to use flowers to make drinks and to cook dishes.

Lots of flowers here are edible,

such as rose, daisy, sweet osmanthus, and jasimine.

Among all food made of flowers,

rose cake is the most famous.

The favorable climate in central Yunnan

provides good conditions for the growth of roses.

Local people plant large scale of edible roses

without applying any chemicals.

Roses will come to full blossom in April every year.

People harvest the roses and separate the petals from the stems.

Rose petals are processed and mixed together with sugar

and finally made into sweet rose cakes.

The special fragrance of rose

and the soft cake together with a cup of Pu’er tea

are the most impressive thing for a pleasant tea time

in a sunny afternoon in Yunnan.

Flower cakes is also the best gift for gourmet friends.

Besides Puer tea and flower cakes,

there are still many other delicacies in Yunnan.

Each of them has the unique way of cooking,

a special story to tell,

a long history to recall

and an amazing flavor to remember.

Hope you can try them some day in the future.

Ok. That’s all for today.

See you next time.