Zheng has been working in tea processing for decades and made innovations in the steaming-and-deoxidizing process. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Finding the right ingredients in the wild was first step in brewing the delectable Zisun tea.

The Classic of Tea, written by Tang Dynasty (618-907) "tea saint" Lu Yu, rates a unique kind of tea, not made from the green leaves commonly used, as superior. The leaves in question were purple and shaped like bamboo shoots.

They still exist and are known as Zisun (or "purple bamboo shoots") and grow primarily in the mountains of Changxing county, Huzhou, Zhejiang province, where the Tang Dynasty Imperial Tea Factory once harvested them exclusively for the emperors.

Unsurprisingly, they are elusive and precious. Only 4 kilograms of purple tea leaves can be harvested from a plantation of around 1 hectare, says Zheng Funian, a national-level representative inheritor of the Zisun tea-making technique.

During harvest season each year, the 62-year-old goes up into the hills in the early morning to pick the curly purple leaves that grow at the tips of tea plants, and later spends hours roasting them by hand.

He says that, when he was growing up near Guzhu Hill, the original site of the imperial tea factory, families used to pick tea growing wild on the hills, roast it by hand and drink it for pleasure.

When he was 17, his parents started to teach him how to process tea and, eventually, it became his full-time occupation.

"When it comes to roasting, both talent and patience are needed. One has to be able to sit and endure hardship. I have a quick temper, but whenever I sit in front of a wok or a stove, I become calm," Zheng says.

Believing that tea can "embody the tea maker's soul", he has always processed the leaves manually, rather than by machine.

When they first learn, beginners almost inevitably burn their hands. Zheng was no exception. Most of his fingers were blistered until he gradually mastered the roasting process and managed to avoid burning himself.

"The most challenging part is feeling the temperature of the wok with one's hands. This is a whole system, shaking, gripping and tossing the leaves; it's almost like practicing tai chi," he says.

As the local government has been engaging tea experts to revive the Zisun tea processing technique, which for centuries was preserved only in texts, Zheng began experimenting back in the 2000s, both restoring and improving traditional methods.

"Restoring the ancient processing methods is essential, but personally I got involved simply because I love tea and I like to try my hand at processing any kind," Zheng says.

He first searched for the purple leaves in the wild, roaming the hills with a bamboo basket and a hoe. Whenever he discovered a plant with the right leaves, he would dig it up and replant it in his own plantation. Despite these endeavors, he only managed to find 80 or so bushes.

It took Zheng eight years to find enough plants and research ancient texts, including The Classic of Tea, before he was able to successfully produce the compressed tea, all the while tweaking the traditional steaming-and-deoxidizing process.

In 2017, he was made a national-level inheritor of Zisun tea processing, and last year, traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China were inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, with Zisun tea included.

Now, apart from growing and processing tea and refining his technique, Zheng also teaches students about tea at schools, and teaches his apprentices his skills.

"My sons and nephew are learning to make tea from me. I have to closely observe those who wish to become my apprentices for a long time, to assess their talent and character. Processing takes perseverance, so one must have determination and a passion for tea," he says.

Among his 11 apprentices, 22-year-old Liang Xinye is both the newest and the youngest. Still pursuing a law degree at the Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, she was officially apprenticed this March.

"When I was young, I wasn't interested in learning the piano or dancing. Then a guest gave my family a tea set, and I played with it every day. No one in my family knew much about tea, so my mother found a tea sommelier to teach me," Liang says.

Unlike her other learning experiences, Liang was able to persevere with learning how to become a tea sommelier, from brewing and tasting different types of tea to learning about tea history and tea culture.

At university, she is head of a student tea culture society. She says the society has around 200 members, and about 10,000 students have participated in the society's activities, from lectures given by tea experts to field trips to plantations.

"During these trips to pick and roast tea, I became interested in processing. I felt that my previous understanding of tea was shallow and bookish," Liang says. "I found that I quite enjoy being up in the hills and close to nature. I can spend an entire day without my cellphone, and I feel that my soul is communicating with the tea."

Last year, Liang took society members on a field trip to Changxing, and met Zheng. Early this spring, she spent a month on his plantation, getting up in the early morning to pick leaves and spending the afternoons roasting them.

During her learning journey, she says she often encounters doubters, who say that young people cannot bear the hardship associated with the trade, or that the manual labor required makes it unsuited to women, when in fact a lot of young people are passionate about traditional culture, and that some tea processing masters are women.

"Whenever I encounter these doubters, Master Zheng backs me up, saying that I have the qualities necessary. He teaches me not only how to process tea, but also the principles of being a good person, both by precept and by example," Liang says.

After she completes her undergraduate studies next year, she plans to continue learning processing with Zheng, and also plans to learn tea theory. She has also created her own brand to promote Zisun tea and other niche varieties.

"I will continue to learn from Master Zheng and refine my skills processing Zisun tea. I also want to promote tea culture among the younger generation. For example, I can combine tea with trendy merchandise, or inspire more young people to learn the traditions, so that our tea industry becomes more youthful, professional and diverse."