Worth its Weight in Yellow Gold | Archives of Winnie's Blog

Yellow Gold oolong was one of the common varieties of oolong that is not Tieguanyin but grown in this region. It is not currently in fashion, and prices are not through the roof. A great Yellow Gold was often compared to being ‘reminiscent of Tieguanyin’, and hardly ever appreciated on its own. But we discovered that in fact, there were three different sub-varietals of Yellow Gold (Huang Jin Gui) oolong, and that one of the varietals called Da Dan, left a long, lingering, fragrance on the palate some Tieguanyins can ever aspire to. Wing Chi and the rest of us were quite taken with the Da Dan made at a very old, very hidden little village called Lo Yan, famous, apparently, in some very esoteric tea textbooks that only academics like Mr. Ip or the locals in the area appreciate. It was quite an undertaken to find the village as few locals even knew where they were.

When we arrived, we were pleased with the Yellow Gold made from the Da Dan varietal; none of us have tasted it before!  Unfortunately, as soon as the farmers saw the foreign traveling companions we were with, called Gwei Lo (white devils), the price doubled on the spot to our deep chagrin. That’s the price we pay for trying to buy tea while white travelers were with us! For they have probably never seen foreigners there ever before…..