Every tea has a tale to tell. This is the tale of Tieguanyin. In the 1800s, an Anxi County farmer passed by an abandoned temple every day. It was home to an iron statue of Guanyin, the Chinese goddess of mercy. Saddened by the temple’s forgotten state, he decided to restore it. One night, Guanyin visited the farmer in a dream. She told him of a cave where treasure awaited. On waking, he found the cave – and within it, a single tea shoot. The farmer nurtured the tea shoot as he had nurtured the temple. He named it Tieguanyin, after the ‘Iron Goddess of Mercy’, and sold the fine tea far and wide, bringing wealth and prosperity to the region.
