On Wudong Mountain, one of the highest peaks in the Phoenix Mountain range, the Hongwei Group was started by Chen Hongwei. Chen Hongwei studied tea in university, and in 2003, adopted a song zhong dan cong tea tree, a tea tree believed to have originally grown during the Song Dynasty. Sadly, in 2021, Hongwei passed away due to COVID-19. He is succeeded by his son, Chen Sifan. Today, Hongwei’s teas are produced by Chen Sifan, Chen Weiqiao, and Chen Yangxi; all of which are unrelated.
Chen Sifan grew up drinking his father’s dan cong tea and helping and watching the production of the teas. Zhuping, the owner of Seven Cups, says “Sifan knows what tea they are making just at a glance. He can tell just by the aroma, and season.” Sifan is well known in Chaozhou city, though not entirely due to his presence in the tea industry. He is most well known for his leadership of the 24 Festival Drums, a performance art originating in Malaysia that now has a strong presence and influence in Chaozhou’s culture and heritage. The 24 Festival drums is a lively and powerful performance combining drumming, traditional dance, and martial arts. Chen Sifan is heavily involved in the performance, but he also teaches children and encourages more people to start learning the art, making him a pillar of preserving and continuing Chaozhou’s cultural heritage.
The first steps in the tea process are done by Chen Yangxi. Yangxi is a farmer from Wudong Mountain, contracted by Chen Sifan, who produces the maocha for the Hongwei Group. Maocha marks the step in the tea process when the tea is ready for roasting, in the case of wulongs, or ripening, in the case of shu puers. For Wulongs, this means the tea has been picked, withered, oxidized, fried to stop oxidization, twisted into their shape, roasted to dry, and finally, sorted, removing any sub-standard tea leaves. Yangxi then gives his maocha to Chen Weiqiao to finish the tea.
Chen Weiquiao is the garden and processing facility manager for the Hongwei Group. Weiqiao was born to a tea farming family, who grew and sold young tea bushes to tea farmers. Weiqiao grew up learning how to harvest tea leaves and tending to the tea bushes, making him incredibly knowledgeable of tea plants and caring for them. He and Sifan are the head of the roasting process, creating its signature roasted flavor.
What makes Chen Sifan and Chen Weiqiao’s dan congs so special is in the roasting process. Today, the majority of dan cong wulong on the market is roasted in an oven two times, resulting in the signature roasty flavor. However, Chen Sifan, with his dedication to tradition and heritage, has his teas oven roasted once, per district regulations, and once over a genuine lychee charcoal fire, making his tea exceptionally unique in the commercialized market.
