Ye Hangzhong is a wildly decorated tea maker for his fiery dedication to Dan Cong tea and Chaozhou gongfu tea culture. Born in 1963 in Fenghuang Town, Chaozhou city, he grew up around Dan Cong teas with a family of tea lovers. His great grandfather, a traveling merchant, carried tea and gongfu style brewing to Southeast Asia; his grandfather worked part time as a tea vendor; and his father, while not actively involved in the tea industry, was a long-time tea connoisseur. Growing up in Chaozhou city, drinking the delicate Dan Cong teas, Ye developed a love and passion for the culture that carries him today.
His 30+ year professional career began in 1986, with a job at Chao’an’s (Chaozhou’s District government) “Tea Purchasing Station.” Here, he studied tea purchasing, processing, and blending under Lian Gentao’s mentorship. After multiple years, he began working as a warehouse manager for a tea company, but in 1998, he resigned to enroll as a graduate student at Zhejiang University studying tea biology.
In the last two decades, Ye has earned many awards, titles, and positions in the tea world. He is a representative of the “National Intangible Cultural Heritage Project,” representing both “Chaozhou Gongfu Tea Art” and “Chaozhou Dan Cong Tea Production Technique” respectively. He’s been given many awards, such as the “Golden Camel Award”by the Centennial World Expo in Italy. In 2023 in Guangzhou, his Dan Cong tea was selected as a state gift for the French President, presented along with a black tea. Among many publications, Ye wrote the “Chaozhou Gongfu Brewing Regulations,” which details and standardizes the 21 steps in Gongfu brewing. As of 2015, it is published and is recognised as a national industry standard.
Despite being the author, Ye is not one to follow his own standards to a T (haha puns). He expresses that standards are language. He says “only by establishing standards can gongfu tea be better spread.” Despite these standards, he heavily encourages “playing with the tea.” He maintains that to be an excellent tea connoisseur, one must master the 21 steps of gongfu brewing, but cannot be confined by them, a sentiment Seven Cup’s carries through our own tea practices.
Today, Ye’s most prominent endeavors are the preservation of intangible heritage and researching aged Dan Cong Wulong. He is a kind, humble, and joyful person with a sharp sense of humor. Through his lifetime journey with tea, he says, “tea is where my soul rests.”
One of Ye’s guiding principles is “exchange heart for tea.” By this, he means that the brewed tea reflects the mindset of the brewer. Approach tea with dedication and reverence, and the tea will return that sincerity. This philosophy shapes not only how he makes tea, but how he lives, moving with patience, curiosity, and a respect for tradition. Ye Hanzhong reminds us to slow down and appreciate the work that must go into each cup of tea, starting with the farmers and the soil, to our own efforts in brewing it.