Lin Kuang-li’s tea plants blend in among the dozens of others that blanket this tea-producing village in Alishan, a mountain range in Taiwan. Yet the leaves he produces are slightly different from those of his neighbours.
The 60-year-old is the sixth generation of his family to grow tea, primarily high-mountain Ch’ing-hsin (Qing Xin) oolong, in Longyanlin village, in Meishan township, Chiayi county.
In 1976, his late father, Lin Yun-fa, started the business to boost the village’s struggling economy. Today, it has been half a century since the hills of Longyanlin began to be intensively cultivated. The plantations are ageing, and the soil is becoming depleted.
It seems fortunate that 30 years ago, Lin Kuang-li decided to switch to natural farming and stopped using pesticides. It was a risky bet, but he is proud of…
