Mr. Chen, the producer of this tea, is 91 years old. He was born under the Japanese occupation and was 28 when they left the island in 1945. At about the same, time he started producing tea in the hills not far from Pinglin next to the family’s ancestral stone house where he still resides and continues, to this day, to practice his craft with the help of his son and daughter-in-law (not the other way around!). Apart from the few mobile phones laid on the furniture, stepping into his house is like visiting a living museum of rural life in Wenshan. Like in all museums there are treasures to be found. Some of these treasures are slowly maturing to be brought back to life in a teapot like this Lot 1127 we selected during our visit in October 2019 and lightly baked by our tea maker in the Spring of 2022. We were immediately seduced by the balanced poise of this tea. Complex in an appealing way, this tea invites the senses to delve into an introspection where the tea leaf continues its evolutive circle from mineral compounds to a living organism, back to more earthy mineral notes. We can still detect the floral charm of a fresh Bao Zhong intertwined with woody notes (camphor, acacia) and root plant sweetness (ginseng). This Lot has aged properly and doesn’t present any of the unpleasant sourness found in many badly aged teas but a pleasant tangy dryness that suggests that this tea can still continue to improve if allow to rest a little longer. It remains perfectly enjoyable to drink right now. Very alluring yet accessible and authentically Taiwanese.