Hadong brews Korean tea for the world

A group of musicians perform "pungmul," a Korean traditional percussion genre, to celebrate a rich verdant harvest of tea leaves in Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province. Courtesy of Hadong World Tea Expo Organizing Committee

Secluded mountain region prepares for world tea exhibition

By Ko Dong-hwan

An old folk song from Hadong County in South Gyeongsang Province evinces the importance of tea in Korean culture. It goes like this: "The first budding tea leaves are for the local governor, those from the next round of budding are for parents, and those from the last budding of the season are for husbands; then, keep the withered old leaves separately as they come in handy to make medicine for children when they have tummy aches, hoping the children grow up healthy and one day lead the remote, mountainous township."

This wisdom from the place where the country's tea traditions originate dates back to as early as 1241. Discovered records show how people back then harvested tea leaves at the foot of Mount Jiri not just to enjoy them but also to survive the harsh daily challenges posed by the ruthless local government. In a poem by Lee Kyu-bo from the 918-1392 Goryeo Kingdom, everyone from children to elderly was depicted as being forced to pick ripe tea leaves from rough mountain backs and carry the collected leaves to Seoul ― over 350 kilometers north ― on foot. Lee eulogized the struggle as "straining and bloody efforts by a countless number of people which made the tea eventually known to the country."

This tea is the pride of Hadong, an important destination for tea lovers in Korea. The region's centuries-old history of local tea harvesting and its diverse range of products remain palpable thanks to local farmers and government officials of Hadong County and South Gyeongsang Province who have been preserving the practices and promoting them across the country and the world.

Participants of a tea culture class, led by monks from Ssanggye Temple in Hadong, listen to a girl reciting a poem in this July 2022 photo. Courtesy of Hadong World Tea Expo Organizing Committee

Their latest efforts are about to unfold at the World Tea Expo 2023 Hadong. The country's only tea exposition to have been certified by international agricultural heritage agencies, the month-long seasonal event is now making preparations for its opening on May 4.

INTERVIEWGovernor serves Korean teas to world

2023-05-03 16:27 | Travel & Food

Hadong County and South Gyeongsang Province are looking to propagate tea culture worldwide in response to high demand for coffee, espresso drinks and mass-produced beverages. The organizing committee, formed by 50 officials from the county and provincial governments, is determined to draw visitors and inform them how tea can help heal their bodies and minds.

"We are preparing the event so that international guests can experience the history of Korean tea which has lasted for over 1,000 years," said Hadong Mayor Ha Seung-cheol, the co-president of the expo's organizing committee. "They will be able to see how therapeutic tea can be."

In the upcoming event, visitors can experience how many colorful tea-related activities are out there. Sizzling leaves in a wrought-iron caldron, making tea leaf-based cosmetics, tea cups and coasters and trying new varieties of tea made by tea lovers from the country's MZ generation are just part of a broad range of the programs the festival offers. Tea from not just Hadong, but also from outside the country will also encourage guests to taste and compare different varieties of tea from around the world. There will also be traditional and creative bites made from the leaves.

A local tea leaf farmer in Hadong, right, teaches visitors how to prepare tea leaves in a stainless steel bowl. In practice, the leaves are heated in a wrought-iron caldron. Courtesy of Hadong World Tea Expo Organizing Committee

Also presenting exhibits on tea-related crafts, feel-good walking courses around tea plantations as well as live commerce and consulting opportunities for product buyers from around the world, the event's extraordinary scale has a reason for its one-month duration.

"The expo is going to be held eco-friendly to the level matching our motto that 'K-tea is good for Mother Earth as well,'" said Park Wan-soo, the governor of South Gyeongsang Provincial Government who also chairs the event's organizing committee.

Hadong purveyed tea to the royal palace throughout Korea's kingdoms ― from Goryeo to Joseon ― as their aroma and taste proved second to none. Historic documents tell that Korea's royal envoys had presented the local tea leaves to their counterparts in China, another country known for being deeply rooted in tea culture. The expo's opening event features a reenactment demonstrating the actual practice of a Korean king being served Hadong tea at his palace.

Tea leaves are hand-picked by a farmer in Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province. Sorting tea leaves entails several steps to completely remove the bad ones. Courtesy of Hadong World Tea Expo Organizing Committee

But as much as the county's preserved mountains and crisp climate offer natural advantages in growing tea leaves, locals of Hadong say that half of their tea comes from human efforts. After the local setting mixed with sunlight and shade in an ideal composition produces the leaves, farmers sort out the hand-picked leaves. The selection then gets strewn out on straw mats.

The selected leaves then get dried by dexterous hands. It's followed by hand-scrubbing, leaving "scars" on the leaves to make them easier to steep in hot water. Finally, placed on hanji, a traditional Korean paper handmade from mulberry trees, the leaves are stored in straw-woven baskets and left for natural drying.

"Tending to tea plants and processing their leaves is hard work. It requires farmers to empty their minds and embrace their work wholeheartedly," Jeong Kyeong-ja from the expo operating committee told The Korea Times. "The secret behind over 1,000 years of Hadong's wild tea is the people who make it."