Chinese matcha is not simply a novelty: it's a return to the roots, a millennia-old bridge between a glorious past and contemporary renewal. Each grain of this green powder tells a fascinating story where ancestral tradition and ecological innovation come together to create an exceptional tea.
The adventure begins in ancient China, the original birthplace of powdered tea. As early as the Sui Dynasty in the 6th century, people were already consuming "mocha," literally "powdered tea." But it was under the Song Dynasty that this tradition reached its zenith. During this refined era, Buddhist monks explored a revolutionary idea: grinding compressed tea leaves into a fine powder to accompany their long meditations. Whisked directly in the bowl with hot water, this powder became the drink of choice for scholars and the imperial court.
This practice then crossed the seas and arrived in Japan in the 12th century, brought back in 1191 by the monk Eisai. There, it became a spiritual path, a codified ritual passed down to the present day. In China, however, the fate of matcha took a dramatic turn under the Ming dynasty. In 1391, Emperor Hongwu banned the production of powdered tea in favor of brewed leaf tea. Gradually, matcha disappeared from the Chinese landscape, while in Japan it was preserved, refined, and became firmly established.
It wasn't until the beginning of the 21st century that China rediscovered this forgotten heritage. The province of Guizhou, a mountainous region in the southwest that had long remained relatively unknown, became the beating heart of the Chinese matcha revival. Around Anshun, the terroir offers remarkable conditions: a subtropical climate tempered by the altitude, abundant rainfall, frequent mists that naturally filter the light, and mineral-rich soils. This environment is reminiscent, in many ways, of the great terroirs of Japan.
In these modern gardens, matcha is predominantly made from the Longjing 43 cultivar, selected in China for its natural richness in amino acids, its low bitterness, and its ability to develop a mild umami flavor in the shade. While Japan traditionally relies on the Yabukita cultivar, known for its vibrant green color and robust structure, Longjing 43 offers a rounder, more nuanced expression: two interpretations of the same art, different yet equally valid.
Today, Guizhou is home to some of the world's largest matcha production facilities, notably in Tongren and Anshun. The plantations prioritize sustainable agriculture, technological innovation, and respect for ancestral methods: early harvesting, shading the tea bushes to intensify chlorophyll and umami, controlled steaming, gentle drying, and then slow grinding on stone mills. Guizhou matcha is now exported to more than forty countries, including Japan, thus completing the circle of history.
This return of matcha to China is neither a copy nor an imitation. It is a genuine renaissance, driven by a unique terroir and reinvented expertise. Anshun matcha embodies this reconciliation between tradition and modernity. Each cup becomes a journey through time, a celebration of the green gold rediscovered by the land of its birth.
