Dragon-phoenix Ball Tea

Dragon-phoenix ball tea was a general designation for Song’s North Garden tribute tea, i.e. the Dragon ball tea and the Phoenix Cake Tea.
   
The North Garden located in Phoenix Mountain of Jian'ou, Fujian Province. The Dragon-phoenix ball tea had already made during Song Taiping Xingguo period (A. D. 976-983). During Xianping period (A.D 998-1003), Ding Wei made "Big Dragon Ball" to pay tribute. During Qingli period, Cai Xiang made "small Dragon Ball" which got the better of the "Big Dragon Ball".

The Dragon-phoenix ball tea was the greatest achievement of ancient Chinese cake tea production.

The greatest development and contribution of Song people to tea culture was reflected in the harmony with tea and related arts, it carried tea tasting toward the perfection of scholar tea.
   
Scholar tea tasting was very popular in the Song Dynasty.
   
The first-rate scholars such as Wang Yucheng, Cai Xiang, Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, Mei Raochen, Su Shi, Su Che, Huang Tingjian, Lu You were all involved in the tea tasting.
   
Su Dongpo's poem reads: "a fine tea had always been mentioned in the same breath with beautiful women". It was a mature symbol of Chinese tea culture. The tea tasting procedure was developed from daily tea drinking.
   
The purpose of tea tasting of scholars, monks and priests of the past dynasties was mainly for intellectual enjoyment. So they wrote a lot of poems and prose about tea tasting and they advocated tea banquets, tea ceremonies and tea parties. For them, tea was a precious and noble drink and tea tasting was an intellectual enjoyment, means of cultivating moral character and nature, and realm of artistic atmosphere. Monk Qi Yi described exactly the realm: "autumn billows calm in the stone caldron, tasting mountainous tea as returning from sitting in meditation".