Wuyi Growers Hold Mountain-Calling Rite at Da Hong Pao

Tea farmers, heritage transmitters, and enterprise representatives gathered at Jiulongke, the gorge that holds Wuyi Mountain's mother Da Hong Pao bushes, on March 20 and called out together for a good spring harvest, China News Service reported.

The rite, known as han shan ji cha (shouting the mountain, sacrificing to tea), opened at 10 a.m. with drumming. Growers then chanted "cha fa ya luo," tea sprout, their voices carrying across the gorge, following ritual forms drawn from the Song dynasty's imperial tea gardens. This year's edition carried the theme "spring mountain seeks spring color, Wuyi seeks the sound of tea."

Zhang Huichun, a yancha maker of more than 40 years, said the spring-equinox rite "is a rule handed down by our forebears, and its core is reverence for nature and meticulous farming." Shouting at the mountain, he said, "voices reverence for the tea hills; making the tea keeps faith with the craft handed down across generations." Traditional technique, he added, "must hold to its roots, and also innovate."

Wu Linchun, director of the city's tea industry development center, and Huang Guibo, deputy director of the municipal publicity department, also attended.

The ceremony opens the city's push this year to align tea culture, tea industry, and tea technology, China News Service said. Wuyi Mountain produced 32,000 metric tons (about 35,000 US tons) of dry tea in 2025, and put its full tea industry chain, farm to cup, at more than 17 billion yuan (about US$2.4 billion), with tea tax revenue up 10.2% from the year before. About 120,000 residents make a living from tea, the city said.

The rite is a blessing, not the start of picking. Wuyi rock tea's formal harvest does not begin until after mid-April, roughly a month later, tea writers at 163.com have noted.

Sources: China News Service, 福建武夷山"喊山祭茶"启春茶季; China News Service Fujian, 福建武夷山喊山祭茶启春茶季; 163.com, 武夷岩茶科普：喊山祭到底是什么？.