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Reader ‘E’ recently sent us these following questions. I think it is more appropriate to have have them posted here for all to discuss, so I am posting them here. All unedited text except for replacing a commercial link where a description by an internet shop of the tea involved.
I hope that you can help with the following.I recently heard about a tea called Mutan White.Mutan White is described as follows.“Mutan White is made from the leaves of the “Dai Bai” or “Big White” bush and mixed with buds from the “Shui Hsien” or “Water Sprite” tea plant. The leaves have silver tips and are predominantly greenish-brown in color and very flat. The buds are lustrous, soft and silvery. Its name, a literal translation from the Chinese, probably comes from the very pale color of its liquor.”(Tea Guardian replaced link: White Peony)1a.) Based on the description, is Mutan White simply another name for WHITE PEONY tea?1b.) Are the silvery buds of the White Peony known as Shui Hsien or Water Sprite?OR2a.) Is Shui Hsien or Water Sprite a completely different tea to White Peony?2b.) If Shui Hsien is a different tea, can you suggest sources from whom I may be able to obtain this tea?Thank you.
Please help with answering any parts or all the questions. -
“E”,
Mutan White is a mutated name of Bai Mudan. “Bai” is the romanization of “white”. Bai Mudan is literally White Peony. From the link you have given, and that I was forwarded, it is the description and photo of a medium quality White Peony. You can read more about White Peony at:In proper and traditional White Peony production, the silvery tips are part of the plucked leaves that make the tea. In another word, they are NOT add-ons from any other thing.Shui Hsien is an older form of romanization for what today should be spelled as Shuixian. Shuixian is a general description of a certain group of oolongs, the better of which originated in the Wuyi region:As for the term” Water Sprite”, it is a way to transliterate the term “Shuixian”. It is a very inaccurate transliteration considering the origin of the term refers to a kind of daffodil that is sometimes known as “Chinese Sacred Lily”. People who use the wrong transliteration are obviously ignorant of the true taste nature of the tea and the origin of the name, which you can read about in this link:You can read more about romanization at this link: -
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Yumcha places use cheap south fujian wulong since many years now. not shuixian. before this they used cheap shuixian, not from wuyi.
do not order shuixian in restaurant now. very bad quality oolong, maybe too much pesticide. no good for health. order sou mei, more safe.Always buy good shuixian from good teashop, not restaurant. I sell. I know. -
Agree with you CHAWANG.
I think the best way to solve the problem is to bring your own tealeaves. It is customary for waiters in dimsum restaurants to prepare your tea for you, so you do not have to feel bad about asking them to do it. They charge you the tea fees per head count anyway. Do not bring a dear tea, just one that is acceptable quality, cause you can’t control how they prepare it. Measure the right quantity in a small bowl so you don’t have to give them the whole pack: they may wet the remaining leaves and waste them. -
I think the confusion with Shuixian and “Water Sprite” probably comes from the meanings of its individual characters. When the two characters are together, the word refers to the flower. Interpreted apart from this, the two characters have the individual meanings of “water” (水 shui) and “immortal” (仙 xian). This reading of “water immortal,” although more colorful, is not really correct when the two characters are together.
Besides all of this, an immortal is not really a fairy, so it would still be a pretty bad translation. An immortal in Chinese culture is kind of a sage who has cultivated the Dao, and can live for thousands of years, ascend to the heavens, vanquish demons, help the ordinary people, etc. When living in the world, they often reside in the mountains and caves, away from society. Although unrelated to Shuixian, there is a wulong tea that is actually named after the immortals: the Baxian (“Eight Immortals”) Dancong.
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do not order shuixian in restaurant now. very bad quality oolong, maybe too much pesticide. no good for health. order sou mei, more safe.
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