Wuyi Yan Tea: One of the Top Ten Chinese Teas 中国十大名茶：武夷岩茶

武夷岩茶是武夷山最著名的特产，是中国乌龙茶中的极品，为我国十大名茶之一。武夷山有"岩岩有茶，非岩不茶"之说，武夷岩茶因而得名。
As a widely-known specialty of the Wuyi Mountain region, Wuyi Yan tea (Rock Oolong tea) is also a superb Oolong tea on the list of Top Ten Chinese Teas. In the Wuyi Mountains, there is a saying "Among the rocks comes out the tea leaves, only the leaves there are of the best quality". This saying is wher the name of the tea comes from.
在美丽的武夷山九曲溪两岸，在武夷三十六峰、九十九岩这下，武夷岩茶遍布期间，点缀着、辉映着武夷山的山山水水。
Scattered along the Jiuqu River, under the 36 peaks and 99 prominent rocks, the tea plants are the best ornaments of the Wuyi landscape.
武夷岩茶在宋、元及明初，茶禁甚严，朝廷颁布茶叶"铢两不得出关"的禁令。随着茶叶产量增加，茶禁基本取消，武夷岩茶出口大量增加，许多欧美人十分喜爱。进入上本世纪八十年代，武夷岩茶更是成为重要出口产品，运销欧美及东南亚，赢得了荣誉，尤其是风靡东瀛，被视为健美茶而倾倒无数佳丽。
In the Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, the government once banned the export of Wuyi Yan tea. As the tea production increased, the ban was finally lifted and the Wuyi Yan tea became popular in Europe and America. In the 1980s, the tea became a major Chinese export to Europe, America and Northeast Asia and gained popularity among beautiful Japanese girls for its function in keeping a slim figure.
武夷岩茶最早被人称颂，可追溯到南朝时期，而最早的文字记载见之于唐朝元和年间，武夷岩茶被美称为"晚甘侯"。"晚甘"，甘香浓馥，美味无穷之意。"侯"，乃尊称。宋代，武夷岩茶已称雄国内茶坛，成为贡茶。北宋著名的文学家范仲淹在武夷山武夷宫担任提举期间曾写下一首著名的歌咏武夷岩茶的《斗茶歌》：……长安酒价减百万,成都药市无光辉;不如仙山一啜好,泠然便欲乘风飞……。到了元明两代，朝廷还在武夷山九曲溪四曲溪畔创设皇家焙茶局，称为"御茶园"，从此武夷岩茶大量进贡朝廷。如今，武夷岩茶更是得到各级领导的重视，大红袍身价倍增，"忆当年六棵母树五百年流芳，看今朝数亿红袍千万里飘香"，大红袍不仅走进钓鱼台，走进中南海，更走进寻常百姓家。
Having won its name in Southern Dynasty, Wuyi Yan tea was first known as the "Lord of Long-lasting Sweetness" (wan gan hou) in the Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the tea was very popular and was considered to be worthy of giving as tribute. Fan Zhongyan, a famous author in the Northern Song Dynasty, wrote a song about the tea during his supervisory stint in the Wuyi Mountains, "Neither the plunging wine price in Chang'an nor the declining herb market in Chengdu attracts me; a sip of the tea, however, would send me to heaven." Since the Yuan and Ming Dynasty when the Royal Tea Garden was set up along the Jiuqu Stream and the Siqu Stream, the tea became something that could be given as tribute to the reigning Emperors. Today, due to government officials' regard, Da Hong Pao, a kind of Wuyi Yan tea, is gaining higher status and more popularity among top Chinese leaders and the ordinary people. Just as a saying goes, "The six mother tea trees have been producing tea for 500 years, and today's Da Hong Pao spreads its fragrance thousands of miles away."