The hometown of Leicha mainly refers to Jiangle County, Fujian Province. Jiangle Leicha is a special product of Jiangle County, Sanming City, Fujian Province. The tea is mainly made of ordinary tea, added with hemp seeds, and placed in a special big bowl , beat with a wooden stick about a foot long, and make a “rumbling” sound when beat.
In Jiangle, Lei Cha is an impromptu drink made by ordinary people.
As the name suggests, Lei Cha has to be “pulled” with utensils. Its main utensils are the beater and beater. The beater is a 2-foot-long stick, usually made of tea tree branches or white snake vine (which belongs to edible miscellaneous wood). If you are particular, you can carve a ring groove on the upper end of the beater and hang it with a rope, and plan the lower end to make it easier to beat The Leibo is a special local pottery basin, the inner wall of which is covered with radial grooves (the roughness is to increase the friction during the tea brewing process), and it is in the shape of an inverted round table.
The basic ingredients of Lei Cha are tea leaves, rice, sesame seeds, soybeans, peanuts, salt and orange peel, and sometimes green herbs are added. In fact, tea leaves are not all tea leaves. There are many varieties that can be used as tea leaves. In addition to using old tea leaves, more young leaves of many wild plants are picked, such as sorbus leaves, Daqing leaves, etc., no less than ten kinds. It is prepared in large quantities after washing, stewing, fermenting, drying and other processes, and it is used all the year round…
Le Lei Cha comes from the same source as Taiwan Lei Cha, and both belong to the Hakka Lei Cha series. Leicha culture can be used as a bond of cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, and it plays a positive role in enhancing Taiwan compatriots’ sense of identity and belonging to the same ethnic roots and cultural origins on both sides of the Taiwan Strait; enhancing the fellowship of Hakka relatives and promoting further contacts and exchanges between people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
In August 1992, the largest-ever “Lei Cha Festival” was held. More than 400 guests from home and abroad attended the Lei Cha event, and the Lei Cha culture had a far-reaching influence. Since 2006, the annual Lei Cha style performance competition has been held.
In recent years, Jiangle County has attached great importance to the inheritance and protection of related cultures. After 2006, the county has held an annual Leicha Style Competition.
Ballad of Le Lei Tea
Yueguangzi, Yuemao, I call you down to eat Leicha. The Lei Cha is fragrant and served with ginger. Old ginger is spicy, and it is served with 莙荙. Cauliflower salty, with spinach. Pineapple choke, with amaranth stem. The amaranth stalks are bright red, and lanterns and lanterns are hung on the bayberry trees.
Hakka “Lei Cha” Response Gift
The Hakka people live in the remote areas of the mountains all the year round, and there are few guests, but whenever a guest arrives, no matter what time or which house they enter, the host will immediately take out “tea rice” and make a cup of strong tea as a respect. The Hakka people call tea “tea rice” and regard tea as the same as rice, which shows how much they attach importance to tea. One Hakka people become obsessed with drinking tea by themselves, and the other become a custom to treat guests with tea. Visitors enter the door to offer tea first, and after tasting it, they start to make household chores or talk about serious things.
The Hakka people like to live in earthen buildings, and they have a strong sense of community. When the family has problems, the neighbors will lend a helping hand, as if it is their own business. Reciprocity of courtesy and intimacy between each family. They are also very civilized. For those who are accepted for help or congratulated, the head of the household will always look for an appropriate opportunity to invite the relevant people to the house and invite them to drink tea as a kind of gift. Therefore, a unique Hakka ritual tea culture has been formed. The festive gift is expressed in the form of “Lei Cha” unique to Hakkas.
Whenever a visitor comes, the Hakka people must first make a cup of strong tea to respect the guest. This is not the case with gift tea, which has its own special custom, which is the unique Hakka culture of gift tea. There are many items that need to be answered, such as a baby’s full moon, an old man’s birthday, a child going to school, a child entering an official, a patient recovering, a false alarm, a son’s marriage, a daughter’s marriage, and so on. Usually the gift is answered in the form of “Lei Cha”, which is considered a generous gift.
Lei Cha is made from tea leaves, ginger and rice. The production is very particular. First, put the three kinds of raw materials in a pottery bowl or a mortar made of bluestone, and then use a hammer made of hawthorn wood or camellia oleifera, and pound them repeatedly to form a paste. Then add leeks, tangerine peel, sweet potato vermicelli, dried japonica rice flour and an appropriate amount of salt, add water and cook in a large pot to form a gruel. When eating, sprinkle some spices, such as fried peanuts, fried soybeans, fried sesame and so on.
