“At this time of growth, everything is clean and bright, so it is called Qingming.” April 5 ushered in the “Qingming” solar term. As the fifth solar term in the twenty-four solar terms, the Qingming Festival warms the temperature, and the earth presents the color of spring and Jingming. What are the characteristics of the Qingming Festival? Why do you say “Mingqian tea is as precious as gold”? Meteorological and agricultural experts reveal the secrets for you.
When it comes to Qingming, everyone will think of “the rains during the Qingming season”. Jiang Xiaodong, an associate professor at the School of Applied Meteorology at Nanjing University of Information Technology, introduced that this sentence is a true portrayal of southern my country. During the Qingming Festival, warm air activities become more frequent. Except for the northeast and northwest, the daily average temperature in most areas is higher than 12 degrees Celsius, and people will obviously feel the temperature rise. At this time, cold air still often moves southward, and cold and warm air masses mostly meet in the southern region of the Yangtze River, resulting in a significant increase in rainfall in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The coastal areas of South China are prone to heavy rainfall and other weather, beginning to enter the pre-flood season.
“In Northeast my country, the Yellow River Basin and other regions, the Qingming period has not yet entered the rainy season, the climate is usually dry, rainy, windy, and there will be dusty weather, not only there is no ‘rain in succession’, And ‘spring rain is as expensive as oil’.” Jiang Xiaodong said.
Qingming is not only a solar term, but also a traditional festival in my country. During the Qingming Festival, people often carry out activities such as tomb sweeping, ancestor worship, and outings, and in addition to making Mingqian tea. According to Yang Yiyang, head of the tea innovation team of Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the so-called Mingqian tea refers to new tea made from fresh leaves from tea trees before the Qingming Festival. After a winter of accumulation, tea trees germinate in spring with abundant rainfall and moderate temperature. At this time, the tea tree is rich in amino acids and other substances, and the prepared tea leaves are green in color, beautiful in shape, and fragrant and mellow.
“The buds and leaves of tea trees are the most tender before the Qingming Festival, the picking period is short, and the picking requirements are high. In addition, the temperature is still low, and the growth of tea leaves is slow, so the yield is limited. And spring tea is generally free of pests and diseases. Therefore, there is a saying that ‘tea before the Ming Dynasty is as precious as gold’.” Yang Yiyang said that despite this statement, the warm and humid climate in spring is very suitable for the growth of tea trees, so the quality of tea after the Qingming Festival and before the Grain Rain is also excellent.