Black tea's journey from the mountains of Fujian

The Wuyi Mountain range is home to some of the country's best tea plantations. Tea has grown in the area for centuries.[Photo by Will Wain-Williams / For China Daily]

However, during one particular harvest, a general who was involved in skirmish in Jiangxi crossed the border into Fujian and brought his troops to hide in the Wuyi Mountain.

They took over the village, and the villagers fled. During this time, the battle-worn soldiers used the freshly harvested tea to make bedding and take rest. After a few days they left.

When the villagers returned, they found all their tea in bad shape; the leaves were broken and squashed, and had begun to oxidize, turning brown. On top of that, the unbathed soldiers had left a foul odor that had seeped into the leaves.

Initially, the villagers thought their harvest was ruined, and planned to throw the tea away. But one innovative villager had an idea. He decided to roast the tea with pinewood, which produced a strong and fragrant smoke.

This, combined with the oxidization that had taken place produced a very different kind of tea.

The villagers carried the tea into town and begged a merchant from Fuzhou to take it to the ports and have it exported to Indonesia, from where it would go on to Europe.

They thought the tea was a disaster, and never imagined that the next year, the same merchant would return to ask for more.