Two days as an Enshi tea farmer
Not a tour. My family's home and tea garden in the mountains. You pick the tea, sit down to a village feast, make your own tea by hand, and carry it home. Hosted in English.
- Two days living as an Enshi tea family, garden to table
- Make your own green tea by hand, steamed or pan-fired
- A dusk Enshi tea ceremony, tasting our garden's teas
- A real Enshi feast by our village cook, join in if you like
- Village homestay, all meals and all materials included
- Take home the tea you made by hand
- Photos of your two days by our photographer, Ting
Join a group and your spot is held while the date fills, refunded in full if the group does not form. Prefer to go now? A private booking runs on your own dates, from a single traveler.
What you do
I meet you and we walk the village, no rush. At dusk we sit for an Enshi tea ceremony, a calm welcome to the mountain, and taste the teas from our garden. In the evening, a relaxed local activity to break the ice. Night in the village.
Enshi tea ceremonyTea tastingEvening icebreakerUp with the mountain. You pick tea in the cool morning and gather vegetables from the garden. Our village cook turns them into a real Enshi feast, and you can jump in anytime. Then you make your own green tea by hand, fresh leaf to the final fire. By four or five you leave with the tea you made.
Pick tea and vegetablesVillage feastMake your own teaTimes are a guide, not a script.
From the garden to your cup
I am June, and I grow the tea you will make
My family has farmed these mountains for generations. I make Enshi Yulu by hand, trained under two national-level tea masters, and I test our teas with Eurofins. You are not following a guide with a script. You are staying with the family that grows and makes the tea.
What people take home
Customer Reviews
I came to Enshi because I wanted to experience rural China and the craft of making tea. While tea picking and processing was definitely a highlight, what I think of most when remembering my time in the village, is all the lovely people and the peaceful, slow-paced but vivid atmosphere and way of life in the mountains. That is the true gem I found beyond the tea.
The time out there, surrounded by nature, really left a beautiful, subtle, but lasting imprint and helped me reconnect with my self, viewing my everyday life at home from a distance, letting me ponder what it is, I really seek.
Thank you, everyone!
Two years ago, I wasn't part of this brand yet. Time flies. Somewhere along the way, I went from never drinking tea, to not being able to live without it, to learning how it's made. Little by little, I fell in love with what I do.
Tea connects friends from all over the world, and I've been lucky to host our visitors here with June. Spending time with the local villagers, who are also part of our co-op, has taught me so much. A lot of the time they show it more than they say it, and that's a kind of honesty and warmth I hadn't felt in a long time.
I love watching the sunset from the balcony, chatting over tea at night, picking leaves, and soaking in the quiet you only find deep in these mountains. The village kids and I have shared so many good moments with visitors from around the globe, and language never really gets in the way. Different lives, different cultures, different views, yet I'm often struck by how alike we all are underneath.
The growth isn't just mine. The people here have new dreams too. Tea brought us together, and I'm grateful for that.
Included, and what is not
Included
- Two days and one night in the mountains, in a village homestay
- All meals across the two days, cooked by our village cook (join in if you like)
- A welcome Enshi tea ceremony and a tasting of our garden's teas
- Pick your own tea and make it by hand, all materials provided
- The tea you make, to take home
- June, your English-speaking host and tea farmer
- Ting, our photographer, so you go home with real photos of your two days
Not included
- Getting to Enshi (fly in, or bullet train 3.5h from Wuhan and 2.5h from Chongqing, I meet you)
- Travel insurance
Optional add-ons
Want to see more of the region? Beyond the two days, we can also take you out and guide you: the Enshi Grand Canyon, a city tour, even a session with a local doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. Tell me what you would like and I will quote it separately.
Before you book
Getting here
Fly into Enshi, or take the bullet train (3.5h from Wuhan, 2.5h from Chongqing). Either way I meet you and we head up to the village.
How the small groups work
Groups of 6 to 8. Tell me when you could come and I match you into a forming date. Once six confirm, I lock it. Do not book flights until your date is confirmed. If a group does not form, you get a full refund.
I am vegetarian. Is that a problem?
Not at all. Our village cook prepares the meals, so plant based is easy. Tell me your needs ahead and I plan around them.
What is the homestay like?
Simple, clean, mountain quiet. Tell me if you are a couple or need your own room and I will sort it.
Visas
Many countries, including Germany, France and Italy, get 30 days in China visa free. Some can use the 240-hour transit rule. Tell me your nationality and I will point you the right way.
Before you land
Google, Instagram and WhatsApp are blocked in mainland China. Install WhatsApp and a VPN before you fly. I send you the rest once your spot is confirmed.
How fit, and what to bring?
Easy, unhurried walking on garden terraces. Bring comfortable shoes, something warm for the cool mountain evenings, and clothes you do not mind getting a little tea on.
Solo or private?
Both. I match solo travelers into a group. Want a guaranteed date of your own? Book the private option.
The postcard tea
A tea our guests build together. Every traveler who comes adds a step, and a little of themselves, so each batch carries the ones who came before. You taste it at the ceremony, and you can take a tin home.
A living tea, released in small batches from the garden.
Come now, at our founding price
Guests in our first groups pay the founding rate in exchange for honest feedback. After that it goes to the regular rate.
Reserve your spot