Fang Ting

Fang Ting grew up in Xinyang, Henan province, among the mist-covered terraces of the Dabie Mountains. The family’s small tea garden produced Xīnyáng Máojiān (信阳毛尖), an early spring green tea known for its needle-like leaves and chestnut sweetness. This daily ritual of picking and pan-firing instilled an intuitive understanding of leaf quality and the transformative power of heat—the same principles that would later anchor a career spanning three of China’s most complex tea categories. After completing formal training in food science at Henan Agricultural University, Fang Ting sought out Master Gao Zhenshan in Anxi, Fujian. For two springs, they worked the entire Tiě Guān Yīn (铁观音) cycle: plucking, withering, tossing, fixing, rolling, and roasting. Master Gao’s insistence on the link between bruising intensity and the final liquor’s texture planted the seed for what would become Fang Ting’s signature contribution—a cross-category sensory lexicon that describes how the cooling mouthfeel of Lǎo Bān Zhāng pu-erh mirrors the icy aftertone of a high-fired Fènghuáng Dān Cóng oolong. Returning north, Fang Ting joined the tea chemistry laboratory of Dr. Chen Wenqing at the Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences. There, they co-authored a detailed profile of polyphenol behavior in Xinyang Maojian across five plucking standards, linking catechin ratios to the tea’s characteristic briskness. This work sharpened Fang Ting’s ability to read a tea’s health-associated compounds through its taste architecture—a skill that later informed their writing for tea.doctor. The article “Oolong fermentation and polyphenol composition” grew directly from this period, mapping the enzymatic dance of catechins during the zuòqīng (做青) stage and highlighting how slight shifts in oxidation tempo alter both flavor and potential metabolic effects. The third phase of Fang Ting’s apprenticeship began in Menghai, Yunnan, under Master Li Xuefeng. For four consecutive autumns, they participated in the production of shēng (raw) pu-erh from single-garden Dà Yì area bushes. Mastering the kill-green step for large leaf varietals—where the vast leaves must withstand high wok temperatures without scorching—required unlearning reflexes honed on tender Anxi cultivars. This period also gave rise to Fang Ting’s practice of comparative cupping across categories, setting green, oolong, and pu-erh samples side-by-side to calibrate the palate against shared markers of astringency, sweetness, and body. As a senior expert at Teamotea, Fang Ting applies this integrated knowledge to sourcing and education. They curate oolong and pu-erh selections for shop.thetea.app and shop.puerh.app, develop the oolong taxonomy and intro-to-pu-erh courses at tea.school, and contribute evidence-reviewed benefit articles to tea.doctor—always within the site’s strict non-medical framework. Their article “Oolong tea and the lipid panel — the Anxi cohort study” exemplifies this approach, translating a six-month observational study into language that respects both tradition and scientific caution. Today, Fang Ting champions the teas of their home province. They work with a cooperative in the Tongbai Mountains to revive Tóngbǎi Shān Chá (桐柏山茶), an almost-forgotten green tea with a gentle orchid fragrance. In the laboratory and the tasting room, they remain a three-category specialist who insists that the best tea education comes from drinking widely—and listening carefully to what the leaf has to say.