At Yao King Mansion, Enjoy a Bowl of New Year's Loving Oil Tea

Brother Zhu/Text and Photos

As the much-criticized 2020 finally came to an end, and the first day of 2021 arrived, whether on Weibo, WeChat Headlines, or Moments, whether in the north or the south, all kinds of blessings surged like a tide, just like the azaleas blooming all over the mountains.

On the first day of the new year, at Yao King Mansion on Changhu Road, an elderly Yao woman dressed in ethnic costume used a wooden mallet to pound and stir tea leaves in an iron pot while boiling them. She stir-fried them in oil until fragrant, added ginger, then water, and boiled. The filtered hot tea was brought to our table by a pretty young girl from Yao King Mansion.

They say three cups of wine in the mundane world, and a pot of tea for a great career. How much wonderful time has been wasted by drinking too much and staggering home clinging to the wall?

And all the ambitious plans in the world lie dormant and grow within a pot of tea.

Modern people's way of drinking tea originated from the Ming Dynasty, which is the current method of brewing tea.

But the beaten oil tea prevalent in Guangxi, where the Yao, Miao, and Dong ethnic groups mainly live, has continued the tea-drinking custom of the Tang Dynasty that includes various seasonings. The characteristic of this method is adding various condiments when cooking tea. According to historical records, oil tea began in the Tang Dynasty and has a history of over a thousand years.

There are several styles of oil tea in Guangxi, the most famous being Gongcheng oil tea in Guilin, known as Chinese coffee. The oil tea served at Yao King Mansion is originally from Gongcheng, which is rated as a Longevity County in China, and it is said that longevity is closely related to oil tea.

Yao King Mansion uses old-leaf black tea as the main ingredient, stir-frying it in oil until slightly charred and fragrant, adding salt and water to boil, often with ginger. The taste is strong and astringent, with a hint of spiciness.

About ten years ago, I came to Gongcheng with a friend from the north for an interview. My northern friend, who tried oil tea for the first time, said it was the worst thing he had ever drunk. But a few months later, he invited me to Yao King Mansion in Nanning for oil tea. Indeed, gourmet food always changes a person, and good ingredients always make people addicted. Sometimes, falling in love with a kind of food makes you fall in love with a city.

In Nanning, when it comes to oil tea, everyone naturally thinks of Yao King Mansion. After 12 years of silent hard work and meticulous cultivation, Yao King Mansion has grown from its first store to soon having its eighth. It is said that the ingredients at Yao King Mansion are excellent, and that one must go to Yao King Mansion to drink oil tea. This is not only the recognition and consensus of Nanning diners but also the sincere dedication and pursuit of Yao King Mansion's people toward ingredients.

The tea flavor of oil tea is always strong and slightly astringent. When you first take a sip, you taste the bitterness of the tea leaves, but then comes the mellow sweetness and fragrance, leaving an endless aftertaste. Many friends from the north go from not being used to it to loving it crazily.

Yao King Mansion interprets this classic chapter with a legendary story. It is said that two northeasterners traveled thousands of miles to Guangxi and, by chance, brought a bowl of oil tea out of the great Yao Mountains, becoming enthusiastic disseminators and supporters of ethnic culture.

This is the journey of Guo Yanqiu and Guo Xiaoguang, the founders of Yao King Mansion.

"The ancients said that medicine and food share a common origin. The main ingredients of Gongcheng oil tea include old-leaf coarse tea from Yao Mountain, rattan ginger grown at an altitude of 1400 meters, garlic, peanuts, etc. Drinking oil tea regularly has the effects of dispelling dampness, resisting cold, anti-cancer, and losing weight for the Yao people living in the cold highlands of northern Guangxi. In today's popular health concept, this is considered an alkaline food."

The more they learned, the more they loved it—this is Guo Yanqiu and her husband's understanding of oil tea.

Since the first store of Yao King Mansion opened in January 2008, various branches have now spread throughout the city. Today, oil tea is no longer the hidden orchid deep in the mountains that no one knew about, as it was for Guo Yanqiu and her husband at the beginning. Now, oil tea has stepped out of the mountains and entered the city, warmly embraced by Nanning diners, and has become the most distinctive food in Nanning.

Over the years, Yao King Mansion has been awarded many honors such as China Green Demonstration Catering Enterprise, China Top Ten Cultural Catering Brands, International Tourism Catering Famous Store, and Guangxi Catering Management Benchmark Enterprise. It is a shining star in Guangxi's catering industry and a symbol of ethnic catering.

Yao King Mansion brought Gongcheng's oil tea to Nanning and has continuously developed and expanded. As the saying goes, when drinking water, remember the well digger. Over the years, Yao King Mansion has persisted in charity and various public welfare activities.

Since the opening of Yao King Mansion, for every pot of oil tea you taste, Yao King Mansion will donate 2 yuan in your name to help impoverished children in Yao Mountain realize their dreams of going to school.

In the extraordinary year that just passed, Yao King Mansion Catering Co., Ltd. donated 500,000 yuan to support the development of ethnic education in Gongcheng County. In the words of Guo Xiaoguang, head of Guangxi Yao King Mansion Catering Co., Ltd., this expresses their willingness to fulfill social responsibilities, actively participate in public welfare, and support the development of ethnic education in Gongcheng.

This city has love, originating from the most precious sincerity and enthusiasm in each of our hearts. We can warm each other and illuminate each other together.

When the new year's sun warms the cold earth again, bidding farewell to the unforgettable past year, why not invite a few friends and family to Yao King Mansion, chat while making beaten oil tea, and enjoy the rich aroma of oil tea? Isn't that wonderful?

If you find it troublesome, you can also order takeout from Yao King Mansion.

The takeout oil tea from Yao King Mansion maintains the same quality, with various ingredients and tea bags. Just heat it up and add the ingredients.

Popcorn, fried peanuts, crispy fruits, and fried dough twists, then add chopped green onions, salt, or sugar, and pour the hot tea into the bowl. A bowl of fragrant oil tea is ready to enjoy.

They say that a cup of milk tea at the end of winter is not as good as a sip of oil tea in the new year. Sweet, greasy milk tea easily intoxicates, but oil tea, from bitter to sweet, comforts the soul bit by bit.