From the mapmakers of Wuyishan
The zhengyan map is more than geography — it is the cartography of flavour that defines Wuyi’s most prized rock oolongs. When Michael Zhan visited the villages around the Wuyi scenic reserve in late 2024, he met a family-run screen-printing studio in Xingcun that still uses hand-cut stencils and mineral-based inks. Their great-grandfather had drawn the original rock ridge survey in the 1930s, marking the narrow gorges where Da Hong Pao and Ròu Guì find their minerality. Michael saw the map not just as a reference but as a texture — a landscape to wear. He commissioned this cotton wrap as a field layer: 180 cm by 60 cm of stone-grey cloth, printed with the same contour lines that tea hunters trace. The wrap doubles as a sun shield during high-altitude procurement walks, a light shawl for evening note-taking, or a scarf that maps out the conversation. Each piece is printed one at a time on a bamboo drying rack, and the ink slowly oxidises to a softer charcoal after the first wash. The map includes the Nine Dragon Pool, the Tianxin Yan cliffs, and the Shi Jian Feng peak — points where Michael collects lot samples for the constellation’s Wuyi selections. It is a quiet reminder that the best tea comes from a place you can trace with your fingers.