Li Xiang and the others took many photos in the tea processing workshop. Li Xiang even got hands-on, trying out the steps of sifting and roasting the tea.
The factory used machines to roast the tea. One advantage was that the roasted leaves were visually appealing, and the quality of each batch was basically identical because the machine parameters were always the same.
As for manual tea roasting, its low efficiency and heavy reliance on the artisan's personal skill have put it in danger of becoming a "lost art," even being classified as an intangible cultural heritage.
For example, take fresh leaves of the same grade, from the same plot of land on the same mountain. If a master roaster and his apprentices work on them, the same batch of tea might end up with several different flavors. You can't even solve it by blending them. It's a phenomenon that's difficult to explain to customers.
