Alishan has a minion!

Oolong the Treasurefly

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If you've ever looked at a cup of freshly brewed tea you'll see steam coming from it, and while this happens with all food items that are extremely hot often you'll miss something if you don't look closely enough. Some steam just rises in waves from the liquid, but on very rare occasions the steam will ascend in delicate curls or writhing twists. Or perhaps when you stir in honey or even cream, you find yourself thinking you see a distinct shape in the swirling nectar.

These ephemeral signs are heralds of the presence of a tea spirit, creatures created by the guardian spirits of the area where the tea leaves are grown. Their purpose is to bring physical life to the creativity and emotions that people have while drinking tea. These spirits are the only children of the guardians and are given as gifts to those that find solace or inspiration in the tea.

The form the entity takes is dependent on what type of tea it comes from since the guardian spirit that watches over that type of tea is different for each area in which the tea leaves are grown. Their shape also depends upon what the individual imbiber is thinking or feeling and sometimes even how they perceive the tea.

The first tea spirit was born when an adolescent Taiwanese girl sat with a warm teacup of Alishan High Mountain Tea to which she'd added honey. While drinking, she'd imagined what it would be like to fly. Because of the quality of the leaves she had bought she could steep them multiple times. Each time the steam roiled off of the surface of the tea in intricate shapes and disappeared, each time she drank the tea fully, smiling at the taste of honey and butter. Finally the fourth time she steeped the leaves she watched as she stirred in the honey and suddenly saw a small face in the drink.

She immediately set the cup down and peered in to see the face of a dragon looking back at her. Surprised, she just waved with wide eyes and the spirit rose from the tea as a plume of steam and then spun quickly in circular motion before turning into a pale gold dragon before her eyes. The scales shone like honey and were the color of the weak tea. Though the dragon was only slightly bigger than her, it immediately flew towards her and nudged her towards outside.

After a few pushes she looked back at the dragon with a flustered look, and muttered "I'm going, I'm going," before heading outside.

Once outside, the dragon grew before her eyes and laid on the ground, motioning its head that the girl should get onto its back. Cautiously she climbed on and, moments later, screamed in surprise and held on tightly as the dragon took off from the ground, soaring into the sky and flying the girl above her house.

"I am a tea spirit, I've been given birth by your wish to fly, and while you and my maker haven given me life, my maker has given you a gift too. He has given you his most precious gift- myself- and also a longer life so that we will have each other a long time, and I will not be alone," a female voice spoke into the girl's mind.

As surprised as she was, with all she'd seen that day, the girl didn't question the what the dragon said. When the dragon finally landed again and the girl had dismounted, the dragon shrank to the size of an average dog and followed her back into the house happily.

It is said that Alishan and her rider are still alive today, staying perpetually young, and that they roam the world, starting their lives over again, still enjoying the joys of tea and of flying. The legend is that they can be told apart from everyone by the matching gold bracelets both have donned.