李剛：中國第一個“茶狀元”

無論是在粵菜飄香的廣州，還是在蜀味十足的成都，不論是九省通衢的武漢，還是在皇城根下的北京，一壺或濃釅或清香的好茶，總是讓人心曠神怡，樂此不疲。

有“茶都”美稱的杭州，茶更是市民生活中必不可少的一部分。杭州人不但希望好茶，還講究茶道，在休閑的日子里，喝茶人看著茶博士們那讓人眼花繚亂的茶道表演，時間過得也就像匆匆而過的流水，愜意極了。現在，杭州的茶博士們心中更有了一分榮耀：因為有位叫李剛的茶藝表演者，他手拿銅嘴茶壺，把一大壺茶耍得出神入化，打敗了全國各地的茶藝高手，為“茶都”杭州奪來了全國第一個“茶狀元”稱號。

奪魁之“難”難以想象

古色古香的河坊街，一直像一塊磁鐵，用富有魅力的傳統文化吸引著國內外的游客。不管是秋高氣爽還是細雨蒙蒙，河坊街一直人潮洶涌。

“來客了!”在河坊街的中段，一聲韻味十足的吆喝總是能吸引游客的注意，這是著名的老茶館——太極茶道苑在茶客進入茶館的歡迎詞。接著幾位打扮古雅的茶博士便忙著用長嘴銅壺為茶客沏上一杯好茶。這里，就是茶博士李剛上班的地方。

這地方對茶客來說，自從2005年10月的那場角逐后，雖然茶還是那壺茶，茶博士還是那幾位茶博士，但感覺已經不一樣了!因為現在他們喝的茶，是“茶狀元”在給他們倒的呢!

李剛成為中國第一個“茶狀元”真不容易：那次“CCTV茶博士大賽”是中央電視臺于2005年“十一”黃金周期間發起的，意在打造出中國的“茶狀元”。成都、杭州、武漢、雅安、峨眉山五個在全國茶道、茶文化頗具代表性和影響力的城市，都選派了各自的茶道高手參加角逐。但可能很多人想不到，代表“中國茶都”杭州出戰的李剛，竟然只是一位年僅21歲的小伙子，他進太極茶道苑才兩年。不過，雖然李剛年輕，他的師傅、太極茶道的總主持人鄭純輝卻對他參賽很有信心：“這小伙子水平穩定，不急不亂，很有希望為浙江杭州拿下這個狀元。”但師傅鄭純輝也坦言，這五個城市本身的茶文化積淀都非常深厚，加上參賽者都是經過層層篩選的，因此參賽的十幾位選手水平非常高，都志在必得，故爭奪非常激烈。鄭純輝撥手指一一道來：成都順興老茶館“絕代雙驕” 廖氏兄弟名氣最大，早在2001年就獲得過“全國茶道邀請賽”長流組金獎；雅安小將王存瑞，肩負著為“世界茶文化圣地”雅安爭光的重任，是“龍行十八式”的傳人；峨眉派掌門的得意弟子黃正其實力也不可小視；其他各位選手也都師出名門。

與別的比賽不同的是，整個比賽都不設評委。所有的項目全部都公開角逐，唯一決定勝負的標準，是每位選手完成項目的好壞。比賽共設四輪，采取末位淘汰制，四輪后決出“茶狀元”，不設二、三名。這種比賽方式，比的都是真功夫。作為比賽過程中邀請的唯一一位專家嘉賓鄭純輝說：“從設置的比賽項目看，就算是經驗最豐富的茶道大師，要想順利過關難度也非常大。”而當筆者了解到四輪項目的具體內容時，才明白鄭純輝所說的“難”還真是難以想象的難：第一輪，選手在規定時間里在茶杯里倒上茶，而茶杯里的茶要求不偏不倚正好是100毫升，稍有偏差就算作廢；第二輪，選手則要站在梅茶樁上“高空作業”，不但要站得穩，還要不灑漏；第三輪則是要給口子狹小的汽水瓶里倒上茶，每個瓶子的形狀的規定茶量都不一樣，不能有絲毫偏差；最后一輪更艱難，選手要把茶水從不同形狀的銅錢孔里倒進去，這個項目不禁讓人想起古時的“賣油翁”了。

不過，盡管比賽難度非常大，李剛還是底氣十足。

高手角逐驚心動魄

李剛的自信是有依據的。浙江杭州就設有八個“國”字號機構，全國一半以上的高級茶學專家工作在杭州，中國唯一的茶學院士也在杭州。由于茶專家們多年的辛勤培育和指導，杭州的茶館業在全國也走在最前列。

此外，杭州的“西湖龍井茶”以及茶飲料產業在全國也赫赫有名，所以杭州茶博士角逐“茶狀元”，可謂占了天時地利。

這是一場驚心動魄的比賽。在一群志在必得的比賽選手中，來自成都的廖氏兩兄弟曾經是全國長流壺金獎獲得者，而年輕的李剛無論是資歷還是比賽經驗，都是名不見經傳的“小字輩”。所以在比賽之初，大多數人并不看好李剛。然而就在大家都不看好的情況下，初到京城的李剛硬是把每分鐘全部用到一遍遍地練習上。在第一輪比賽中，李剛出色地做完了各種規定動作，但在最后試著倒滿一個小小的聞香杯時碰翻了杯子，被倒扣了兩分，屈居第三名；但小小的失誤并沒有影響到李剛的發揮。在接下來的比賽中，李剛的表現讓人驚奇，他在第二輪表演中站在梅花樁上用規定的動作向汽水瓶子里注水，李剛神定氣閑，注入之水絲毫不差，穩妥地完成了這一輪的所有動作；第三輪他向貼著標簽的汽水瓶倒茶，再穿過銅錢眼向瓶子倒水。這個過程中，李剛有一種特別的定力，不管碰到什么意外都十分沉著，一次比一次做得更好。比賽進行到后來，在最后奪冠決賽上，他手持長流壺幾乎是在表演了……

李剛終于成了中國第一個“茶狀元”。當李剛從北京載譽歸來的時候，整個河坊街再一次沸騰了，人們敲鑼打鼓，又舞獅又舞龍，腰鼓打得震天作響，大家興高采烈地歡迎“茶狀元”的歸來。

千日苦練終成絕活

李剛所在的杭州清河坊太極茶道苑，由鄭家茶人后代經營，它始于清乾隆晚期，距今有近2100年歷史，如今太極茶道苑已經成了杭州民俗標志之一。正因為對老字號品牌的在意，茶道苑收徒的要求很高。三年前，年輕的李剛來到太極茶道想要拜師學藝，但被當時的大管家婉言拒絕了。倔強的李剛并沒有氣餒，時隔一年，他再次來到茶道苑要求學藝，小伙子的執著終于打動了茶道苑總主持人鄭純輝，經過一番觀察，鄭純輝發現李剛頗有學茶道的天賦，鄭純輝笑著說：“也許，這就是我們的緣分吧!”那一年，鄭純輝把李剛收作了自己的徒弟，并讓李剛直接登堂入室當起了茶博士。

說起自己和茶道結緣的故事，李剛自己更是感慨不已。李剛是江蘇淮安人，因為“上有天堂，下有蘇杭”這個美麗的說法，他在2002年高中一畢業就來到杭州打工。在西湖邊上的一家茶樓做服務生的李剛，曾目睹過茶博士耍長流壺的“壯觀”：侍者將沉甸甸的銅茶壺高高地舉起，滾燙的水從一米多長的壺嘴急流奔瀉，直將茶碗里的茶葉沖得上下翻滾卻能滴水不漏，實在是太有趣了，于是他萌生了要當“茶博士”的愿望。但當茶博士不是輕而易舉的，需要恒心、決心和刻苦練功。擺弄長嘴銅壺沖茶先要練馬步，接著就用口子很小的汽水瓶練沖水，直練得滴水不漏。也許是李剛有學茶道的天分，加上天天苦練不止，他的茶藝很快就出類拔萃，他覺得他手中的長嘴銅壺不僅是發揚茶文化的傳統工具，也是在修身養性的武器!

Champion Tea Doctor and His Huge Teakettle

By Meng Tie

In China， a country where tea enjoys a national renown and teahouses are a common sight， teahouse waiters have been known since ancient times by a nickname: tea doctor， which well shows the national reverence. The title is the same everywhere， though the ways tea is served and appreciated are different across the country.

Known as the capital of tea， Hangzhou has its fair share of tea doctors. Tea is an indispensable part of life for local residents. They enjoy good tea and are particular about the way tea is served. That is why tea doctors are so many and so good in town. Recently Hangzhou has another reason to be proud of its flourishing tea industry: Li Gang， a 21-year-old tea doctor， has won national fame: he is newly crowned king of kings in the national field of tea doctors.

CCTV sponsored the CCTV Tea Doctor Championships during the Golden Week of the National Day in October 2005. Chengdu， Hangzhou， Wuhan， Ya’an and Mount Emei， all known for their local tea culture and ceremonies， sent their champion tea doctors to Beijing to compete for the highest national honor.

Li Gang， a tea doctor from Taiji Teahouse located in Hefang Street in the old downtown of Hangzhou， had been working in the teahouse for merely 2 years. The young man was as green as tea. Other contestants were all national or regional champions. For example， “Peerless Twins” from Laoshunxing Teahouse of Chengdu had won a national championship back in 2001. Wang Cunrui was a rising master of Eighteen Dragon Moves from Ya’an， claimed as the Cradle of World Tea Culture. They all eyed the championship.

This contest was different from any others. No jury was to make any judgment. All the competition rounds were open and fair. How well a participant would complete the tasks was the only criterion to determine his score. There would be four rounds and each one would eliminate the last contestant till there would be a champion. The competition would produce only one winner and there would be neither silver nor bronze medals.

Indeed， these tasks looked like the mission impossible. In the first round， contestants were required to pour 100ml of tea into each of many cups from the teakettle within a stipulated period of time. There should be no mistake about the quantity. Those who failed to measure out the expected 100ml of tea would lose. In the second round， the contestants were supposed to pour tea by standing on high “plum blossom” stakes. They should stand steadily to pour water and no spill would be allowed. In the third round， water was to enter into soda-water bottles with small openings and each bottle should have a differently specified quantity of water. In the last round， the contestants were supposed to pour water through the differently shaped tiny holes in the centers of ancient copper coins.

The tasks sounded impossible. And the tool they used was the same as tea doctors use everywhere across the country: the bronze teakettle contains 2.5 kilo of water， and the teakettle’s narrow spout is 1.1 meter long.

Li Gang did not look like the favorite before the competition started. Other players looked more promising. In the first round， Li made a small mistake and ranked third， but he performed perfectly in the second round. He did not make any mistake in the last two rounds. The final became his solo show.

Thus the 21-year-old became China’s very first national champion tea doctor. He received a red-carpet welcome when he came back with the kudos. Fellow workers and people from other shops in the street crowded to the ceremony held in front of Taiji Teahouse.

It is by no accident that Li Gang won the honor. Taiji Teahouse， a business more than 210 years old， is run by the descendants of the Zheng family which first started the tea shop on the street. Li Gang came to Hangzhou in 2002 after graduation from senior high school in neighboring Jiangsu Province. It was in Hangzhou that he saw for the first time how a tea doctor poured tea magically from a huge bronze teakettle into a tiny bowl from a seemingly impossible distance away. He wanted to learn the art. He went to Taiji Teahouse. But he was turned down. One year later， he went to the teahouse again and asked Zheng Chunhui， the manager of the teahouse and experienced tea businessman， to accept him as an apprentice. Zheng found that Li had an aptitude for maneuvering the huge teakettle. So this time the young man was accepted. He practiced hard and soon became proficient.

Another way to explain Li Gang’s success is that Hangzhou is virtually the capital of tea. The city is home to eight national tea research institutions. Half of the country’s high-ranking tea scholars are based in Hangzhou and China’s only academician specialized in tea works here. The city’s teahouse industry is one of the best in the country. Hangzhou also gains a lead in tea planting and processing in the country.

(Translated by David)