Thus we have included a link to an article published in the San Francisco Chronicle on February 8, 2001 about manju artisans in San Francisco's Japantown. From this story one can imagine a similar situation that is occuring in Taiwan and other countries with tea artisans.

A few lines from the San Francisco Chronicle article reads, "Like the old rural family farms that closed when the parents retired, the [manju] shop [opened since 1906] probably will not be passed on to the next generation, said Ricky. Just as his father didn't require it of him, he said he won't force it on his children. And he said he would be surprised if they choose this type of manual labor over a professional career.

"I would like to see it go one more generation, but I doubt it," said Ricky.

"My son sees me do it, and he doesn't want to do it. It's hard work."

Artisans and Taiwan Tea
Taiwan is just off the East coast of China. It is an island about the size of Maryland and Delaware combined. It has a population close to 23 million people.

During the 1950s, Taiwan's tea production and exports were were in great demand. Taiwan's tea produciton had reach 48,000 tons. But since the 1980s, the level of tea production in Taiwan has decreased to its current level of around 20,000 tons. The transformation of tea land into textile manufacturing and technology parks has contributed to the decline in tea production. In fact, 50 percent of the land used for tea growing in 1960 has decreased.

The economic development and transformation of Taiwan's land forced many tea artisans into early retirement. But even for those that could continue to produce tea, the economic growth of Tiwain fueled more tea artisans to stop their business when they retired as their children decided to adopt more "modern" careers.

Such developments has been unfortunate. As Taiwan produces most of the world's best oolong teas, something needed to be done to avoid further losses in tea production and the loss of the knowledge and skills in making rare teas. This is one of the main reasons why Nala was formed and we are doing our best to help the tea artisans in Taiwan today.