It all started with a camellia tree.

Flowering, lush and green, the camellia grew next door to Tzu Chen’s house in New Zealand’s Waikato region.

A lover of oolong tea, Mr Chen was struck by the similarities between tea plants and the camellia. To Mr Chen, the thriving camellia plant meant New Zealand was not just pure and clean, it was also the perfect environment to grow the world’s best oolong tea.

In 1996, Mr Chen and his son Vincent imported 1500 tea seedlings from Taiwan. They were left with only 130 after a rigorous quarantine from New Zealand’s Ministry of Agriculture. But after careful propagation Zealong’s lush, sweet tea plants number in the thousands and spread over 50 hectares.

A wealth of knowledge gained through the years, coupled with a hand-picked team, has meant Zealong isn’t just perfectly grown and chemical free, but also processed to the highest standard.

Today, Zealong tea is a testament to Mr Chen and Vincent’s dream. Combining New Zealand’s pristine environment with the best Taiwanese knowledge and produce, they seek to produce the perfect, purest oolong tea.