Crossing at Xigui

Set in the ancient tea gardens of Xigui Village in Lincang, Yunnan, The Crossing at Xigui tells the story of a romance forged over tea.

Su Mingwei, heir to her family’s ancient tea garden, the Su Family Grove, is devoted to preserving the traditional methods of making Xigui tea. After her father’s death, she is left to protect the tea garden as it teeters on the brink of ruin. Shen Yizhou, an investor from Shanghai, returns to Xigui because of a connection to the place from his childhood. He claims to be there to assess an investment, but is really searching for the tea recipes and memories his grandmother left behind.

When they first meet, they clash fiercely over “traditional methods” versus “modern business.” But as they weather challenges together during the spring tea harvest and tea-tasting competitions, they gradually discover how deeply each of them is connected to this land. When covetous outsiders and conflicts over commercial interests threaten the tea garden, they set aside their differences. As they work to protect the garden and preserve tea culture, they uncover the tangled past their ancestors left behind, and their love, like Xigui tea, grows richer and sweeter after being weathered and worked over by storms.

This is a love that takes root in the fragrance of tea, and a choice between steadfastness and inheritance.