The Glorious Journey of “A Tree”
Green Big Tree 99
From the comprehensive cancellation of the unified purchase and sales policy in 1993,
to the full implementation of the Pu'er tea national standard in 2008,
during these 15 years,
the Pu'er tea market entered a new era of diverse voices and perspectives.
The dominant position of “China Tea” had changed with the times,
and new theories were constantly being proposed. Amidst the transition between old and new systems,
there might have been some dark chaos,
but it was during this “darkness before dawn” that custom-made teas sparked a prairie fire,
ultimately igniting a new era for Pu'er tea.
Like the protagonist of today's story, “Green Big Tree”,
after it, custom-made teas ushered Pu'er tea into a world of diverse blooms,
especially from the late 1990s to 2004,
it was practically the domain of factory custom-made teas.
Peacock, White Vegetable, Red Ribbon series,
Yiwu Zhengshan Collection, Green Big Tree, 7262, and more,
too numerous to list, after washing away the leaden hues of time and standing the test of the market,
these products commanded high prices,
with prices easily reaching several thousand yuan per cake, or tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, becoming commonplace.
Custom-made teas brought about a qualitative leap in the quality of Pu'er tea,
enabled the comprehensive development of Pu'er Tea culture,
and restored traditional tea-making techniques, among other things,
all laying a solid foundation for the future revival of Pu'er tea.
From Flourishing to Being Lost in the Crowd
According to historical records, during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty, General Governor Ertai set up a tea bureau in Yunnan to manage the province's tea trade, printing his private seal on tribute teas for the imperial court. This can be considered the earliest recorded instance of custom-made teas. The earliest prototype of modern Pu'er custom-made teas appeared in the Hong Kong-based South Sky Trading Company in the 1980s. True custom-made teas emerged after 1996, along with the gradual rise of private enterprises and the disintegration of the Hong Kong primary and secondary distributor system.
It has been estimated that at least ten Pu'er tea merchants went to Menghai Tea Factory each year between 2001 and 2004 to commission custom-made teas. However, among the many custom-made teas, only a few like Green Big Tree, White Vegetable, and Peacock currently have significant influence in the market. Most of the other custom-made teas have been lost in the intense competition of the Pu'er tea market, with many products not even having their names or origins traceable.
Custom-made teas arose when tea factories were weakening, such as Menghai Tea Factory in the late 1990s. With the opening of the market, the provincial tea company, in order to clear massive inventories, no longer placed orders according to plans, and the factory, not yet adapted to market economic development, fell into difficulties. In desperation, they accepted various custom orders from tea merchants.
By 2004, after the reform, the entire Menghai Tea Factory, excluding black and green teas, had only five to six tons of factory goods, while the rest were custom-made teas. After the reform, Dayi Group was established. As Pu'er tea gradually gained popularity, tea enterprises slowly took the leading position, establishing their own exclusive systems and basically cutting off all custom-made tea orders. It was then that Menghai Tea Factory began its true journey of modern tea enterprise branding operations.
Green Big Tree and Its Predecessor
Even though custom-made teas no longer held dominance, the presence of many high-quality custom-made teas in the history of Pu'er tea cannot be ignored, still shining brightly today. Green Big Tree was a brilliant star during the heyday of custom-made teas. It is well-known that the “Green Big Tree” of 1999 is one of the emblematic brands of custom-made teas from the state-owned Menghai Tea Factory period. If we trace it carefully, there are two versions of Green Big Tree.
The earliest batch of Green Big Trees was actually the “High Mountain Special Grade Pu'er Tea Cake” from the early 1990s, also known as the “87” Green Big Tree. Both have vastly different overall packaging and raw materials used. If there are any similarities, it would be that both outer wrappers have an iconic large green tea tree printed on them, making Green Big Tree particularly eye-catching among the many Pu'er tea seven-son cakes.
IN 2024
“87 Green Big Tree,” or “High Mountain Special Grade Pu'er Tea,” was detailed in Issue No. 11 of 2018 of “Pu'er Tea Archive Stories (II).” After discussing the “predecessor” Green Big Tree, let us now revisit today's protagonist, the “current” Green Big Tree.
This Green Big Tree, compared to its predecessor's solitude, was much more lively, making waves after 2000. “Green Big Tree” is a name almost everyone knows in the Pu'er tea world, even hailed as a “precious treasure in tea.” And Green Big Tree became a hot IP for its founder, Mr. Ye Binghuai. This tree is even more famous than Ye Binghuai himself; he initiated the glorious journey of Green Big Tree, and the story behind this journey should not fade with time. Let's brew a pot of tea and enjoy reading about it together.
Ye Binghuai and Pu'er Tea
Those familiar with Mr. Ye Binghuai know that he is very low-key and pragmatic, extremely particular about the quality of tea. Before becoming a tea person, he had run errands in the tea industry for many years. “In 1982, I helped unload tea for Guangning tea merchants, doing odd jobs,” Ye Binghuai speaks of those days of humble beginnings with a light heart. It was precisely this period of work that introduced him to tea, and he gradually became adept at the tea business, soon opening a tea shop in Fangcun.
Because Cantonese people love drinking morning tea, the Guangdong Provincial Tea Import and Export Corporation had a huge volume of tea exports every year, so Ye Binghuai started collecting tea leaves from various places to sell to the provincial tea import and export corporation. His business involved a variety of tea types, witnessing the changing tea drinking trends among Cantonese people throughout the 1980s. From Oolong Tea, green tea, and scented tea to the era of black tea, many Cantonese people liked Yingde black tea and Minle black tea, but Ye Binghuai had a particular fondness for Yunnan's Dianhong. Thus, he established contact with tea factories in Yunnan early on.
Soon, the Cantonese fell in love with Pu'er ripe tea, and he followed the trend, getting into the Pu'er tea business. He probably didn't expect that this would last for decades. Over the years, Ye Binghuai rose and fell alongside the Pu'er tea market, overcoming many commercial crises while recognizing the trait of Pu'er tea becoming better with age. Ye Binghuai firmly believed that the quality of Pu'er tea must be excellent to succeed in the market. He was