Tea is the true manifestation of nature.
Within every Chinese heart lies a whiff of tea fragrance. This magical leaf has nourished our civilization for thousands of years and imbued us with a gentle, jade-like national character. In the collective taste memory and emotional reliance of the Chinese people, tea remains warm and beautiful. For in a cup of tea, there always exists our utopia, the best way to get close to nature.
“Our most intimate contact with the natural environment occurs when we eat it.” British historian Philip Fernando-Armesto wrote this in his book Eating: How Food Transformed Us and Our Human and Global History. If we extend this statement to Pu'er tea, especially ancient tree tea, it couldn't be more fitting. Industrial civilization and urbanization have distanced us from nature, but only tea retains its true essence, presenting the authenticity of nature amidst steel, concrete, glass, and car exhaust.
The Lancang River water, trickling down from the Snow-capped peaks, fuses with the land where humans and nature coexist harmoniously in Yunnan, giving birth to this miraculous and delightful leaf. Millions of years ago, nature's magic hand allowed tea trees to thrive along the middle and lower reaches of the Lancang River. Thousands of years ago, the Pu people living in the middle and lower reaches of the Lancang River discovered and domesticated wild tea. Since then, the aroma of tea has drifted through the mountains and valleys along the Lancang River.
Today, on this vast and boundless land, millions of acres of ancient tea trees, some hundreds or even thousands of years old, and clusters of wild tea trees grow freely. These ancient tea trees, carrying the clear winds, bright moons, sunshine, dew, morning mists, evening clouds, floral fragrances, and woodsy aromas of the mountain ranges, present the entirety of nature to us through a shallow cup of tea.
The unique and diverse flavors are enough to captivate every tea lover for a lifetime. The distinctive and rich flavors of ancient tree tea are shaped by the special geography, climate, natural ecology, and regional environment of the middle and lower reaches of the Lancang River. The Hengduan Mountains block cold air from the north, making southwestern Yunnan an ideal greenhouse for subtropical plants, providing the perfect environment for the birth and evolution of tea plants, turning it into the center of origin and evolution for the world's tea trees. Sheltered by the endless Hengduan Mountains, southwestern Yunnan becomes Mother Earth's most favored child. Not too far west is the Bay of Bengal of the Indian Ocean, while to the east, it is influenced by the Pacific monsoon. Winds from the west are warm and humid, while those from the east are moist and warm.
The Himalayas and Hengduan Mountains to the north not only block cold air from the north but also create a significant low-pressure zone. Combined with the “moisture channels” effect of the Nujiang and Lancang River gorges, these act like two giant “humidifiers,” pulling a “tongue-shaped warm and humid zone” northward by about 4-7 latitudes, transforming the mountains in the middle and lower reaches of the subtropical region to have tropical climate characteristics, ensuring spring-like weather and favorable conditions throughout the year.
The excellent geographical and climatic conditions and superior natural ecological environment make the middle and lower reaches of the Lancang River the birthplace of the world's tea trees.
The ethnic minorities such as the Bulang, Hani, Lahu, and Wa, who live in this area, are among the earliest people to cultivate tea trees in the world. They maintain a reverent heart towards nature and, with their wisdom of coexisting harmoniously with nature, have left behind ancient tea forests that blend seamlessly with the natural environment.
Excerpt from Pu'er magazine
Ancient Tree Tea – China's Top-Tier Tea Resource