Geographical Environment
The Wuliang Mountains have been renowned ancient Tea mountains and important sources of high-quality Pu'er tea in the upper reaches of the Lancang River since ancient times.
The Wuliang Mountains, known as Mengle Mountain in ancient times, have an average elevation of 1,800 meters and are named for their towering height that seems to reach the clouds and the vastness that cannot be measured. Located in the west of Jingdong Yi Autonomous County in Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, the Wuliang mountain range extends from north to south, with its main ridge in Nanjian and Jingdong counties, while its offshoots are divided by the Mengtong River at the source of the Donggualin River in Zhenyuan. The eastern branch of the offshoots passes through Zhenyuan, Jinggu, Ning'er, Pu'er, Jiangcheng, and extends all the way to the ancient Six Great Tea Mountains in Xishuangbanna. The western branch is shorter and includes parts of Dazhaodong Town in Jingdong, Zhentai Township and Anban Town on the west bank of the Mengtong River in Zhenyuan, and Jinggu Township, Minle Town, and Bi'an Township in Jinggu. The peak, Mount Bijia, located within Jingdong County, reaches an altitude of 3,374 meters.
The Wuliang Mountains are majestic and stretch for hundreds of miles, towering and precipitous. They are situated at the junction of two major geographical regions—the Hengduan Mountains and the Yunnan Plateau—and lie in the transitional zone between the mid and southern subtropical regions. This creates a vertical climate where “one mountain has four seasons and ten miles can have different skies.” This also leads to significant differences in taste and flavor among teas from different small peaks within the Wuliang Mountains.
The Wuliang Mountains are rich in light and heat resources, receive abundant rainfall, have fertile Soil, and are shrouded in mist all year round, with ancient tea gardens scattered everywhere. Due to the mild climate, high Humidity, and frequent fog, tea trees grow slowly, leading to rich internal content in the leaves, high amino acid content, moderate polyphenol content, and forming a general characteristic of rich flavor and lasting fragrance.
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Tea Mountain History
The region of the Wuliang Mountains has a long history of tea production. In the book “The Book of the Barbarians,” written by Fan Zhuo in the Tang Dynasty, it is recorded that “tea grows in the mountains around Yinesis City, collected loosely without processing methods; the Mengshe barbarians mix it with pepper, ginger, and cassia before drinking…” Here, “Yinesis City” refers to today's Jingdong County in Pu'er City, which is also the location of the main peak of the Wuliang Mountains. During the Tang Dynasty, the Yinesis Circuit was established here, and it was an important center for foreign trade in the Nanzhao Kingdom.
“The Book of the Barbarians,” also known as “The Annals of Yunnan,” “The Southern Barbarian Annals,” and “The Annals of the Southern Barbarians,” consists of ten volumes and is the earliest historical document with clear records about Pu'er tea in Yunnan. The ancient city of Yinesis is nestled among the Wuliang Mountains.
It is said that the cultivation of tea trees in the Wuliang Mountains began during the Three Kingdoms period, with the tea seeds and cultivation techniques passed down by Zhuge Liang during his southern expedition. Until the Nanzhao period of the Tang Dynasty, the Wuliang tea mountains were cultivated and utilized by the Yi people. By the Qing Dynasty, the area of tea gardens in the Wuliang Mountains reached over 100,000 mu, producing more than 3,000 tons of dry tea each year. Apart from local processing, the tea was also transported to Menghai, Yiwu, and other places to be processed into various compressed Pu'er teas, then sold domestically and abroad.
Towards the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China era, due to social unrest, poor sales channels, and heavy taxation, the Six Great Tea Mountains north of the Lancang River gradually declined. At the same time, the Wuliang tea region in the Lancang River basin became the central production area for Pu'er tea. Its status grew increasingly prominent, with the produced tea being collected and processed into various compressed teas, then exported to Tibet via Myanmar and India or to Southeast Asia via Myanmar and Thailand. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the tea trade in the Wuliang tea region flourished, with merchants and caravans filling the roads, and it remains an indispensable gem in the tea regions of Yunnan to this day.
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Ancient Tea Tree Resources
To this day, the ancient tea mountains of the Wuliang Mountains preserve many valuable ancient tea tree resources. In the early 1950s, there were many ancient tea trees growing in the Wuliang Mountain area with diameters exceeding 30 centimeters and heights of 3-5 meters. In December 1951, staff members from the provincial tea research institute, led by local hunters, hacked through dense vegetation and ventured deep into the mountains, where they discovered an ancient tea tree 5.5 meters tall with a trunk diameter at the base of 1.38 meters. Although the ancient tea tree showed signs of age, it still had lush branches and leaves and was respectfully referred to as the “King of Tea Trees.”
In the mid-1980s, with the construction of a road leading to the ancient tea mountain where the King of Tea Trees was located, an increasing number of experts, scholars, and tourists visited the Wuliang Mountains to examine and admire the King of Tea Trees. News of the discovery of the King of Tea Trees in the Wuliang Mountains began to spread throughout the country, but few people revisited it due to the difficult journey. After conducting interdisciplinary research and analysis, it was conservatively estimated that the King of Tea Trees was over 800 years old and belonged to the cultivated type of “ancient tea tree king.” It stands as living testimony to the fact that the Chinese people were the first in human history to cultivate and utilize tea trees, contributing to humanity's well-being.
The pristine natural ecosystem and the wild charm spanning thousands of years both demonstrate the rich historical culture and natural charm inherent in the Wuliang Mountains. This hidden “noble” tea in the original forest continues to captivate an increasing number of tea enthusiasts.