The Tea King resides high in the Qianjiazhai area, leaning against the peak of Mount Daxueguoshan, the highest point of Ailao Mountain, a dignified and tranquil abode.
Two waterfalls like white ribbons cascade down from Qianjiazhai, nourishing Jiujia—the Tea King's secret garden.
Here, various rare flowers and Herbs, exotic animals, and birds grow alongside the Tea King's carefully cultivated offspring.
Encountering an ancient small-leaf tea tree in Jiujia
If Zhenyuan is the domain of the Tea King and Qianjiazhai his residence, then Jiujia is his secret garden. Here, not only do all kinds of rare flowers, herbs, and exotic wildlife flourish, but also the Tea King's carefully bred descendants. Located in the northeastern part of Zhenyuan County, on the southwestern slope of Ailao Mountain, Jiujia Town borders Sanzhangtian Township to the southeast, overlooks Huashan Township in Jingdong County across the Ganhe River to the southwest, connects with Ejia Town in Shuangbai County to the north, and joins Zhenlong Town in Xinping County at the peak of Mount Liangzi to the northeast. Due to the discovery of the Qianjiazhai Tea King Tree and 495,000 ancient wild tea trees, the once obscure Jiujia has gained significant renown in the Pu'er tea world. One morning, while exploring the mountains of Jiujia, I saw three patches of ancient tea trees just in the Village of Heping alone. Most of these tea trees grow at the edges of fields near villages, although the scale of each patch is relatively small, they are tall, robust, and reach toward the sky. Particularly interesting was an ancient small-leaf tea tree I saw in the Zhangjia field of Linggan Village. As we descended the steep slope and approached this ancient tea tree growing at the foot of the hill, a sense of antiquity greeted us. When I was still taking photos from a distance, Zhou Jian, who had brought us there, introduced: “This is a fine-leaf ancient tea tree, probably several hundred years old.” Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a small-leaf variety, with the largest old leaves being only slightly wider than my thumb, significantly smaller than common large-leaf or intermediate-leaf varieties.
I have no interest in speculating about how old this tree is, but looking at the trunk that even an adult could not fully embrace, a sense of history and antiquity permeates. The dark green and glossy leaves sparkle with the essence of time, showcasing the vitality of this ancient tree. Many years ago, someone asked me if Yunnan only grows large-leaf varieties, why is Mansong tea a small-leaf variety? There are even online claims that the Mansong small-leaf variety was introduced from outside the province. Standing before this small-leaf ancient tea tree in Jiujia, I seemed to understand. This is the domain of the Tea King, his secret garden. In this secluded realm, almost untouched by the outside world, the small-leaf variety is certainly not an invasive species. On a broader scale, the vast mountains along both banks of the Lancang River are the origin of tea trees, where small-leaf, intermediate-leaf, and large-leaf varieties coexist naturally. Ancient tea trees are widespread throughout Jiujia, distributed across eight village committees including Jiujia, Heping, Guoji, Wengang, Diankeng, Mengzhen, Santai, and Denggao. Those with larger production are mainly in Heping Village Committee near Qianjiazhai, while those with lesser production are in Denggao Village Committee. Regarding the distribution of ancient tea trees across the entire Ailao Mountain range, they are mainly concentrated on the western slope of the central section of Ailao Mountain and have become a dominant species in many areas. Villagers living at the foot of Qianjiazhai Mountain on the western slope of Ailao Mountain have been planting and cultivating tea for generations, leaving behind many vigorous ancient tea trees in their fields.
In terms of species, the ancient tea trees in Jiujia are somewhat mixed, but this diversity precisely highlights Jiujia's natural advantage as the Tea King's secret garden in terms of tea germplasm resources. Fu Kaicheng, who has visited numerous ancient tea tree clusters in Jiujia and is the owner of Wu Xing Tea House, introduced that roughly speaking, the large-leaf varieties in Jiujia can be divided into Pu'er varieties and Dali varieties, with most of the wild-type ancient tea trees belonging to the Dali variety, while the cultivated ancient tea trees are mostly Pu'er varieties. Among the cultivated ancient tea trees, besides the large-leaf varieties, there are also some intermediate-leaf and small-leaf varieties, but they are not very numerous.
Ailijuan, who sells tea overseas
Ailijuan is the owner of Jiade Manor and one of the boldest locals. Her greatest wish is to sell tea from the Qianjiazhai region to more consumers abroad. Due to its geographical location, Jiujia is quite remote, and local tea companies are relatively weak. To date, Jiujia Town has only a few tea companies of moderate size, such as Jiade Manor, Qianjiazhai Impression Manor, and Qianjiazhai Tea House, while most small tea companies are still in the early stages of processing raw materials. As more people became aware of the Qianjiazhai Tea King Tree, Jiujia's reputation began to soar. Therefore, since 2000, more outsiders started entering Jiujia. In 2004, after running restaurants and working elsewhere, Ailijuan returned to her hometown of Jiujia to start learning how to make tea. “Back then, ancient tea tree leaves were only 12 yuan per kilogram, very cheap,” said Ailijuan, who had grown up picking tea with her family. However, Ailijuan soon realized that despite being the source, there were many domestic and foreign buyers looking for raw materials, but the prices for raw materials were too low. Locally, processing one kilogram of Raw material only yielded a profit of over one yuan, and the profit was even lower when dealing with larger quantities. Sometimes, due to high losses, they would even incur a loss.
Ailijuan began to explore opportunities abroad. In 2006, she carried her tea to participate in an exhibition in Malaysia for the first time. At this exhibition, not only did she sell out all her tea, but she also gained two Malaysian clients, which further strengthened her resolve to venture out. “The prices domestically were too low, but in the overseas market, they were basically double. Moreover, overseas, as long as the quality is good and the price reasonable, they don't care much about famous mountains,” explained Ailijuan. While targeting the overseas market, Ailijuan also focused on improving processing techniques and tea quality to better meet market demands. “I want to expand overseas; the prospects there are better,” said Ailijuan. “It's okay to move slowly, but first, I need to lay a solid foundation. I'm very confident about this.”
The rise of a unique tourism town
Viewed from above, Jiujia resembles a white Dragon coiled amidst the clouds and mountains, lurking atop the lush Ailao Mountain ridge. As more people yearn to visit Qianjiazhai and gain a deeper understanding of Jiujia, it is becoming a special town integrating tea and tourism development.
Zhou Jian is clearly one of