Tea Garden Tours

Pu'er tea mainly originates from areas in Xishuangbanna, Pu'er, Lincang, Baoshan, and other places in Yunnan Province. Pu'er tea is a geographical indication product, and its protected region includes 11 prefectures (cities) and municipalities, 75 counties (cities, districts), and 639 townships (towns, subdistrict offices) across Pu'er City, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Lincang City, Kunming City, Dali Prefecture, Baoshan City, Dehong Prefecture, Chuxiong Prefecture, Honghe Prefecture, Yuxi City, Wenshan Prefecture. Main Origin of Pu'er Tea 1. Xishuangbanna Among these, the production in Menghai County and Yi Wu in Mengla in Xishuangbanna is the most substantial. Menghai County's Mengsong, Nannuoshan, Pasha, He Kai, Bulang Mountain, Old Man'ao, Bada Mountain, and other areas are all important origins of Pu'er tea. Many villages and mountains within these origins have significant reputations. Among them, Bao Tang, Da Manlü, and Naka in Mengsong, Menghai; Banpo Village and Maidong Village in Nannuoshan; Manlong and Bangpeng in He Kai; Old Ban Zhang, New Ban Zhang, Old Man'ao, Manxinglong, and Man Nuo in Bulang Mountain; Zhanglang in Bada Mountain are all well-known in Pu'er tea origins. The Yi Wu tea area, with Goufengzhai, Dingjiazhai, Luoshuidong, Yishanmo, Machhei, Gaoshan Village, and others as representative famous villages, is highly sought after. 2. Pu'er…

It's now the season for spring tea, and tea gardens across the country are starting their picking activities. Compared to bulk teas, high-quality green teas have specific requirements when it comes to picking and processing techniques, which tend to be more technologically demanding. In order to produce high-quality green teas, and help tea farmers increase their income, we have compiled some key points about the picking and processing of high-quality green teas, for your reference. Is there a particular method for picking fresh leaves of different tenderness levels? When picking fresh leaves, there are three categories: single buds, one bud with one leaf, and one bud with two leaves. For evaluating the quality of high-quality green teas, small-leaf varieties should be picked at the initial stage of one bud with one leaf; however, from the perspective of product characteristics and consumer habits, there are also some teas made from single buds. Is it appropriate to "let grow large, pick small?" "Let grow large, pick small" refers to picking one bud with one leaf after the tea bud has grown to one bud with two or three leaves. The green tea produced in this way generally has a bluish-green color, a…

Origin Baokang Songzhen is a type of linear green tea, produced in the Baonan Dianya Town and the Babei Huangbao area in Baokang County, Xiangyang. Historical Background There are records dating back to the Tang Dynasty, and it had gained a reputation during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, Peiji's "Tea Narration" listed ten tribute teas, with Baokang being one of them. The "Xiangyang Local Customs Record" by Fan Zhiming of the Northern Song Dynasty states: "In the mountains of Baokang, tea used to be produced, known as Baokang Pine Needle tea, which was highly valued by the people of Tang. It has been mentioned in literature. Nowadays, people do not plant it much. There are only about a thousand plants in Dianya and Xiema, and the soil there is quite similar to that of this garden. The tea produced here amounts to no more than one or two dozen liang per year, and the locals call it Winter Jasmine tea, which is extremely sweet and fragrant, incomparable to grassy teas from other places. The characteristics of the tea gardens are also similar, but the locals do not cultivate it much." In the Ming Dynasty,…

Yunnan is the birthplace of tea, and Lincang is one of its sources. The cultivated ancient tea tree promoted by Secretary Wang grows in the Cha Wang natural village of Jinxiu Village, Xiaowan Town, Fengqing County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province. It is known as the "Jinxiu Tea King." After enduring 3,200 years of wind and rain, the "Jinxiu Tea King" still stands tall, absorbing dew and drinking frost, with lush branches and leaves, full of vitality. The tree is 10.6 meters high, with a canopy spanning 11.5 meters north to south and 11.3 meters east to west. Its root diameter is 1.84 meters, and its circumference is 5.84 meters. With an age exceeding 3,200 years, it is the oldest and thickest cultivated ancient tea tree discovered in the world so far. In 2015, the "Jinxiu Tea King" was honored in the Shanghai Guinness World Records Museum, earning the title of "China's Largest Ancient Tea Tree." The "Jinxiu Tea King" was discovered in the early 1980s and has since been examined by numerous domestic and international experts and scholars. This discovery has profound and irreplaceable significance for tracing the history of tea in China and worldwide, studying tea culture, and deepening…

Manzuan (Manzhuang), in Dai language, means “large village,” located in the south of Xiangming Township, Mengla County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. It borders the Yiwu tea area to the east. The main areas for ancient tree tea production on the Manzuan Tea Mountain are Manzuan and Manlin (Manlin). Manlin is the village with the most tea gardens on Manzuan Tea Mountain, while Manzhuang is the largest village and the one with the largest population. Manlin sits atop Manzuan Tea Mountain at an altitude of 1,700 meters, with beautiful scenery and clouds shrouding it throughout the year. Standing on the mountain top and looking far into the distance, all you see is a sea of clouds, as if you were in a fairyland. The ecological environment of Manzuan Tea Mountain is excellent, with high altitude, low temperatures, abundant sunlight, large diurnal temperature differences, no severe cold in winter, and no scorching heat in summer. Most of the ancient tea trees grow in dense forests. The unique natural environment has shaped the quality of Manzuan tea leaves. The dry tea has dark, shiny, thick, and long strands, with floral and honey aromas interweaving, which are intense and lasting. The…

Mangsong, a Dai language toponym meaning a plateau between high mountains, is located within the Mangsong Township of Menghai County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. To its east lies Jinghong City and to its south, Gelanghe Township. It is one of the ancient tea regions in Menghai County and also one of the main tea-producing towns. There are over 3,000 mu of ancient tea gardens, widely distributed across several areas with the majority concentrated in Nanben Old Village, Baotang New Village, Baotang Old Village, Damei, and Xia Da'an Villages. Photographed by Yan FengtingThe ancient tea gardens in Mangsong are mostly planted by the Lahu people, who have a long history of tea cultivation, processing, and trade. Han Chinese settlers entered Mangsong during the Guangxu period of the Qing dynasty to engage in tea trading. In 1931 (20th year of the Republic of China), migrants from Yiwu, Mengla established a tea house in Manmai, Mangsong. In 1941, Fohai Tea Factory set up a preliminary tea processing facility and a tea purchasing station in Mangsong. In the early 1980s, when the Chinese Tea Research Institute and Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences Tea Research Institute jointly surveyed tea tree resources, they discovered…

There’s a folk saying: “When the hoe digs deep, there’s no lack of gold or silver.” Winter management of tea gardens is crucial for laying the groundwork for a bountiful harvest the following year, ensuring high-quality tea based on the “heaven, earth, human, and seed” foundation. The tea garden should be pruned into a cockscomb shape or uniformly flat, with the choice of heavy pruning or light trimming of side branches depending on the growth status of the garden. The appropriate height of shrub-like tea plants benefits both their growth and the ease of picking fresh leaves. After pruning, the old leaves can be buried through deep cultivation to ferment into organic fertilizer, which loosens the soil and promotes the growth of tea plants. Weeds along the edges or nearby can also be used to cover the garden, providing insulation, water retention, nutrient conservation, and support for microorganisms. Once these weeds decompose, they too become organic fertilizers for the tea garden. Many tea gardens in my hometown are terraced in ridges. For those with low embankments, adding a layer of turf and garden soil can help reduce soil erosion and nutrient loss, maintaining the vigorous vitality of the tea plants.…

"The Discovery of the Bangwei Ancient Tea Tree and Its Implications for the Origin and Evolution of Tea Trees" is an article published by Qiu Hui of Yunnan Pu'er Tea Industry Company in the 1993 issue of Agricultural Archaeology. The article posits that: 'This large tea tree is a transitional type between primitive wild and cultivated tea trees, and it has been named the “Bangwei Ancient Tea Tree,” with an age of over a thousand years." This article provides a comprehensive discussion, which readers may find informative and educational.

Amidst undulating mountains and misty clouds, patches of forest and tea groves appear intermittently. It's hard to tell where the forest ends and the tea groves begin; only by following the songs of the tea pickers drifting from the woods can one find the tea groves. This is the Luoshuidong Villager Group in Yiwu Town, Mengla County.Arriving at the tea groves, which are seamlessly integrated into the mountain forests, one can see villagers bustling about their work on the tea mountain everywhere. With bamboo baskets slung around their waists, they deftly pluck tea leaves with both hands, gathering the tender shoots into the baskets at their sides. The tea industry is a traditional mainstay of the Luoshuidong Villager Group and a key industry for rural revitalization. For generations, the villagers have planted, consumed, and traded tea, carefully protecting both the tea groves and the forests. To revitalize the tea industry, the Yiwu Town Party Committee, government, and villager group officials brainstormed together, visiting each household to talk with the villagers, conducting thorough research, organizing field trips for villagers to learn from experiences in Guangdong, Beijing, and other places, inviting tea enterprise technicians to share their tea planting expertise, and introducing…

Yongchang has a long history of tea planting, processing, and drinking. This established the historical status of the ancient city of Yongchang as the first to come into contact with and inherit tea culture in Western Yunnan. Moreover, Yongchang has always been a major town on the southwestern ancient Silk Road and the Tea Horse Road, serving as an important stopover between China and Southeast Asian countries and the first major town for Southeast Asian countries entering China. It was bustling with merchants. Naturally, tea, this ordinary commodity, became widespread among common households. At that time, the most famous tea in Yongchang was called "Taihua Tea." Four hundred years ago, the great traveler Xu Xiake recorded in his travelogue one of his happiest and most unforgettable experiences in Yongchang. In early August 1639, when he wanted to cross the Lancang River to Lushi, "the elderly innkeeper surnamed Mei comforted me very well and specially brewed Taihua Tea for me to drink." The tea had a long-lasting aftertaste, clear green color, strong aroma, and refreshing flavor, making one feel carefree and ethereal. Yongchang has unique natural conditions suitable for tea growth, a rich variety of tea resources, and a long history…

Rhinoceros Pond Pu'er tea is located in the Gelang River Township of Menghai County, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. It sits on a branch of the Nan Mountain range, at the highest point in Gelanghe Township. Within the ancient tea region of the entire Menghai tea mountain, Rhinoceros Pond's ancient tree tea is situated in the core area of Pasha, making Rhinoceros Pond the king of mountains within the Pasha ancient tea mountain. To Which Tea Region Does Rhinoceros Pond Belong? Within the ancient tea region of the entire Menghai tea mountain, Rhinoceros Pond is located in the core area of Pasha and can be considered the king of mountains within the Pasha ancient tea mountain. The name "Rhinoceros Pond" originates from a similar legend as Phoenix Nest; it is said to have been named after rhinos once inhabited the area. The average altitude of Rhinocerus Pond is above 1,700 meters, with clouds shrouding the area throughout the year, abundant rainfall, lush vegetation, fertile soil, and a unique environment. As a result, the teas produced here are rich in content, bold in flavor, and have a rich and full aroma. Pasha Rhinoceros Pond – an ancient tea garden hidden atop…

Paradise Mountain stands as a divine presence in the hearts of the people of Changning. Mr. Ou Zhide, a writer from Yunnan Province, once wrote: “‘Paradise’ is the pursuit of an idyllic place, a paradise that people yearn for on earth. Astonishingly, there is a Paradise Mountain in Changning, and its name wasn’t given by contemporary people to attract tourism benefits; it has been passed down from our ancestors. Paradise has had the beauty of a fairyland since ancient times…” Paradise Mountain, with its picturesque landscapes of mountains, water, rocks, and forests, high-altitude wetlands nestled among peaks, natural scenery created by rock springs and tree vines, and flowers dancing amidst the forest, resembles a paradise on earth. It is a “natural gene bank for flora and fauna,” where many species are rare in China or even worldwide. Just like the Paradise Big-Head Tea, Red Flower Oil Tea, Water Fir, Red Cypress, Rhododendrons, Magnolias, and Long-Stamen Magnolias, the wild tea trees bestowed by nature have found their “haven” here, coexisting and thriving with other flora and fauna as integral parts of a complete ecosystem. Located to the north of Changning County, Paradise Mountain is part of the southern range of the…

You are natively born to the mountain and self-directed toward the distance.On September 17, 2023, the ancient tea forest cultural landscape of Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er successfully gained World Heritage status. With this achievement, the world now knows its splendor, marking a new chapter in time. From here, you journey from China to the world, becoming the world's Jingmai Mountain. "We are grateful to nature and thankful for everything our ancestors have left us. The ancestor Paaileng left us tea, which has sustained generations upon generations. We must protect every plant, every tree, and every brick and tile on Jingmai Mountain for generations to come." Upon hearing that the ancient tea forest cultural landscape of Pu'er's Jingmai Mountain had successfully been listed as a World Heritage site, Zhou Tianhua, a resident of Mangjing Village, expressed his thoughts with deep emotion. The ancient tea forest cultural landscape of Pu'er's Jingmai Mountain consists of five ancient tea forests, nine ancient villages, and three buffer protection forests. The harmonious relationship between humans and nature embedded within it allows forests to be utilized, tea forests protected, and villages to endure. This highlights the wisdom of our ancestors in following nature and preserving the ancient…

Manmaidui is part of Manmai Village, Xiding Township, Menghai County, in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province. It is a large Bulang ethnic village that has gained more recognition outside for its love of football. It is said that the children in the village are very passionate about football, but due to its remote location, they did not have the facilities to play. So, they dedicated their own tea fields to build a standardized football field, providing a place for the children to play. Tea and football are two bright "calling cards" of the village. Manmaidui Ancient Tea Forest The ancient tea gardens of Manmaidui adjoin the village, extending from the roadside up to the hilltop. In the 1980s during the "high-to-low" conversion, most of the ancient tea trees by the road were transformed into one-meter-high shrub teas, with only a few on the hilltop remaining unchanged. Besides the ancient tea gardens, Manmaidui also boasts impressive modern tea plantations. In 1989, the Menghai Tea Factory established a ten-thousand mu tea mountain in Bada, with its No. 3 base located in Manmaidui. Most of the land along the road from Manmaidui to the Xiding Township government is covered by…

Geographical EnvironmentThe 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…

Bathed in spring breezes, the heart is filled with the fragrance of tea. In a perfect balance of temperature and vegetation, Linchang emerges as a prime tea-producing region along the golden latitude. Benefiting from the nourishment of nature's waters, sunlight, and moonlight, the teas of Linchang retain their primal vitality through the test of time. Today, our editor takes you on a journey to the Linchang District, to "taste" one of Linchang's finest teas—the Xigui tea. In the tea industry, there is a saying: "High mountains and mist produce fine teas." In Linchang, there is a place at a lower altitude that still produces excellent tea, and this place is Xigui in the Linchang District. The cultivation and processing of tea in Xigui have a long history. The late Qing Dynasty and early Republican era "Mianning County Annals" recorded: "There are about 6,000 to 7,000 households growing tea throughout the county, with Manglu and Xigu in Bangdong Township being particularly renowned. The quality and flavor of Manglu tea surpass those of other tea-producing areas." Today, Manglu is known as Manglu, and Xigu is known as Xigui. Xigui is a small village of 138 households, located in the administrative area of…

In the south, there are fine trees, and in Guizhou, excellent tea is produced. Guizhou is one of the world's origins of ancient tea trees. Its tea production has a long history. Tea culture runs deep and far. And Bijie, located in northwest Guizhou, is situated within the original region of Guizhou's tea trees. It boasts unique natural endowments and environmental conditions. Among its resources, tea stands out as particularly abundant. Today, let's take a look at some of Bijie's representative teas. I wonder which ones you've tried? ↓↓↓ "Qixingguan Taijicha" ▲Qixingguan Taijicha (Source: Qixingguan District Media Fusion Center) ▲Qixingguan Taijicha (Source: Qixingguan District Media Fusion Center) The town of Liangyan in Qixingguan District, with its low latitude, high altitude, scarce sunlight, frequent mists, and absence of pollution, provides exceptional geographic conditions for growing tea, nurturing ancient tea trees with distinctive characteristics and outstanding quality. Jinsha Qingchi Tea ▲Ren Guiru making Qingchi Tea using traditional techniques (Photographed by Luo Dafu) ▲Ren Guiru making Qingchi Tea using traditional techniques (Photographed by Luo Dafu) The discovery and use of Qingchi Tea as tribute can be traced back to the Western Han period. Qingchi Tea is one of Jinsha County's famous local specialties,…

Leopard-skin-like tree trunks, arm-thick branches, and scattered blossoms among the tea leaves... Recently, on several ancient eagle tea trees in Wuxi, Chongqing, tea flowers have bloomed, clear and delicate.It is said that the eagle tea comes from the evergreen tree Alseodaphne semicarpifolia of the Lauraceae family, with very hard seed shells. According to legend, the seeds need to be swallowed by eagles, and after the shell is softened by stomach acid and excreted, they can germinate, hence the name "eagle tea." In Wuxi, there are more than 50,000 mu (about 3,333 hectares) of eagle tea planted, including ten eagle tea trees that are a thousand years old and 2,500 eagle tea trees over a hundred years old. Image of an ancient eagle tea tree. Photo by Wang Qiang, courtesy of Xinhua News Agency. Image of tourists admiring the ancient tree. Photo by Wang Qiang, courtesy of Xinhua News Agency. Image of tea flowers on the tree. Photo by Wang Qiang, courtesy of Xinhua News Agency. Image of an ancient eagle tea tree. Photo by Wang Qiang, courtesy of Xinhua News Agency. Image of tourists admiring the tea flowers. Photo by Wang Qiang, courtesy of Xinhua News Agency. Image of tea…