2020 Ancient Tree Imperial Grade Shu Puer : A Bai La co-operative Jingmai mountain

Extract from tales of the tea trade :  'Flying into Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, it took a gruelling 9 hours to reach Jinghong in the far south. This is a region well known for its rich and diverse styles of tea, and it was the puer tea, a unique style that originated in the region, and the black teas, in particular Dian Hong, that I had come to see [...]

Yunnan province is a land very different from the modern cultivation and terraced tea elds you see in other parts of the world. Here, ancient tea trees, some hundreds of years old, are cultivated in natural forests rich with biodiversity...The experience was to be a magical one, and it was Mr Nankang who inspired us to write the book [...]  In about 180 AD, the Blang ethnic minority group migrated through the area and discovered tea. Limited available land meant that they started to cultivate tea trees in the forest [..] The area is now the largest and best-preserved cultivated ancient tree plantation in the world [..] the prime conditions here only exist because of the understanding gained by the farmers through studying nature over time[...]

The tea here is high quality and highly valued, requiring no pesticides or fertilizers However, Mr Nankang explained how the local people, with limited processing and marketing skills, lose out in the value chain[....]many locals have now formed a cooperative in Mangjing with Mr Nankang as their executive [...] By working together to process and market their own teas they can realize more of the profits and gain support on matters such as forest protection and tea forest conservation, which they work on with the support of scientists [...] As we tasted our way through their teas, it felt as though we were being invited, through the tea cup, to join a wonderful club, a club more connected with the earth and the environment than anywhere else I have ever visited [....] end of extract from tales of the tea trade :

The two most recent blogs from Michelle's return trip to Mr Nankang and the magnificent Jingmai mountain can be found here >> Blog 1 : Into the Ancient Tea Forest  and Blog 2 : Mr Nan and the ancient tea trees of the Bulang