Spring returns to the earth, and all things revive. In the thousand-year-old, vast ancient Tea forests of Jingmai Mountain in Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, new greens are gradually emerging, bringing the vibrant spirit of spring. Tea, a well-known local specialty, has now entered its spring harvest period, and tea farmers are seizing the season to start harvesting fresh leaves.
Jingmai Mountain is one of the significant tea-producing areas in Yunnan Province. The ancient tea forests of Jingmai Mountain stand out for their unique planting techniques, prominent forest scenery, rich ethnic culture, and harmonious human-land relationship, making them a model of traditional tea plantation that retains the characteristics of primitive forest agriculture. The cultural landscape of the ancient tea forests of Jingmai Mountain was approved by the State Council as China's official nomination for World Cultural Heritage in 2022.
“Building the city with tea, enriching the city through tea, and invigorating the city by tea.” For many years, the tea industry has been a pillar of agriculture in Lancang County. The small tea leaves not only bring prosperity to the local people but also paint a new picture of rural revitalization in the new era of Lancang County.
Dedication – Protecting the Thousand-Year-Old Ancient Tea Forests
On Jingmai Mountain, the people who have lived here for generations coexist with the tea trees. Based on long-term exploration and practice, the indigenous ethnic groups have created suitable conditions for the growth of tea trees with their traditional plantation models, producing high-quality organic tea.
Generations of ancient tea guardians have never ceased to protect and care for the ancient trees. Tea picking is limited to the spring and autumn seasons. “From June to August every year, we let the tea trees grow naturally without excessive management,” says Xiangong, a Dai ethnic group member who grew up on Jingmai Mountain.
“We often judge the health of tea trees based on their branches, leaves, and buds,” introduces Tang Lixin, a tea technician from the Lancang County Tea and Special Bioindustry Development Center. Technical personnel conduct comprehensive monitoring of the growth of ancient tea trees, pest and disease occurrences, shading levels, and production management, providing assurance for the healthy and lasting development of the ancient tea forests.
In July 2022, the Pu'er Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest Protection Administration publicly solicited opinions on the “Draft Technical Standards for Management and Protection of Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forests and Ancient Tea Trees” to strengthen the protection and management and scientifically utilize the cultural landscape of the ancient tea forests of Pu'er Jingmai Mountain, promoting cultural heritage, ecological conservation, and sustainable social-economic development.
To better protect the ancient tea trees, the Pu'er Municipality successively revised and issued regulations such as the “Pu'er Municipal Regulations on the Protection of Ancient Tea Tree Resources” and the “Lancang Lahu Autonomous County Regulations on the Protection of Jingmai Mountain,” and published local standards like the “Cultivation Standards for the Management and Protection of Ancient Tea Trees and Ancient Tea Gardens.” On March 1, 2023, the “Yunnan Provincial Regulations on the Protection of Ancient Tea Trees” officially came into effect, marking a new stage in the protection of ancient tea tree resources.
Support – Assisting Villagers to Pave the Path to Prosperity with Tea
“Gold bars hang from large tea trees, and Silver bars from small ones.” Years of development have convinced Xiangong that tea trees can bring valuable wealth.
In 2005, Xiangong welcomed the first wave of guests who came to Jingmai Mountain to buy tea. “They all brought bags filled with cash, each containing between 100,000 and 300,000 yuan,” he recalls.
The economic value of tea far exceeded the villagers' imagination. Yan Sailuan, the Party Secretary and Director of the Jingmai Village Committee of Huimin Town, Lancang County, remembers that in 1996, a kilogram of ancient tea tree leaves was priced at around 10 yuan. Starting from 2003, a kilogram of ancient tea tree leaves could be sold for about 20 yuan, then in 2006, it rose to 300 to 400 yuan, and by 2022, high-quality leaves could fetch 1,800 to 2,000 yuan per kilogram. “From 2004 to 2022, the price of ancient tea tree leaves continuously increased, and the villagers' wallets became fuller,” Yan Sailuan marvels. “Over so many years, I never imagined our income could reach an average of 10,000 yuan or even higher.”
However, the yield from ancient tea trees alone is insufficient. Yan Sailuan explains that to help the villagers increase their income further, the local government provided corresponding funds, guiding them to plant eco-friendly tea. They developed this by controlling the spacing between tea plants and interplanting fruit trees.
According to statistics, in 2022, Lancang County had a total tea garden area of 436,000 mu, including 36,000 mu of ancient tea gardens and 400,000 mu of modern tea gardens.
Nowadays, the villagers of Jingmai Mountain have built new houses and bought new cars with the proceeds from their tea trees. Those with higher incomes have begun to introduce Tea processing equipment and build tea processing production lines.
From “a single leaf” to “a whole chain,” a complete production system from picking to packaging has gradually formed. Tea plantations centered around Jingmai Mountain have transformed their development methods, introducing new technologies and equipment to advance deep processing of tea, increasing comprehensive utilization of tea, extending the industrial chain into tourism, food, medicine, health care, chemicals, and other fields, and enhancing added value.
Joint Efforts – Promoting Integrated Development of the Tea Industry
On the ancient and tranquil Jingmai Mountain, winding roads are flanked by lush trees, and rolling mountains emerge from rolling clouds. The sunset slowly descends behind the stilted bamboo houses, and the millennium-old village presents a new look once again.
During the 2023 Spring Festival, tourism on Jingmai Mountain experienced a strong start. “During the holiday, the number of visitors to the Jingmai Mountain tea Forest Cultural Scenic Area reached more than 6,000 people on the busiest day,” says Yan Sailuan. “The current capacity of homestays in Jingmai Mountain is far from enough. The large influx of tourists exposes issues such as inadequate infrastructure in the village, which is one of the areas needing improvement.”
In Lancang County, integrating tea and tourism is one of the primary measures to promote the integrated development of the tea industry. In recent years, following the strategic deployment of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee and Government to create a trillion-yuan tea industry, Lancang County, leveraging its advantages in Pu'er tea resources, has promoted the development of the tea industry under the concept of “large-scale industry + new entities + new platforms.” It has constructed a Pu'er tea trading center, organically connecting it with smart agriculture, blockchain, the Internet of Things, cultural tourism, and more, to enliven the trading platform and enrich experiential consumption.
Tang Lixin believes that “with the permeation of Tea culture, especially on Jingmai Mountain, the local residents have already integrated tea into their daily lives.”